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. . . . .