Tuesday, January 31, 2023
All of my Christian walk on this earth I have heard that we must forgive others and sometimes I have found that to feel impossible, yet God said it so it was necessary. However, why would God want to forgive me and you (us)? That is a tough question so let’s see if we can heads out of that one.
Maybe you were greatly hurt by someone. The trust was gone, and that person possibly was very abusive to you or someone you loved. How can you forgive them when what they did was so hurtful. This part is the hard part for now. How? Why would our loving Father in heaven say to forgive whoever it was? Doesn’t He know what they did to us? Of course, He does. What about forgiving someone who destroyed your marriage, killed or brutalized someone you dearly love? Should God really ask us to forgive them?
Hatred and unforgiveness towards them doesn’t usually mean a hill of beans to them. Maybe, at some point, they will truly be sorry for what they did, but that doesn’t happen all the time. Some never are sorry for what they did. So why should we forgive them? To set us free. Free from the power that they hold over us by unforgiveness and hate.
Not forgiving someone keeps you in bondage to them and the power they hold over you. It is darkness to your soul. It is like being in a dungeon tied in chains and you can’t escape. Don’t you want to be free? Actually, it is you that holds the key to your freedom. No, what they did was horrible but are you going to let it control your life forever? You never get freedom of your soul until you do forgive no matter what they did or how horrible it was. But absolutely know this: You don’t have to want them in your life or be around them. Forgiving them doesn’t mean you will go back to what it was or that you should. When we hold on to unforgiveness we are lying to ourselves. We might think we are protecting ourselves but we are doing the opposite.
How much time have you and I spent hating the person who hurt us? Why? Did it hurt them that we were angry by what they did to us or our situation? Probably not. We most likely spent a lot of time graveling over our pain and our circumstances…did that change anything for the good? Nope! The people we get upset with that really don’t care what they did to us go on with their lives while we sit and brew and hate. God told us to forgive to set us free not to hurt us.
Corinthians 7:23 says, “You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.” Holding on to unforgiveness makes you a slave to the person who hurt you.
God knows the pain in your heart over whatever it was that happened. He sees your tears, but He wants to see you free. No matter who hurt you they still must one day recon that with God. We all stand before God and that also means they will. They can’t con God no matter what they say or do. However, if they are truly sorry, confess their sins, and change direction God would also want them forgiven as well. As hard as that is to put in our brain… God is just, fair, compassionate, and merciful. To you and to others. Why should we forgive the people we’re lucky to have survived? I don’t know your pain and you don’t know mine. What I have gone through in my life I would never want another to go through. The past is past and hating people only hurt me…I never saw it hurt the person who did it to me. But, I know God loves me and wants to set me free from the pain of the past…and He wants you to as well.
Corinthians 7:23 says, “You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.” Holding on to unforgiveness makes you a slave to the person who hurt you.
We still have life in front of us. We can’t allow the pain of what people did to us keep us in this state. It is not a pretty state in which to be. Jesus came that you would receive it and live it to the fullest. We might also not have the life we had dreamed of, but start dreaming now of what heaven will be like and let whatever goes on in this life run its course and you be the best you can be. God said to give Him our burdens. We don’t have to carry them around so why do we?
I sure love my Jesus. He has walked with me through so many things. Sometimes I knew He was there and other times I didn’t, but He still was there. He got me through pains on my own I could never have gotten through.
God wants to repair the damage in our life but when we are so angry and unforgiving we can’t even begin to see the plan He has in store for us. God needs us to do our part…always. We bury our pains way down deep in our being and we must learn to deal with them and let God be God. Stop letting hate fester in your soul.
I was so very tired of feeling sad, depressed, angry, and forgiveness was not on my heart. Bitterness yeah in my life…pretty much so. How can God say to forgive them? Instead of going on with my life in a good way…I carried a lot of resentment. Doesn’t matter who against but it was agony. Especially when some of the things and situations dealt with family. We all know the pain of family. Remember, they are the ones we should be able to count on in life…yet it doesn’t always happen.
I found Jesus and I wanted more…but God, you want me to just forgive them? I sure wasn’t quite yet to that point. Maybe you have not been either. We can’t make people love or care about us. We can’t make people be nice and moral either. Everyone gets to make choices and some of those choices hurt us. One of the greatest gift God gives is that He gave His Holy Spirit to be here for us and help us in our walk. We don’t talk much about the Holy Spirit now do we. But He is as much God as God the Father, and Jesus the Son. Each has their own part in our life.
Redemption means to be released by payment of ransom. Jesus paid the ultimate price to purchase yours and my redemption. Another reason God tells you to forgive is to redeem your pain. He made way for your freedom from it, but it requires your participation in the form of forgiving. Remember, forgiveness doesn’t mean that you are no longer angry or that what happened isn’t a big deal. Pain is a big deal, and hurt is a big deal. We just need to know how to get through it. We can’t change anything that ever happened to us prior. We have done the things we did in life good or bad, and so has the person that we need to forgive.
Sometimes we see the person that hurt us even on a daily basis, so we need to know how to go on, forgive, and be freed from all the pain in our soul. Unforgiveness clouds are soul and that is not a good thing. Isn’t it time to lay down any vengeance in our soul and retaliation and just let it go. Does holding onto it make you better? Of course not. It really does keep you in chains.
Maybe someone hurt you something terrible. Forgiveness is still for you. I have had to forgive parents, siblings, abusers, and abandoners, and people who said many things that were just not true…so I know it is not always easy.
So today…. maybe even several times today something comes to mind that upsets you and that has caused you pain. Is it worth pushing it inside or do you want to make a choice to get your life back and be free from the power of that person over you? Sometimes it is a minute by minute choice, but it is a choice worth making because the Lord wants to step into that situation and work on your behalf. He seeks to redeem that pain and see you released from its effects. He wants to restore what you’ve lost. If you can learn to trust Him, you’ll see forgiveness is worth the effort.
So now, let us talk about the perfect forgiving person. Jesus! For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 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 4:15 ESV
Do we think Jesus had an easy life? No! Yet He’s not asking you to do something that He was not willing to do. He knows that forgiveness is hard for us and He knows what it is like to choose to forgive.
He came, and He walked among the men He created in His image, and (many then and many now) would not receive Him. Many then, and now, have rejected Him. He healed and loved everywhere He went, and we (yes, we are included) killed Him. Nailed Him to a cross and He hung there completely abandoned and alone by His friends. He hung there as the people He came to save mocked Him, spit on Him and gambled for His things. He stayed there between two common thieves when He had all of the armies of heaven at His disposal, and He chose to forgive us! Even before the pain was over! While He still hung He asked the Father to forgive us because He knew we were oblivious to what we were doing. The sinless one became sin for us to be free. Righteous. Saved. Loved. Really people take this part and really think about it. He did that for us and He chose to forgive us. Would we have asked God to forgive at that point, or maybe ask God to just zap them?
Forgiveness is tough, but it is worth it. God tells you to forgive knowing full and well what that means and how challenging it can be. We might want to believe that He couldn’t possibly know the pain in our soul, but He does.
Now, think about you. When you come to Jesus and ask Him into your life (confess your sins and repent) God chooses to forgive you. He could have said no way…look at the wrong things you have done. Yet, that is not what happens. He chooses to forgive you. What an awesome God we have. If someone else did the things you did and they were against your or someone you care about…would you choose to forgive them? Jesus calls us to forgive others because He wants our soul set free. That doesn’t mean you have to hang out with the people who hurt you, or that the person(s) will ever care or be sorry for the things they did. But don’t allow them to have power over you any longer. What hurts you hurts Him. He cares about your pain. The Bible says He collects every tear and records every sorrow. (Psalm 56:8) They matter to Him. Nevertheless, He wants you completely free and redeemed, and that happens by forgiving, letting go and choosing to live again.
To me…to forgive some of the people who deeply hurt me was tough. In fact it was very tough. I don’t need to tell you or anyone what some people did because I no longer have to deal with it. I doubt that even one of them ever cared that they hurt me but they have to deal with God. My part was forgiving them.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” –Psalm 139:23-24, ESV
Forgiveness Has Always Been God’s Plan
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.” Psalm 86:5, ESV
God’s Forgiveness Is a Gift
“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7 ESV
God’s forgiveness is a gift.
It’s Our Choice to Accept God’s Gift of Forgiveness. “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28, ESV
God’s Forgiveness Cannot Be Lost. “And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” Luke 7:48, ESV Example: Once Jesus forgave the women at the well, she was forever forgiven.
Why Must We Confess Our Sins? “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9, ESV When we sin in life the signal between us and God gets all garbled up. We need to daily fix anything that keeps us from being right with God.
Hope and Peace in Christ Is Rooted in God’s Forgiveness. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV We can truly have hope and peace in our soul.
God’s Forgiveness Is Reciprocal. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32, ESV
I want you to take a moment at what you even see on the TV, social media, in schools, at work, and so on. You see so much hatred, bitterness, racism, slander, anger, and evil. So what are you going to do about it? God truly wants us to love Him and choose Him, but you can hate and reject Him if you want to and He will let you. But……………………do you want to be forgiven? Then you be the one to extend forgiveness to others. It really doesn’t matter if they care, or if they are sorry. We are not responsible for other people’s decision…only ours.
Why would God even want to forgive us? Because He loves us and wants our soul free!
For anyone in my life I have hurt…I truly am sorry. For everyone who hurt me…I forgive you.
So, may the Lord guide you, protect you, draw you to Him, and may you…if there are forgiveness issues forgive whoever it is. May you find God’s peace in your life, and may your soul be free from the pain of any, and all, unforgiveness.
God bless you!