"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Matthew 6:14-15 NLT
Forgiveness is for you not for the person you are forgiving. Forgiveness stems from love. God loved us so much that he sent us Jesus, and through Jesus we have been forgiven of our sins. God doesn't place any stipulations on his love. If you accept Jesus as your Savior you are forgiven.....POINT BLANK! Forgiveness is defined as the act of excusing from fault or an offense. Matthew 6:14-15 is very clear concerning forgiveness. God has forgiven our sins, but his desire is that we walk in love and in order to make that walk you must forgive. If we choose to hold on to pain, fault, or offense toward others or toward ourselves we are expressing a superiority over God. Why?? If the God who shaped the world can forgive us for our mess, and I do mean mess, then what makes us so much better than God? Yes it is true, we want our feelings to be validated, but when it comes to forgiveness it cant be about the way we feel. Trust me when I tell you I have been hurt. Not just any hurt, but a hurt that pierced my soul and left me completely broken. Even after giving my life to God I was still broken . It wasn't until I allowed God to lay hold to my hurt that I was restored. I gave God all my hurt in the form of forgiveness.
I forgave myself for the mistakes I made in the past, and forgave those people who hurt me. Now by no means was I whole when I first chose to forgive. I had to exercise my faith. Oh yes faith, love, forgiveness...these things will continue being exercised throughout our Christian walk. My faith said "I forgive, but Lord make my forgiveness evident in my heart." See so many people think you forgive, forget, and move on. NO WAY! There will still be hurt, pain, and feelings of inadequacy, but don't allow the enemy to convince you that you haven't forgiven the person, situation, or yourself. Walk in love daily. Feel yourself up with the Word, and faithfully proclaim "Lord make it a reality in my heart." Stand on God's Word concerning forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 is a great scripture, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Remember we are striving to have our lives be a reflection of Jesus. Jesus was the ultimate example of forgiveness when he walked the earth. Peter cut off the ear of a Centurion guard that had come to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew that the guard intention were to capture and drag him to stand trial and be crucified. Jesus had every right to be angry, and not react to Peter to cut the guards ear off. Yet Jesus still took the time out to heal the guards ear. That type of forgiveness takes love. Jesus foretold Peter of his future denial, yet he forgave Peter when he repented. Once Saul, a persecutor of the Christians, Paul was forgiven for his past transgressions and went on to write over 2/3 of the New Testament speaking of the goodness of God. That goodness was the result of forgiveness. Paul forgave himself for the persecution he was a part of, turned away from those actions, and vigilantly lived a like pleasing to Christ despite his past. When you walk in love you breed forgiveness, and the grace of God is evident in your life. When you hold on to hurt, pain, and offenses you breed resentment, backstabbing, vindication, vengeance, and hate. None of those attributes are reflective of Christ.
Forgive so that may be forgiven!!
I forgave myself for the mistakes I made in the past, and forgave those people who hurt me. Now by no means was I whole when I first chose to forgive. I had to exercise my faith. Oh yes faith, love, forgiveness...these things will continue being exercised throughout our Christian walk. My faith said "I forgive, but Lord make my forgiveness evident in my heart." See so many people think you forgive, forget, and move on. NO WAY! There will still be hurt, pain, and feelings of inadequacy, but don't allow the enemy to convince you that you haven't forgiven the person, situation, or yourself. Walk in love daily. Feel yourself up with the Word, and faithfully proclaim "Lord make it a reality in my heart." Stand on God's Word concerning forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 is a great scripture, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Remember we are striving to have our lives be a reflection of Jesus. Jesus was the ultimate example of forgiveness when he walked the earth. Peter cut off the ear of a Centurion guard that had come to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew that the guard intention were to capture and drag him to stand trial and be crucified. Jesus had every right to be angry, and not react to Peter to cut the guards ear off. Yet Jesus still took the time out to heal the guards ear. That type of forgiveness takes love. Jesus foretold Peter of his future denial, yet he forgave Peter when he repented. Once Saul, a persecutor of the Christians, Paul was forgiven for his past transgressions and went on to write over 2/3 of the New Testament speaking of the goodness of God. That goodness was the result of forgiveness. Paul forgave himself for the persecution he was a part of, turned away from those actions, and vigilantly lived a like pleasing to Christ despite his past. When you walk in love you breed forgiveness, and the grace of God is evident in your life. When you hold on to hurt, pain, and offenses you breed resentment, backstabbing, vindication, vengeance, and hate. None of those attributes are reflective of Christ.
Forgive so that may be forgiven!!
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