Adversity means calamity or distress. I think of Psalm 18. David was in adversity. Saul and his army were hunting him like a pack of wolves ready to devour their prey. Verse 18 says, “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support.”

Luke 4:18 Amplified says, “…oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity).” Proverbs 17:22 says, “…a broken spirit dries up the bones.” Psalm 37:8 says, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret–it only causes harm.” Fret means to eat or gnaw into; chafe, wear, corrode, or to rub. Could fretting be the root of bones wasting away, causing bone on bone conditions?

Sins done against us can mar us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I think back to a young woman walking in a park with her finance. She was gang raped in front of him. She broke off their engagement because she was so embarrassed. She told me this after I had spoken to a group of women. She was 65, and asked me to help her forgive the gang. All those years she chaffed.

You have your own story of being marred. The key to inner release is through heart forgiveness. It first requires processing to acceptance. Nothing can change what has happened in our past. However, we can change our attitude towards what happened. We view the one who sinned against us through the eyes of the cross. We are forgiven, and they are forgiven ALL sins. Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13 are commands: forgive as you have been forgiven. Isaiah 52:14 says, “…so His visage was marred more than any man.” The Lord’s marring bought us salvation.

To forgive from the heart requires a decision to NOT bring up their sin against you again. That time you were marred has passed. The only way you can keep it alive is through your thoughts. It is time to burn that record of wrongs and be freed from it. The power of forgiveness lies in our heart’s obedience to fully forgive JUST AS we are fully forgiven.