Thoughts on Unforgiveness: Part 7 of 8

Once we choose to forgive, it opens us up to God’s forgiveness. “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. ” Matthew 6:14-15. Verse 14 tells us that if we do forgive others God will forgive us. That is one of the precious promises of God. It is as true as the warning that follows in verse 15 which we have previously looked at.

Choosing to forgive others also places us back into His grace and we once again can be in open fellowship with God. Our prayers will no longer be hindered because we free ourselves from the sin of unforgiveness. 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.”

Once we choose to forgive it frees us to be more obedient to the commandments of God. We know that when we keep His commandments we are free to love one another, and in doing so we prove that we love Jesus in our hearts and in our lives. Notice John 14:21 which says, “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.” This verse should get us to realize that which was missing in our lives when we were in the bondage of the sin of unforgiveness. We could not love the Father because of sin and in turn He could not love us. When we choose to forgive, we once again can freely abide in Christ. Not in the darkness of sin but can be fully engulfed in Christ’s love, “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.” (John 15:10) It is here where the Christian belongs, it is here where we feel the full extent of not only His love but the Joy of being loved by Him, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” (John 15:11) Once we make the choice to forgive we must remember that we must guard our heart to prevent further attacks of the devil. Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

So you may ask, how can we forgive, how can we get past the sin of unforgiveness, and better yet, where do we get the strength to forgive? The answer to these questions is where they always were. We get them through God’s willingness to extend forgiveness of us. God forgave us through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. When he did so, He forgave us of all sin. Jesus through His death on the cross bore our sins and took our penalty for sin. He did this so that God could offer salvation to every person and with that salvation forgiveness. Because of this, we can freely go to him for help, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) Jesus is not just our example; He is our help in time of need, it is through faith, trust and obedience to Him we find and receive the grace we need to forgive others.

There is a truth or principle that runs throughout Scripture. This being that if we “choose” to forgive others God will forgave us. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” Notice the problems noted in verse 31 are all like building blocks, one adding or building on top of the other. Each one is harmful to you and those around you. Verse 32 gives us God’s answer in that we are to be kind, tender hearted, and forgiving then concludes with, “…even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

The great thing about our God is that He was ready to forgive you before you even thought about repenting. If we choose to forgive, as God forgave us, then we need to start to forgive others. We need to change our idea of forgiveness remembering that God’s forgiveness is based on God’s love, not on whether or not we see any signs of repentance or restoration from those we hold unforgiveness towards. We need (with God’s help) to be the bigger person and forgive. In our doing so, it will allow the restoration to begin with others, even with those who do not know how.

“How can I forgive them?” you ask. “They don’t even want my forgiveness, or worse yet, they are not alive today.” The truth is, it does not matter, what does matter is your choosing to love and to forgive them based on God’s love, not on their response. Forgiveness is a choice, it is a decision that we make. We either choose to walk in love as God commands ore we do not. If we choose to do so then God gives us the strength to do so, because we choose to forgive. It is our willingness to be obedient to God and in doing so we put away bitterness, anger, malice, and strife from our lives. We in turn choose to get rid of these side effects of unforgiveness by turning back to God and to start walking in His love by keeping unforgiveness out of our lives.

This process starts when we get down on our knees and seek the Lord’s face, we first ask Him to forgive us then in turn we choose to forgive “anyone” and “everyone” who has ever offended us. Ask God to bring to your remembrance anyone who you have hurt or have hurt you and you have not yet forgiven. Ask God and through faith, choose to forgive and let it go.

You say this is too hard, or that it is impossible? Remember that anything is possible with God. There is a passage in Mark that we must look at to prove a point at this time.

Mark 11:23, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

For many, forgiveness is as a mountain that we cannot scale nor rid our lives of. In this passage we see that we can remove that mountain. All we need is faith; we just need to exercise a little faith in God that He will be faithful to His Word.

To be conclude next post: