Do you want peace in your life? Forgive others. Do you want a sincere calmness on the inside? Forgive yourself. Do you want the weight off of your shoulders? Ask others to forgive you. It is simple. Some of us have been stubborn for years, holding onto grudges that we can't even remember why we are upset. Let it go—walk-in forgiveness. Nothing is worth carrying that type of weight. Don't take on unnecessary weight. When that person's casket is closed, that is when you will realize how much time you have wasted. When you are strolling down memory lane and remember all of the fun you had with that person, you realize how much you miss them. Again, let it go. Free yourself. Lift the weight.
Ok, so you just can't let it go? Well, think about it like this. How many times have you screwed up or gotten it wrong, and God forgave you? Count your sins in the past three months. Did He forgive you? Did He forgive you when you lied and said you would read your bible and didn't? Did He forgive you when you said you were going to pray for someone and forgot? Did He forgive you when you cheated or lied to get the job? Did He forgive you when you stole that piece of candy when you were five? Did He forgive you when you mistreated your sister in Christ? Did He forgive you when you didn't honor your mother and father? Did He forgive you when you added another "skeletal bone" in your closet that no one knows about? I can go on and on; however, I hope you get the point.
Let's walk in forgiveness today.
Father, thank you for waking me up today. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to forgive others and myself. As I walk in forgiveness today, let those be open to wanting to be forgiven. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Ephesians 4:32
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Matthew 6:14
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Matthews 18:21-22
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' "
Celebrating Women/ Facts
Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut, daughter of King Thutmose I, became queen of Egypt when she married her half-brother, Thutmose II, around the age of 12. Upon his death, she began acting as regent for her stepson, the infant Thutmose III, but later took on the full powers of a pharaoh, becoming co-ruler of Egypt around 1473 B.C.
Knowing that her power grab was highly controversial, Hatshepsut fought to defend its legitimacy, pointing to her royal lineage and claiming that her father had appointed her his successor. She sought to reinvent her image, and in statues and paintings of that time, she ordered that she be portrayed as a male pharaoh, with a beard and large muscles. In other images, however, she appeared in traditional female regalia.
Hatshepsut probably died around 1458 B.C., when she would have been in her mid-40s. She was buried in the Valley of the Kings (also home to Tutankhhamum), located in the hills behind Deir el-Bahri. In another effort to legitimize her reign, she had her father’s sarcophagus reburied in her tomb so they could lie together in death.
In 1903, the British archeologist Howard Carter discovered Hatshepsut’s sarcophagus (one of three that she had prepared) but it was empty, like nearly all of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. After launching a new search in 2005, a team of archaeologists discovered her mummy in 2007; it is now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. A life-size statue of a seated Hatshepsut that escaped her stepson’s destruction is on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.
*I do not own the rights to the scripture/content about Hatshepsut*
