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