Forgiveness

To forgive another of a hurtful deed or hurtful speech is an impossibility without the remembrance of the suffering and blood of Jesus Christ. The whole purpose for God sending his only Son to suffer, die, and rise again was to save us from sin. However, we must heed the warnings given to us in God’s Word each and every day so that we will not give the enemy, satan, a foothold into our life.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

God will not hear our prayers, forgive our sins, nor heal our land until we humble ourselves, pray, seek His Face (not just His Hand) and turn from our wicked ways. He is specifically speaking to His people.

Even after our initial salvation, we must ask forgiveness of our sins. Look at the following verses:

Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

Matthew 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

Luke 17:4 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.

God does not have double standards. If a brother trespasses against us and then repents and asks forgiveness, we are to forgive him. He goes on to say that not just once but as many times as he asks forgiveness. This tells me that God will also forgive us as long as we come to him with a repentant heart asking for forgiveness. However, we need to ask for His help not to repeat the offense. But if in our fleshly weakness we suddenly fall, He will forgive us when we repent. We are NOT given a license to sin. Look carefully at the following verse:

Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

Notice the word willfully. If we decide that we are going to sin then we have made a conscious decision to go against God’s Word and disobey Him. How dangerous is this for our soul? However, God does know our fleshly weakness and if we are striving not to sin and call on Him to help us with our weaknesses, He is faithful to pull us through.

We always must forgive one another. We will always have things to disagree on, but the very most important issue is that we all agree that Jesus Christ was sent by God the Father to be born of a virgin, and to suffer and die on a cross, that he rose again and is now sitting by the Father’s right hand, interceding for us.

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Mark 11:26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant? Let’s refresh our minds of this parable by reading it again.

Matthew 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

Matthew 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

Matthew 18:25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

Matthew 18:26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Matthew 18:27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Matthew 18:28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

Matthew 18:29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

Matthew 18:30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

Matthew 18:31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

Matthew 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

Matthew 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

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.

This shows how very important it is to forgive. There are so many verses regarding forgiveness, please review some of them below.

2 Corinthians 2:10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ

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.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I know that all of us, even after becoming Christians, have had circumstances that really tried our patience and forgiveness. I will give you one account that I recall as the hardest I’ve dealt with so far.

I found out that my sister was being mentally abused by her husband. Her self-esteem went to an all-time low. She was showing signs of confusion, unable to organize her time, unable to make decisions on her own. My sister has always been a sweet and lovable person. She loves people and loves to help those in need. She has an easily forgiving nature. When she was five months pregnant with their second child, right before Thanksgiving, her husband told her he couldn’t live with her anymore and wanted a divorce. How utterly devastating can this be to a person who is already struggling with depression? Need I say I was extremely angry at him? That I wanted to give him a few words and wring his neck? Or shake him to his senses?

It took me a long time working through these emotions but it never went away. The anger was building into bitterness and it was affecting my prayer life. I couldn’t seem to feel God. During one of my attempted prayer times I finally just told God my problem. As I was laying it out before Him, I began feeling His presence and started crying to the point I couldn’t even talk. When I calmed down, I sat quietly and this is what He put in my mind and spirit. “Remember that I sent My only Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Redeemer of the lost. I am not a respecter of persons and love all. I am long suffering and am still waiting for the lost to come unto Me. If I am willing to love the sinner, you can love him through Me as you have seen you can do nothing without Me. You have struggled on your own and I have been waiting for you to come to me with this problem.”

I cannot explain how my heart suddenly filled up with a love for my brother-in-law and a burden to pray for his lost soul. I wish I would have immediately gone straight to the Lord with this and saved myself the hurt. I can honestly say that I now dwell on praying for His lost soul instead of wanting revenge. He will be leaving for Iraq soon and I am also praying for his safety. I actually would love to see his heart changed and filled with God’s love and that this family can actually come together again. Wouldn’t that be great for all of them? Especially the two precious little girls?

I hope this will help someone that might be struggling like I did. God can and does change hearts!

Psalm 86:5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.