What does forgiveness mean to you?
What does forgiveness mean to you?
What identity does that hold?
What kind of process occurs?
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Are their certain conditions in which we are able to forgive and certain ones we are not?
Would you argue with the fact that when we are not forgiving someone, we are making a choice?
Let me rewind though, what does forgiveness mean to you?
We struggle with the thought of not forgiving being a choice because our outlook on forgiveness is perverted and skewed as a culture. I told my church that 3/4 of the world's lawyers are employed in the United States alone. You are raised to believe that you are owed retribution, that you deserve something for your pain. The very thing or things that the world will tell you that you deserve ironically enough never take that pain away.
Forgiveness is a release of burden on your heart. I know I am talking to the hearts of many when I speak this. By choosing not to forgive you have this belief that you have the one who hurt you by the throat, when in actuality, the transgression itself has you by the throat. You have been affected by this choice to not forgive your whole life. It has impaired you and hindered your ability to love and trust, has it not?
Examine your heart right now as you read this.
Forgiveness does not "ok" the transgression, but simply has it release the grip the transgression has on you and your life. The pain is usually the last to go, but that is ok. The pain is much more bearable when you know the cause of it has been let go. You hit me on my face, I can forgive you, all while knowing there will be a mark and pain still left on my face.
Letting go of the burdens of your life is a process that begins with the choice to forgive. In my belief and Truth, the essence of Christian character commands to forgive because I was forgiven and still am. Jesus Himself says that if we choose not to forgive, we ourselves will not be forgiven (Mark 11:26).
Anger begets anger, turmoil begets turmoil. If we keep living like we are owed something because what has happened to us, we lose sight of the fact that we too have transgressed against others. We keep ourselves grid locked, as the enemy wants us in faith. We never truly even begin to operate in the Holy Spirit because we lack the fruits that show not only our maturity but keep us from being tricked by the schemes of the world (Galatians 5:22 and 2 Peter 1: 3-9). At the end of the day, your only hope for peace in life is choosing to forgive those who have hurt you.
Once again, what does forgiveness mean to you?
This was a very convicting thing when I gave my life to the Lord. Understanding what forgiveness truly represents. And how by forgiving and not forgetting, the transgression is still alive because it hinders us with others, even in the slightest way. When praying for forgiveness the way that I have been forgiven, I had to pray for the transgression to be remembered no more (to the point where it did not affect any relationship in my life). This is such a difficult thing for us to grasp because how does one “forget” the hurt?
Through my Lord Jesus Christ He uses it for Gods glory and my good. What the enemy may have intended for evil, God turns it to good use (Genesis 50:20).
In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18 :21-35, When Christ says that “we are to forgive 77 times”, this was not to imply that we continue to keep count or forgive abundantly. Jewish teachers back then used to teach that you should forgive 3 times and be done with the person. Peter suggested “7 times?” (Sounds better than 3, right?)
The point Christ was making was if you are keeping count of the amount of times you have forgiven someone, forgiveness has never truly taken place. This speaks multitudes because how often do we do this with one another. And once again, this parable reminds us that in if we try to compare what God has done for us and the mercy He has shown to that of what others have done to us, it is literally “chump change”. He has forgiven the greater of the debts, the debts that we have owed to Him. How dare we not show such mercy on a much smaller scale?
And if you struggle to forgive yourself, you truly struggle to accept God’s forgiveness. You as a Christian are not asked to forgive yourself because the verdict of “forgiven” has been handed down by the Supreme Judge of Christ (John 5:16-30). You are a child of God, no longer dirty. You are holy, without accusation, and without blemish (Colossians 1:15-23).
My God blotted out my transgressions against Him and wants me to be reconciled to Him (Isaiah 44:22). Pray for daily renewal through Him. You are not called to use the energy to forgive today for tomorrow, because tomorrow has problems of its own (Matthew 6:34). Start off by picking up your cross daily (Luke 9:23), going to Christ for daily renewal for strength and thought (Romans 12:2). I pray for my glory daily to overlook a transgression (Proverbs 19:11) because it puts me closest to His Divine character.
Will you choose forgiveness today?
