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Valentine’s Day is
synonymous with love. What
better time
to celebrate love than this day, and what better way to celebrate
love than by cleaning out our closet of unforgiveness; forgive
everyone who has ever hurt or offended us in any way. What
better way to honor God
than to forgive others as
He
has forgiven us.
“The weak can never
forgive. Forgiveness is
the attitude of the strong.” Mahatma
Ghandi.
Forgiveness is neither a
feeling nor an emotion; it
is a
decision, a choice. God
chose to forgive us – for
Christ’s sake.
What Christ did for us at Calvary was a demonstration of
God’s Love and is the basis God uses for our forgiveness,
not our worthiness. His Love is unconditional and is contingent
only on our faith in Jesus. It is a gift we received when we
gave our hearts to Jesus.
“…the free gift…resulted
in justification.”
(Romans 5:16 NKJV). It is
also ours to give –
freely,
just as we received it.
Forgiveness is a gift that
we can share with others.
He expects
us to follow His example to forgive. Feelings vary from day
to day. Emotions change according to our moods. Brotherly
love “feelings” based on our emotions are conditional
(if, when, because,
until). If it isn’t based
on the Love of
God which we received, it
will fail. When we choose
to
forgive, “agape” love
kicks into gear. Agape was
a word the
early church adopted to define the kind of God-like love
they had for one another. The word was so rare in Greek
literature it has only been found in four places. Agape love is
so rare, it can only be
found in those who have
been infused with
the love of God. Love
remains, never fails (1
Corinthians 13).
God forgives and doesn’t
remember our sins! Agape
love is
necessary for us to be
able to forgive as God
forgives us.
It comes from God in our “forgiveness package.”
We become agents of His
Love when we freely
forgive, as He
forgave us. An agent has
the power to act in behalf
of the one
whom they represent. The
Love of God is powerful,
and when
we forgive we are enforcing His power. Think of this way:
Forgiveness, like
breathing, is essential.
Exhale (give your sins
to Jesus) in repentance.
Inhale (receive)
forgiveness
empowered by His Love!
Exhale: The power of
forgiveness
is extended to others.
Forgiveness fuels a heart
on fire with
the Love of God and the
embers warm the soul as we
extend it to others. The
giver and receiver are
both warmed.
Forgiveness is necessary
for the healing of
injuries and
injustices. Repentance
can’t be a condition the
victim
requires of the offender.
No matter how hard they
may try,
repentance doesn’t restore
wholeness. A lie can’t be
recovered
after it has been spread.
It won’t bring a murder
victim back to
life. Some broken relationships have taken such different paths
that it would be impossible to restore them. But repentance
is vital for restoration of the person who is the offender. It is
the beginning of the journey to restoration. And the victim
must forgive whether the
one who injured them
desires it or not.
In fact, they may not even feel like they need it; they may have
tried to justify their actions to the point that they don’t see any
wrong they have done. But
forgiveness is the
starting point
of the wounded one on the path toward their healing. Without
forgiveness, the inner wound will only get worse, become so
viral that it will affect
the total health of the
one hurting--mentally,
spiritually, physically.
Without repentance, the
offender
will become hardened and
embittered as they resist
the
wooing of the Holy Spirit
to cleanse the soul by
repenting.
The forgiveness we
received from God does not
remember
our past! Our enemy,
Satan, will try to bring
things to our
remembrance that we have
already forgiven—others
and
ourselves. He will pull it
from the “dead file” of
our minds
and attempt to resurrect
it. Our best response is
“I don’t
remember,” and refuse to
give it space in our
minds.
Without God’s brand of
forgiveness:
*David would not have been
“a man after God’s own
heart.”
*Abraham would not have
been called “a friend of
God.”
*Simon would not have
become Peter (rock).
*We would be lost!
After we have accepted
God’s forgiveness, whom do
we
need to forgive?
*Squabbling siblings must
forgive one another.
*Children must forgive
imperfect parents and
themselves
for the worry they caused
their parents.
*Parents must forgive
rebellious, errant
children and
themselves for having
failed to be perfect.
*Husbands and wives must
forgive one another for
being different and having different needs
*Friends who have wounded
each other in
misunderstandings
*Others: Nosy neighbors,
unfair bosses,
inconsiderate
people, etc.--everyone.
“Therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved,
put
on tender mercies,
kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness,
longsuffering; bearing with one another, if anyone has a
complaint against another;
even as Christ forgave
you, so
you also must do.”
(Colossians 3:12-13 NKJV).
God keeps no record of
forgiven sins. It is
awesome to learn that
after He forgives us, He
trusts us! He gave us His
great “treasure”
in these earthen vessels.
“But we have this treasure
in earthen
vessels, that the
excellence of the power
may be of God and not of
us...” (2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV). Forgiving those who have
wronged us is really a
miracle, meaning it is
God-enabled.
Human nature can’t do it “from the heart” without God’s help.
Unforgiveness binds;
forgiveness loosens – both
on earth and in
heaven. Jesus taught that
should we make every
effort to forgive
one another and concluded
it by saying “…whatever
you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
will loosed in heaven…”
(Matthew 18:15-18 NKJV).
“If God is for us, who can
be against us?” (Romans
8:31 NKJV).
God doesn’t hold our past against us, neither should we! We need
to see ourselves and
others as FORGIVEN. It’s
great to be FREE!
How much forgiveness do we
need to give (and
receive)? If we
take Jesus’ words literally, it would come to 490 times each
day per person. Seven
denotes completeness in
many scriptural
references; so, actually,
He was saying, “Just throw
the score
book away; I did.” Our forgiveness was complete, and He
wants us to “complete” our forgiveness by making it permanent.
When memory brings it up, forgive again, and if necessary,
again without regard to
counting.
Process of forgiveness
from God:
The Holy Ghost convicts;
we react.
We reject the conviction
that leads to repentance
and
forgiveness, hardening our
hearts,
OR
We accept Christ’s offer
as He comes to us with His
forgiveness, cleanses us and recreates our nature so we
can forgive others in the
same way.
Conviction brings
brokenness. (Psalm 34:18).
We can continue
living just being broken (convicted)--unset—malformed
and miserable in our sins,
OR
We can come to Christ and
be healed—let Him "set"
the
brokenness and have a
right standing with God.
Brokenness brings
us to repentance, Repentance brings forgiveness, Forgiveness
brings new life when we are “born again.”
Jesus took the first step
and gave us an example
when He
forgave us and gave us new life in Him – sinless,
acceptable to God. (2
Corinthians 5:17).
Since we have been
forgiven, He expects us to
forgive one another.
(Matthew 18:23-35).
God keeps no record of
forgiven sins. He “trusts”
us because
of the “great treasure” He has given us in our earthly vessels,
and protects us from the evil one by giving us the Holy Ghost,
Who is greater, to always
be with us. That’s trust!
He has given
us His nature, so that
makes us trustworthy in
His sight.
Forgiveness heals all who
participate in it, both
the giver and
the receiver. Paul warned
that unforgiveness could
give Satan
an advantage (2
Corinthians 2:10-11).
Since it is so important
to God and essential to
us, we need to just keep
doing it. That
doesn’t mean we will do it
perfectly; but we can make
it
permanent by repeating the
process as often as we
need
to even if it is everyday,
490 times a day.
Practice makes perfect!
The more we do it, the
easier it
becomes and love will fill
in the gaps.
“Forgiveness is the
fragrance the violets shed
on the
heel that has crushed it.”
Forgiveness:
Self-examination:
How important is it to
forgive others?
It affects our total
person--mentally,
physically,
spiritually--and
all our relationships. It is not only important, it is essential that
we forgive “from the
heart” (Matthew 18:35).
What if someone doesn’t
deserve our forgiveness?
Maybe they don’t, but we
can administer it with
grace and mercy.
Consider this: What if God
only forgave those who
deserved
it? Would we be eligible for His?
If we don’t forgive
others, can we nullify
ours?
Jesus taught His disciples
to pray “Forgive us our
trespasses
as we forgive others who trespass against us.”
He also told
of the man who was forgiven millions of dollars in debt but refused to
forgive one who owed him
around $20; and because he
would
not forgive the paltry
amount. His one act
of unforgiveness was equal
to his huge unpayable
debt, and now he was in
debt again at a sum he
couldn't possible pay.
Why take a chance, just
forgive.
What if God didn’t forgive
us?
There is no other name
(besides Jesus) under
heaven that can
save us. If we don’t have
His forgiveness, there are
eternal
consequences.
There is no other
alternative, and no
exceptions.
Have a heart—Forgive!
Delores Adams
February 2005
Copyrighted. All rights
reserved.
Alice's Legacy
Remembering Alice
The
"Handkerchief" has been
anointed and prayed over
by
several believers who care
about you and want to help
you
realize your full
potential in Christ Jesus
Our Lord.
~The
Ten Commandments~
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