Thoughts on Unforgiveness: Part 5 of 8
So what truly happens if we decide to rid our life of the sin of unforgiveness? We open our life fully to God and free ourselves from the bondage that we had been entrapped in. We open the channel of communication between us and the Lord. It also places us in a right relationship with the Lord by our removing know sin from our heart and lives. Here are just a few things that are opened to us if we turn loose of the sin of unforgiveness.
When we take the time to forgive others we free ourselves of sin, and as I mentioned before, it opens up the channels of communication between ourselves and God. This is evident in that a forgiving spirit on our part gives us unimpaired access to God. We see this in Mark 11:24-25, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (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.” It is a direct command that we are to forgive. Notice that he says, “And when ye stand praying, forgive…” Why? It is evident here that God wants to forgive us. Our unforgiveness has not only placed us in bondage, it has also bound the hands of God on our behalf. God cannot violate His word, He is bound by it. He wants us to talk to Him but to be able to freely do so we need to remove the sin of unforgiveness. No one is more familiar with that than David as he tell us in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
When we choose to let go and forgive, it is the beginning step in seeking help to free us from the bondage of sin that we placed ourselves in are once again open to the forgiveness of God. We open our selves back up to the blessings of the windows of heaven. We find this in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: (15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Jesus explains this to us here in this passage. Our forgiveness is contingent upon our forgiving other. If we do not do so we cannot expect God to extend forgiveness to us. The righteousness of God will not allow Him to do or go against that which is a direct violation to His Word. As the sin of unforgiveness had bound us in turn the Word of God bound the hands of God.
When we make the effort to God and ask Him to forgive us of the sin of unforgiveness we are in actuality keeping God’s commandments. We cannot truly love the one that we hold unforgiveness towards, so once we forgive them we are free to love them again. God tells us that we are to love one another, and in doing so we prove that we love Jesus. Look at John 14:21, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” We also see in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” This does not only apply to physical life, we also need to lay down our sinful life of unforgiveness for others. We need to lay down our prideful life for others and anything that keeps us from an open relationship with others these need to be repented of, and turned over to God to free you of the bondage.
In this we do not only do we prove that we love Jesus but we will once again abide in Christ’s love as we are told in John 15:10, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” Keeping His commandments places us in His abiding love. There is nothing worse than trying to hold on to the appearance of an “everything is alright life style.” We struggle to do so in our homes, at work, or school and even in church. How much more is our false lifestyle amplified when we struggle to “keep face” among the brethren when we are living with know sin? All that it has done is keep us from a right relationship with God.
To be continued
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thoughts on Unforgiveness: Part 4 of 8
The question that I started with was, “To what means do we/can we serve God when we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness in our heart?”
In turn I asked the second question, “In the light of all that Christ has done for us, what is it that holds us back from forgiving?”
Too often we get caught up in the dark side of sin and its appeal. When we choose to hold on to sin for a time it separates us from the love of God and exposes us to the wiles of the Devil. The scriptures tell us in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” We have been warned that the Devil was out to trick and trap us but we in our sin of unforgiveness send out a beacon in his direction. Our unforgiving spirit attracts him much like the shark is drawn to blood. He devours our joy and love for God by helping us to wallow in our desire and to hold onto that which we should not. Much like a drowning man holding on to his prize possessions refusing to let go and grab a life preserver he slowly sinks into the darkness. The prize possession causes us to sink further and further into sin and away from the blessings of God.
This may sound like a story from the Twilight Zone but it is really based on a text taken straight from scripture. II Corinthians 2:10-11, “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; (11) Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” By choosing to not forgive someone we have take our eyes off of the Lord and allowed Satan a foothold. Our sin of unforgiveness has given Satan the advantage and he will run with it. We have fallen asleep and let the enemy into our camp. Our desire to hold onto that which we should not has allowed him to slip in and we held the door open for him. Through his subtlety he soon has us turn that sin into an idol that blocks our view of God. Forgiveness is a choice; it is a choice that we must make and that choice must be based on obedience to God.
In the above passage as in other Scriptures we are commanded to forgive and when we do so we are to forgive completely. If we do not then we have not forgiven them at all (we will talk about that later.) For now we need to realize that God had instructs us to forgive and the best way to do so is to pray for them. In praying for others, you free yourself from potential bondage from the sin of unforgiveness. I know that Jesus knows exactly what He wants you to pray for when it comes to those you might have anything against.
The reason we must forgive and forgive others “completely” is because there is a possibility that we will still hold on with out forgiving so that we can hold them hostage at a later time. This is true of so many people who will say “I will forgive them but I won’t forget it or them.” This is sin because they haven’t forgiven them in the first place, they must forgive them completely. People who do so are blinded by Satan, and they allow him the power to torment them because they have chosen to sin. He will do what he can to keep them in chains and hold them hostage because of sin.
If we have unforgiveness in our heart Satan does get the advantage in and over our heart. Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” If this is true, how long can we keep this sin private? No, that is one thing that we know from scripture that we cannot do. “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23) How long dare we extend the gap between us and the grace and forgiveness of God? That is a question that we have to ask our selves. Each hour we linger we are move farther and farther from the closeness of the Saviour.
If left unchecked, your sin of unforgiveness will soon cause you to experience more of the darker side effects sin; if you do not deal with it you will experience other sins such as anger or bitterness. This is much like being caught in a vortex. You do not notice the swirling decent at first because it is at a slow rate. The motion of the swirling rapidly increases as re approach the center. The speed and rate of rotation of the sin vortex are greatest the further (or longer) you are in the grasp of sin. These others sins will manifest themselves when we get angry at those who are friends of those we have not forgiven. This happens when we see them or the person that we have not forgiven and the anger level rises and the occurrences are more frequent the further into the vortex of sin we travel. This is because of the association that one has with the other, and the deeper into cycle we are. They will start all over again and again because our thoughts of those we have not forgiven enter our mind and then the episode that led to the unforgiveness becomes vivid in our minds, and we re-live that over again. There is no hope; there is no peace because we are in sin. All of our relationships with any associated party will begin to decay because we do not let go and forgive.
To be continued:
The question that I started with was, “To what means do we/can we serve God when we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness in our heart?”
In turn I asked the second question, “In the light of all that Christ has done for us, what is it that holds us back from forgiving?”
Too often we get caught up in the dark side of sin and its appeal. When we choose to hold on to sin for a time it separates us from the love of God and exposes us to the wiles of the Devil. The scriptures tell us in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” We have been warned that the Devil was out to trick and trap us but we in our sin of unforgiveness send out a beacon in his direction. Our unforgiving spirit attracts him much like the shark is drawn to blood. He devours our joy and love for God by helping us to wallow in our desire and to hold onto that which we should not. Much like a drowning man holding on to his prize possessions refusing to let go and grab a life preserver he slowly sinks into the darkness. The prize possession causes us to sink further and further into sin and away from the blessings of God.
This may sound like a story from the Twilight Zone but it is really based on a text taken straight from scripture. II Corinthians 2:10-11, “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; (11) Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” By choosing to not forgive someone we have take our eyes off of the Lord and allowed Satan a foothold. Our sin of unforgiveness has given Satan the advantage and he will run with it. We have fallen asleep and let the enemy into our camp. Our desire to hold onto that which we should not has allowed him to slip in and we held the door open for him. Through his subtlety he soon has us turn that sin into an idol that blocks our view of God. Forgiveness is a choice; it is a choice that we must make and that choice must be based on obedience to God.
In the above passage as in other Scriptures we are commanded to forgive and when we do so we are to forgive completely. If we do not then we have not forgiven them at all (we will talk about that later.) For now we need to realize that God had instructs us to forgive and the best way to do so is to pray for them. In praying for others, you free yourself from potential bondage from the sin of unforgiveness. I know that Jesus knows exactly what He wants you to pray for when it comes to those you might have anything against.
The reason we must forgive and forgive others “completely” is because there is a possibility that we will still hold on with out forgiving so that we can hold them hostage at a later time. This is true of so many people who will say “I will forgive them but I won’t forget it or them.” This is sin because they haven’t forgiven them in the first place, they must forgive them completely. People who do so are blinded by Satan, and they allow him the power to torment them because they have chosen to sin. He will do what he can to keep them in chains and hold them hostage because of sin.
If we have unforgiveness in our heart Satan does get the advantage in and over our heart. Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” If this is true, how long can we keep this sin private? No, that is one thing that we know from scripture that we cannot do. “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23) How long dare we extend the gap between us and the grace and forgiveness of God? That is a question that we have to ask our selves. Each hour we linger we are move farther and farther from the closeness of the Saviour.
If left unchecked, your sin of unforgiveness will soon cause you to experience more of the darker side effects sin; if you do not deal with it you will experience other sins such as anger or bitterness. This is much like being caught in a vortex. You do not notice the swirling decent at first because it is at a slow rate. The motion of the swirling rapidly increases as re approach the center. The speed and rate of rotation of the sin vortex are greatest the further (or longer) you are in the grasp of sin. These others sins will manifest themselves when we get angry at those who are friends of those we have not forgiven. This happens when we see them or the person that we have not forgiven and the anger level rises and the occurrences are more frequent the further into the vortex of sin we travel. This is because of the association that one has with the other, and the deeper into cycle we are. They will start all over again and again because our thoughts of those we have not forgiven enter our mind and then the episode that led to the unforgiveness becomes vivid in our minds, and we re-live that over again. There is no hope; there is no peace because we are in sin. All of our relationships with any associated party will begin to decay because we do not let go and forgive.
To be continued:
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thoughts on Unforgiveness: Part 3 of 8
The question that I started with was, “To what means do we/can we serve God when we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness in our heart?”
In turn I asked the second question, “In the light of all that Christ has done for us, what is it that holds us back from forgiving?”
The scriptures tell us that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” We also find in Romans that this conformation process is our reasonable service Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
I believe that this problem of unforgiveness is what many Christians struggle with today. Because of unforgiven sin, their thoughts are clouded and they believe that the conformation that God calls for is unreasonable; this must be their mindset because many blatantly refuse to change. The Word of God tells us that we are to present our bodies and lives as a living sacrifice. We are commanded to change, and part of that change is to drop our selfish desires and be more selfless as Christ was. If we do not change then we see one of two potential problems. Either God is wrong and has lied to us; which is impossible or that those who belong to Him but are refusing to change and are blatantly living with the sin of unforgiveness.
If we hold on to an unforgiving heart we cannot love one another as Christ has told us to do. It is our responsibility as believers to forgive others even if they refuse to forgive us. God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, so that we may be reconciled to Him. This happened at the moment of salvation but somewhere along the line many have believed the lie of the Devil over the truth of Christ and have selfishly held grudges and unforgiveness against others. The sin of unforgiveness is part of the debt that Christ paid. Because this has been paid, He now asks that we extend the same forgiveness to others we are to forgive as you have been forgiven. He gave us an excellent example of this in his life and in a parable which we find in Matthew 18:23-35. Unforgiveness will eat away at your heart and if left unchecked, if left unresolved it will eventually consume you.
If that is not enough we also see that the sin unforgiveness hinders our prayers from getting answered. Mark 11:24, 25, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (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.” The truth from the Word of God is that if we forgive others, He forgives us. This truth is amplified here in Matthew 7:7, 8, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” That sounds good and many of us have this passage placed in our memory banks for a later date, sadly we fail to look at the verses that fully, this is especially true when we move down to verse 12 which says, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”(Matthew7:12) If you do not forgive them, it will not be forgiven you. As I have said before, God cannot go against His Word; He is eternally bound by it, down to the last jot or tiddle (Matt. 5:18).
John 15:7 tells us, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” We see here that we abide in Him (which we do by keeping His commandments), and His Word in us, we can be at peace to ask for anything and if it is with in His will it will be given onto us. The reason a lot of people’s prayers go unanswered, is not because of unbelief as it is the sin of unforgiveness because they are in sin and are not keeping the commandments that Jesus gave us. They are living with the selfish sin of unforgiveness and because of this they cannot abide in Christ’s love. Unforgiveness becomes a barrier hindering their prayers. Hebrews 12:14-15 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: (15) looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled”
We are to pursue peace (through forgiveness) notice the last part of verse 15 which says, “… lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” This is a so very common in Christian circles as well as in the World. I believe that this is one of the most common everyday sins that defile people. Many of those who are in this bondage of sin called unforgiveness can easily escape them if they would step up and forgive those who have wronged them or thought that they have wronged them.
To be continued. . . . .
The question that I started with was, “To what means do we/can we serve God when we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness in our heart?”
In turn I asked the second question, “In the light of all that Christ has done for us, what is it that holds us back from forgiving?”
The scriptures tell us that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” We also find in Romans that this conformation process is our reasonable service Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
I believe that this problem of unforgiveness is what many Christians struggle with today. Because of unforgiven sin, their thoughts are clouded and they believe that the conformation that God calls for is unreasonable; this must be their mindset because many blatantly refuse to change. The Word of God tells us that we are to present our bodies and lives as a living sacrifice. We are commanded to change, and part of that change is to drop our selfish desires and be more selfless as Christ was. If we do not change then we see one of two potential problems. Either God is wrong and has lied to us; which is impossible or that those who belong to Him but are refusing to change and are blatantly living with the sin of unforgiveness.
If we hold on to an unforgiving heart we cannot love one another as Christ has told us to do. It is our responsibility as believers to forgive others even if they refuse to forgive us. God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, so that we may be reconciled to Him. This happened at the moment of salvation but somewhere along the line many have believed the lie of the Devil over the truth of Christ and have selfishly held grudges and unforgiveness against others. The sin of unforgiveness is part of the debt that Christ paid. Because this has been paid, He now asks that we extend the same forgiveness to others we are to forgive as you have been forgiven. He gave us an excellent example of this in his life and in a parable which we find in Matthew 18:23-35. Unforgiveness will eat away at your heart and if left unchecked, if left unresolved it will eventually consume you.
If that is not enough we also see that the sin unforgiveness hinders our prayers from getting answered. Mark 11:24, 25, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (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.” The truth from the Word of God is that if we forgive others, He forgives us. This truth is amplified here in Matthew 7:7, 8, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” That sounds good and many of us have this passage placed in our memory banks for a later date, sadly we fail to look at the verses that fully, this is especially true when we move down to verse 12 which says, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”(Matthew7:12) If you do not forgive them, it will not be forgiven you. As I have said before, God cannot go against His Word; He is eternally bound by it, down to the last jot or tiddle (Matt. 5:18).
John 15:7 tells us, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” We see here that we abide in Him (which we do by keeping His commandments), and His Word in us, we can be at peace to ask for anything and if it is with in His will it will be given onto us. The reason a lot of people’s prayers go unanswered, is not because of unbelief as it is the sin of unforgiveness because they are in sin and are not keeping the commandments that Jesus gave us. They are living with the selfish sin of unforgiveness and because of this they cannot abide in Christ’s love. Unforgiveness becomes a barrier hindering their prayers. Hebrews 12:14-15 says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: (15) looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled”
We are to pursue peace (through forgiveness) notice the last part of verse 15 which says, “… lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled” This is a so very common in Christian circles as well as in the World. I believe that this is one of the most common everyday sins that defile people. Many of those who are in this bondage of sin called unforgiveness can easily escape them if they would step up and forgive those who have wronged them or thought that they have wronged them.
To be continued. . . . .
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Thoughts on Unforgiveness: Part 2 of 8
The question that I started with was, “To what means do we/can we serve God when we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness in our heart?”
In the light of all that Christ has done for us, what is it that holds us back from forgiving? Christ has opened the door for all men to receive the gift of Salvation. Christ has forgiven all of our sin by making Himself to be sin for us. What is it that keeps the Christian from forgiving others? Perhaps the answer lies in II Peter 2:9-10, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: (10) But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.” Self willed or should we just simply say selfish will? Either way we say it, we are wrong if we believe that God will over look our sin or perhaps turn a blind eye to it because we belong to Christ.
Perhaps it is one of the saddest parts of the doctrine of Eternal Security. We know we are saved and secure in Christ so we selfishly remove ourselves from the guilt of the sin of unforgiveness. We, in a prideful way, say that our sins are covered by the blood of Christ and in essence we are self-covering them with eternal forgiveness. In doing so, we overlook the fact that we are disobedient to Christ by deceiving ourselves in thinking that Christ will somehow let us get away with this sin. In the process of our self-righteousness we are self deceived. Someone once said the worst form of deception is self-deception and I do agree. Many Christians walk around self deceived believing that all is right with the world and in their relationship with God. Not aware, or worse yet, not willing to accept the fact that their selfishness has led them far from God. It has boxed them into a world framed by their own deception. David in Psalm 58:3 said, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Sadly, the one we lie to the most ends up being ourselves.
Scripture says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” Psalm 66:18; why is that? When you regard something you show or hold it with feeling of respect and/or affection, to esteem or place value or worth upon it. So if we regard iniquity (sin) in our life God says that He will not hear or listen intently to us. If you regard something long enough, whether it is right or wrong, you will soon elevate it high enough that it will cause you a problem later on in life. James 4:17 tells us, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” God has to be first in our lives. He has to be on the throne in our heart. That throne is a single seat and so many believers try to stack things on God’s lap thinking that all is right not realizing that their selfish desires has forced God off that throne. He will never settle for second place.
If we hold unforgiveness against somebody we prevent God from forgiving our sins. It says in Matthew 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” We find here that our selfishness and sin of unforgiveness ties the hands of God from working on our behalf. God cannot and will not violate His Word. So if we do not forgive others He will not extend forgiveness to us. Jesus said in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” The sin of unforgiveness causes us to violate His commandments. The love that we say we have for Jesus is secondary to the love we hold for our self. Every relationship offers opportunities for forgiveness, if we fail or ignore these opportunities the relationship will not survive. All other relationships will suffer including the one you have with God.
To be continued:
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thoughts on Unforgiveness
I sat in the church sanctuary Sunday morning after the first service thinking about the conversations that I have had over the past several days. Having a few moments to gather my thoughts one question came to my mind. “To what means do we/can we serve God when we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness in our heart?”
To what means do we/can we think that we can serve God when we hold to the sin of unforgiveness. Yet this is evident in the lives of many who claim the name of Christ. God so often calls us to free ourselves from the sin and bondage of unforgiveness. Yet at the same time we so foolishly run headlong back into it. Mark 11:25-26, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. (26) But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." The apostle Paul said it this way, II Corinthians 2:10, “To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ.” Forgive and it will be forgiven, turn loose, let go and hold on to God. That is the message but the practice so often is grab that grudge and hold on for dear life, no matter who or how often we hurt those around us. The truth is, we cannot fully serve God while we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness which in itself is grounded in the sin of selfishness. God commands us to do so as we see in the following verses where are given the two greatest commandments: Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) "And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
We will all struggle with selfishness, we are born with that mindset but we can overcome it and keep it in check. We have the choice to choose to sin or not to sin. We selfishly choose who we hold things against and whom we do not but it is God who commands us not to do so at all, Luke 6:37, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
Our church recently started a new series entitled “Live Different,” the first message in the series is a good launching point for those who hold on to the sins of unforgiveness. (To view the message series “Live Different” go to http://www.egreenwood.org/resources/bulletins/ for sermon notes or Pod casts.) In addition, I like the way David says we are to live in Psalm 46:10 where he shares with us what God says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” To be still means to be quiet, to be selfless and to be relentless, to know that God is God. He will be exalted; He will be glorified if we are still long enough to let Him be. He cannot be God if we hold other in that place. We need to turn them over to God and let God take care of our troubles and trials.
Unforgiven sin places a barrier between us and God, this barrier and soon becomes a god to us, robbing us of joy, and keeping us from the blessings of God.
As believers in Christ, we need to purpose in our hearts to turn that which besets us over to God so that He can be in his rightful place on the throne of our hearts.
To be continued:
To what means do we/can we think that we can serve God when we hold to the sin of unforgiveness. Yet this is evident in the lives of many who claim the name of Christ. God so often calls us to free ourselves from the sin and bondage of unforgiveness. Yet at the same time we so foolishly run headlong back into it. Mark 11:25-26, "And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. (26) But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." The apostle Paul said it this way, II Corinthians 2:10, “To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ.” Forgive and it will be forgiven, turn loose, let go and hold on to God. That is the message but the practice so often is grab that grudge and hold on for dear life, no matter who or how often we hurt those around us. The truth is, we cannot fully serve God while we hold on to the sin of unforgiveness which in itself is grounded in the sin of selfishness. God commands us to do so as we see in the following verses where are given the two greatest commandments: Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) "And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (40) On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
We will all struggle with selfishness, we are born with that mindset but we can overcome it and keep it in check. We have the choice to choose to sin or not to sin. We selfishly choose who we hold things against and whom we do not but it is God who commands us not to do so at all, Luke 6:37, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
Our church recently started a new series entitled “Live Different,” the first message in the series is a good launching point for those who hold on to the sins of unforgiveness. (To view the message series “Live Different” go to http://www.egreenwood.org/resources/bulletins/ for sermon notes or Pod casts.) In addition, I like the way David says we are to live in Psalm 46:10 where he shares with us what God says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” To be still means to be quiet, to be selfless and to be relentless, to know that God is God. He will be exalted; He will be glorified if we are still long enough to let Him be. He cannot be God if we hold other in that place. We need to turn them over to God and let God take care of our troubles and trials.
Unforgiven sin places a barrier between us and God, this barrier and soon becomes a god to us, robbing us of joy, and keeping us from the blessings of God.
As believers in Christ, we need to purpose in our hearts to turn that which besets us over to God so that He can be in his rightful place on the throne of our hearts.
To be continued:
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