Open Door
What started out as a marriage post on choosing to forgive has ballooned into several days worth of information. A quick search through the Bible found over a hundred verses dealing the topic of forgiveness.
We all want to be forgiven when we mess up but we often struggle with forgiving others because it doesn't seem fair to be merciful to someone who has hurt us. The truth of the matter is that it is not fair. Being merciful is about giving someone something they don't deserve. But just as we have been given the gift of forgiveness by God without earning it, we are commanded to give it to others.
Forgiveness is a component of love. We cannot say we love if we are holding on to unforgiveness. Love does not see the offenses of others (1 Cor. 13:5). Love demands that all injuries are not allowed to fester within us and there are severe consequences when we don't forgive.
The Apostle Paul tells us that the devil uses our unforgiveness to hold us in his clutches.
So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don't think I'm carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I'm joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don't want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief-we're not oblivious to his sly ways!
2 Corinthians 2:10 - 11 Message
Unforgiveness is an open door to the devil who prowls around looking for someone he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He will use your unforgiveness to enter your life and cause you grief and havoc. In addition to allowing the devil access to your life, there is another relationship that is affected by your choice to not forgive. I am talking about your relationship with God.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matt. 6:14 NKJ
Refusing to forgive others results in God's refusal to forgive us. I don't know about you but that is the greatest motivator for me to forgive. My entire life depends on God's mercy. Without the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, I would not be where I am today.
The act of forgiving someone is done on purpose. It is not an emotion. It is not based on how you feel. It is done by choice. There have been many times that I did not want to forgive the hurt that another has caused me but I knew that if I didn't, God would not forgive me.
For many years my oldest daughter and I did not get along or speak to each other. We had both done things wrong and said hurtful things. As I grieved over what looked like the loss of a relationship with my oldest child, God spoke to my heart saying, "If you are really serious about having the relationship with your daughter restored then you are going to have to completely forgive every hurt and grudge you have been carrying. You have to let them go and remember them no more."
My first thought was that I cannot do it alone. I asked God to help me. I was willing but I needed His help to do it. Although I made the decision to forgive her and myself that day, it still took three years for our relationship to be completely healed and restored. Forgiveness is a daily choice that allows us to build and maintain healthy and happy relationships.
Our peace and wellbeing depend on us being forgiven by God through Christ and our willingness to forgive others. The two go hand in hand. They cannot be separated.
Who has God been asking you to forgive?
Spend some time today with God and search your heart for any unforgiveness. Ask God for His help in dealing with it.
Instead of leaving a door to your life open to the devil through unforgiveness, leave the door open to God by being willing to forgive.
Heidirn
We all want to be forgiven when we mess up but we often struggle with forgiving others because it doesn't seem fair to be merciful to someone who has hurt us. The truth of the matter is that it is not fair. Being merciful is about giving someone something they don't deserve. But just as we have been given the gift of forgiveness by God without earning it, we are commanded to give it to others.
Forgiveness is a component of love. We cannot say we love if we are holding on to unforgiveness. Love does not see the offenses of others (1 Cor. 13:5). Love demands that all injuries are not allowed to fester within us and there are severe consequences when we don't forgive.
The Apostle Paul tells us that the devil uses our unforgiveness to hold us in his clutches.
So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don't think I'm carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I'm joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don't want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief-we're not oblivious to his sly ways!
2 Corinthians 2:10 - 11 Message
Unforgiveness is an open door to the devil who prowls around looking for someone he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He will use your unforgiveness to enter your life and cause you grief and havoc. In addition to allowing the devil access to your life, there is another relationship that is affected by your choice to not forgive. I am talking about your relationship with God.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matt. 6:14 NKJ
Refusing to forgive others results in God's refusal to forgive us. I don't know about you but that is the greatest motivator for me to forgive. My entire life depends on God's mercy. Without the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, I would not be where I am today.
The act of forgiving someone is done on purpose. It is not an emotion. It is not based on how you feel. It is done by choice. There have been many times that I did not want to forgive the hurt that another has caused me but I knew that if I didn't, God would not forgive me.
For many years my oldest daughter and I did not get along or speak to each other. We had both done things wrong and said hurtful things. As I grieved over what looked like the loss of a relationship with my oldest child, God spoke to my heart saying, "If you are really serious about having the relationship with your daughter restored then you are going to have to completely forgive every hurt and grudge you have been carrying. You have to let them go and remember them no more."
My first thought was that I cannot do it alone. I asked God to help me. I was willing but I needed His help to do it. Although I made the decision to forgive her and myself that day, it still took three years for our relationship to be completely healed and restored. Forgiveness is a daily choice that allows us to build and maintain healthy and happy relationships.
Our peace and wellbeing depend on us being forgiven by God through Christ and our willingness to forgive others. The two go hand in hand. They cannot be separated.
Who has God been asking you to forgive?
Spend some time today with God and search your heart for any unforgiveness. Ask God for His help in dealing with it.
Instead of leaving a door to your life open to the devil through unforgiveness, leave the door open to God by being willing to forgive.
Heidirn
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