Forgiveness and Cutting Ties!

You have the right to protect yourself and your family members from danger, whether it is physical or psychological. If you truly want peace, you have to be the one to make the changes. You have to pray and know when to walk away with your head held high. Forgiving someone is biblically mandatory, but you can both forgive from your heart and then remove yourself from further offense; it is called "cutting ties". You know the saying, "shame on you if you fool me once, shame on me if you fool twice". I say that there is not a third part of that saying, because you have a right not to be fooled a third time. But aways forgive without limit, because Jesus has forgiven you without limit. You can forgive and cut ties without harboring bitterness or holding a grudge. But when it comes to the company you keep remember this: “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20).

With some relationships/friendships the Lord is wanting to remove you from a toxic situation that He no longer wants you to be a part of. Yes, you may be heartbroken at first, but eventually peace will come. And after a while, you will feel relief, joy, and gratitude. Understand that your Heavenly Father is protecting you and removing a burden from you. Once we have done what we could to live in peace, we are free to walk away. We are only responsible for doing our part, but if the other person is not doing their part, it is time for us to move on and live the life of peace, joy, and freedom in Christ that God intended for us as His children.

And something that has really helped me to grow spiritually is the Lord speaking this to me: "You do not have to prove yourself to anyone except Me. You do not have to defend yourself. I am your defender. You are never going to satisfy or please critical people, no matter how much you try, so you might as well save yourself a lot of time and not try to justify it with a response".

When you quit fighting and let the Lord fight for you, when you quit leading and let the Lord lead you, when you quit speaking out towards allegations and let the Lord speak for you, when you quit defending and let the Lord defend for you, when you quit trying to prove yourself to others about who you really are, and let the Lord prove who you are, and when you quit relying on a relationship more than your relationship with God... oh, how it changes situations and your life; I am speaking from personal experiences!