It is the epitome of walking out a continuous revelation of grace and mercy. Grace and mercy mean something more than just “He did it for me.” They both lead you to: “As He is in this world, so are we,” and “Be ye Holy for I am Holy,” and “Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought to,” and… you know. The mind of Christ.

Pride is wrapped inside that need to uphold your hurt and pain as exceptional. Only Christ is the exception and the rule. The level of pain and betrayal He experienced will NEVER be surpassed by our own because it was caused by us. Collectively. Individually. And He forgave while purchasing our forgiveness unto salvation. The exception. The rule.

We must become more willing to admit aloud that what happened to “me” wasn’t the exception—it was simply my experience. When we can do that? We can began the process of forgiveness because like all things in Christ? It is a process of perfecting.

Romans 10:10 says this:

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Romans 10:10 NLT

By confessing with your mouth that you have forgiven and by believing in your heart that your experience is not unique in the earth, you begin the process of releasing offense. The process is a process—some may have learned to move in it more automatically, but it is still a process. Of releasing how you feel, of acknowledging why you feel that way, of recognizing he humanity of the other person, of recognizing the spiritual forces operating against you, of being rooted and grounded in God’s word and way and will.

Process.

Because if you do not operate in the process of forgiveness? Offense is the spirit that gathers your emotional reaction, your psychological analysis, and your historical experiences to knit them into one big ball of bitterness. Offense is the yeast that causes that bitterness to rise into Wrath, wherein you begin to perceive your anger as righteous and the payment you desire for your pain to be just. Wrath lifts your opinions—your high thoughts—to the level of God’s position on the matter. The more Unforgiveness you store up, the weightier the Wrath—and you become “wise in thine own eyes.” Which makes you at enmity with the Spirit of the true and living God.

In short? It stops up the flow of your OWN forgiveness, for it is written:

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenlyFather will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.…

Matthew 6:14-15 BSB

It says what it says. Exactly. And who got time for that?

Having said all that? The end thereof is this: walk in forgiveness. In it. Around it. Underneath it. Study it’s formation. Study it’s steadiness. See its source for what it truly is: the cross. Because the cross of Jesus Christ was the price paid for our forgiveness. Because of so high a price paid by Christ and so high a price to not forgive, we cannot afford to walk in unforgiving ways and mindsets.