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Jesus gave us two commandments, Love Him with our whole heart, body, mind and soul and love thy neighbors as you love yourself.

How can I say I love Jesus, a person I have never seen but do not love my fellow man?

We are ambassadors for Christ and the world watches us to see if we are behaving Christ like. Our actions must reflect our words or it will turn people away and make them say if that is the way a Christian behaves, I would rather be a non-Christian.

Jesus loves us with a passion and forgives us daily for our transgressions. He asks us to do the same for our neighbors. Sometimes it is hard to forgive when someone makes the same mistakes over and over toward us. We want to wash our hands and be done with them. But Jesus says love them anyway. Does that mean you have to keep putting yourself in a position to continuously allow the hurt? No, I believe it means to forgive and to remove yourself from harm. Like the saying goes, love from afar.

Wikipedia says forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense, lets go of negative emotions such as vengefulness, forswears recompense from or punishment of the offender, however legally or morally justified it might be and with an increased ability to wish the offender well. Forgiveness is different from condoning, excusing, forgetting, pardoning and reconciliation.

They say forgiveness is not for the person you are forgiving, but rather it’s for you. It allows you to remove the burden from your heart and to move on with your life.

I always say, it takes more out of me to stay mad at a person than it takes to say hello and keep moving.

Ephesians 1:7, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Ephesians 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Be blessed in Jesus’ name

Mary Simmons is a columnist for The Kenbridge-Victoria Dispatch. She can be reached at Marysimmons6@hotmail.com.