Psalm 86.
Before I go on, would you take a minute to open up your Bible and read Psalm 86 or click HERE to read it?
There it was…one line that stood out boldly from the rest. Verse 5.
For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive…“
David penned that God is ready to forgive. I had to stop at this point and reread it. Feeling compelled by the Holy Spirit I evaluated my heart,
Am I ready to forgive?
The truth is I’m am not always ready to forgive, especially in my relationship with my husband.
There have been many times that I dwell on the negative, I consider the circumstances before I consider who my husband is, I contemplate how things will unfold if I say this and he responds with that.
Instead of being ready to forgive…I’m preparing myself for a fight.
Sure enough when my husband inquires what’s wrong or we get to that moment in the conversation/argument I emotionally explode, searching for validation, which even includes an apology from my husband. Yet, even if he is quick to apologize I am anything but quick to forgive. I rarely think about my response or how or when I will forgive him. I stew.
Being ready to forgive my husband is a posture I’m not good at having. But you know what, it is a characteristic of God that I want to be good at! I desire to live ready to forgive.
This verse greatly convicted my heart as a wife and challenged me to consider loving my husband like God does…ready to forgive. So how can I be the wife I desire to be? I believe it starts with prayer. I cannot convince myself that I have the power to change on my own. I need to invite the Lord to be my helper and have faith that He will transform my character. The other thing is to practice what it is I desire, meaning when an opportunity arises to forgive my husband, I just do it! Easier said than done, but definitely possible.
Do you struggle to forgive your husband?
Have you considered having this characteristic of God and being ready to forgive?
Lastly, what can you do today to move towards being a wife who is ready to forgive?