All that I know is I'm breathing

^{http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_oYTvgPVfw&feature=related}

^{Just listen.}

^{John 20:19-23}

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus appeared to his disciples only a few short days after Jesus had been crucified. Now, you have to remember, Jesus was 33 years old, and he had been brutally beaten to the point where he didn't even look close to being a human anymore. He appeared to them, and what was the first thing he said?

"Peace be with you."

Some say he said this to make sure that the disciples didn't 'freak out', others say he said it so that they would automatically know that it was Jesus. I personally believe that Jesus took this statement as a permanent command. Jesus wanted peace throughout the world.

Why do I think this? Before he leaves his disciples, he says;

"If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

"If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"

That's the last thing he says as he is leaving his disciples. He comes back to them later, of course, but they have just seen Jesus for the first time, days after they had seen him, their best friend, be murdered, and that is what he says to him.

What's one of the hardest things for anyone to do?

Forgive.

There, I said it.

Getting hurt is one of the easiest things to do. We live in a world where you have no choice but to be vulnerable.

We don't choose to get hurt, but we do and we can make the choice to forgive.

Why are we wasting so much time holding grudges against each other? Why?

Because we don't wanna get hurt again, that's why.

From December of my seventh grade year, up until October of this year, my Freshman year, I held a grudge against someone. Why did I do it? Because I thought it would help me get over it. Well, obviously, holding the grudge just made my anger and hurt grow even more. The situation was confronted this year, I forgave, and guess what? Doesn't hurt anymore.

WOW! That was easy......

I wasted so much time being angry, being upset, being bitter, when I could've forgiven and moved on already. I thought that holding that grudge would make me stronger, but I was only becoming weaker and weaker everyday. The day I made the decision to forgive, I grew so much stronger.

I was put in the same situation again, this week. Only a few months after learning my lesson about forgiveness.

It may not seem like a big deal to you while you're reading this, but when you're put in a position like I was, it's absolutely terrifying.

Do you wanna hear something funny?

Running from your mistakes doesn't do much for you. But running from those who make mistakes around you, gets you absolutely no where.

You're gonna start to wonder, "Why do you keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again? Shouldn't you have learned your lesson by now?"

We need to be taught that what we're doing is wrong. The mistakes we make can only be learned from if we are aware that they're mistakes.

I chose to forgive. Not because I am weak, not because I had sympathy, but because I knew that running would get me no where.

I learned my lesson, time for you to learn yours.

1 Kings 8:30

³⁰ May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.