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Forgiveness...
Just How Important Is It?
It might seem like there’s a point at which forgiveness is impossible,
until we look at Jesus. He was despised, hated, ridiculed, humiliated,
betrayed and beaten, and what was His response to this kind of treatment?
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
If Jesus could offer forgiveness to those who were crucifying Him,
we can offer forgiveness to those who wrong us - no matter how painful.
The good news is that we don’t have to do it alone. The same One who offered
forgiveness on the cross, can live through us and give us His ability to forgive.
To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because He has forgiven
the inexcusable in us. Our Lord would not command us to do something that
He would not enable us to do, or that He hasn't already done himself.
When the Son of God comes into our lives, the power of the evil one is broken.
We are delivered and can forgive, but we still must agree to it. God is not going
to make us forgive apart from our own will, although the ability to do so is there.
The healing process begins with forgiveness, and by God’s Grace, we can choose to
forgive in any given moment of time. It is only then that God will heal us from the
pain and sometimes even restore the broken relationship, if it be His Will to do so.
If we belong to Christ, we are one of His Disciples and we are to be forgiving. When
we forgive, it releases us from a very painful burden. When we pray, we must forgive.
We must forgive, forget and let it go. That does not mean that we don't remember,
but we make a conscious decision not to keep bringing it up. We choose to forget - we
distinctly remember forgetting it. We have forgiven, just as Christ has forgiven us!
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Although we are not responsible for how others have hurt us,
we are responsible for the way we have responded to them.
Jesus said it this way:
“First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will
see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”
Matthew 7:3-5
If we want to find real freedom from hurt and bitterness,
we need to ask God to give us His Love toward those who
have sinned against us. One of the first steps toward choosing
forgiveness is for us to clear our own conscience in how we
have reacted, so we can forgive. We must take responsibility
for our own actions. The healing process begins with forgiveness.
We need to ask His Forgiveness for any wrong responses we have had,
and then we must trust Him. It may not be easy, but by faith it is possible.
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... so you can get well and move on!
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It really is possible to love someone no-matter-what.
How else could Jesus command us to love our enemies?
Even if this person is your worst enemy, Jesus says it's still possible
to love them when we love by faith. Just tell God that you can’t love
“whoever it is”, and ask Him to love that person through you.
Loving by faith means we must act according to 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.
Love is long-suffering; love is kind; love is not jealous; love is not selfish;
love is not rude; love does not keep account of wrongs suffered.
The Scriptures tell us that we are to pursue love.
We are to go hard after it. We are to make it our aim.
Why? Because love is necessary to please God. Love allows us to
trust and is strengthened by working through conflicts together.
Love is the only thing that can be divided without being diminished.
One of our main goals in life is to learn how to love!
Ask God for His Love and then set out to love
that "hard-to-love" person by faith!
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Scriptures for Reference
Matthew 6:14-15: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your
Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men
their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 18:35: So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,
if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Luke 17:3-4: Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke
him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day
and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Ephesians 4:32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Colossians 3:13: "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any
man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."
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