This picture paints the perfect image of forgiveness. When you experience true forgiveness you will find perfect love, peace, comfort and belonging.
I believe that forgiveness in paramount to the Christian faith and is equal to any other essential element taught in our faith. Some doctrinal teachings teach that faith is the most important Christian element. Others teach that works are the most important element in our faith. Because I've already stated that I believe forgiveness is paramount to the Christian walk of faith, let me explain how forgiveness is not only as important, but is more important that any other element. The bold statement of truth about forgiveness is that without it, not only are we bound for eternity in hell, but without us forgiving others, we cannot find forgiveness from God and therefore can not be redeemed.
What is forgiveness as we are capable of understanding it? Forgiveness is the act of forgiving someone else. And, to forgive someone is to grant them a pardon for or remission of something they did. It is to cease to blame them or feel resentment against them. It is in fact, to show them mercy. To be merciful toward them.
Forgiveness doesn't always have to come after the person, who is the offending party, has repented or apologized and asked for your forgiveness. It is important to remember that we must forgive them no matter what their position is if we are to be in obedience to God.
Unforgiveness is a cancer on the heart of man, slowly eating away at him until nothing is left.
As cancer is a disease, we can see the symptoms. The symptoms are not easily missed if you just open your eyes and look at the person's actions and words. Bitterness, Anger, Resentment and Jealousy are only a few of the symptoms but are the most prominent. Even non-verbal messages can expose how you truly feel about something or someone. Without true forgiveness you will not only betray yourself by your non-verbal communication and your actions, but you will condemn yourself to a lifetime of imprisonment.
In order to 'Break Out' of the prison of Unforgiveness, you must lay down your burdens before the Lord and allow Him to give you the strength to do what we sometimes see as impossible.
FEAR - One of the reasons we hold on to the attributes of unforgiveness; anger, bitterness, resentment, is that we are afraid. Fear that we won't be forgiven if we were the offender, fear that we will be hurt again, or just fear that we will no longer have our warm fuzzy blanket; bitterness, to keep us warm at night may be the reasons for that fear.
We need to go to the Father with our fears. Don't avoid life's Gardens of Gethsemane. Enter into them, just don't enter them alone. While you are there, be honest. Pounding the ground is permitted. Sweating and tears are allowed. Crying out is expected. And if you sweat blood, you won't be the first. Just do what Jesus did; OPEN YOUR HEART!
Being imprisoned with bitterness, anger and resentment your whole life will make you a very bitter, old, sick person. Every one of you have at one point in your life have run into the old, angry and bitter old person. They are not joyful nor ever express any delight in anything. Everyone is always out to take advantage of them. Everyone insults their intelligence or thinks they are fools. Everyone hates them but they don't care. They have become the big, ugly, festering pimple on the nose of society. It's ugly, non-productive and infectious to the rest of the body. No one ever wants to be one but harboring unforgiveness, and the symptoms of bitterness, anger and resentment your whole life because someone hurt you at some point, will guarantee you end up being one.
Collossians 3:12-17 What is the key element
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience.
13 To bear with one another and, forgiving one another, if one has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
The Key element is to 'forgive as' Christ forgave you. It is something we must do.
As a Christian, we are to look to Jesus as our model. Do as Jesus did. Jesus went beyond that of forgiving his Jewish brothers. He stepped beyond that of his own teaching of forgiving 70 times 7. When he forgave the Roman soldiers who were crucifying him he set the standard for all forgiveness for all times.
Luke 23:33 "and when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
By Jesus example, we see that God's command to forgive isn't limited to our brothers, to like minded people, or to those who are sorry, or repentant for the thing they've done.
God's command to forgive isn't meant to happen when we finally get around to it or when we feel that we have had enough time for the wound to heal.
God's commands - all of them- are directed to us immediately. When we become aware of the command we are from that moment in time accountable for them. If you were to die tonight on your way home, God would hold you accountable for unforgiveness in your heart.
If you can not find forgiveness in your heart for someone who has damaged you in some way, begin by asking God to give you the ability and profess that you have forgiven them. Then STOP talking about the wrong that they did! STOP bringing it up in your conversations! STOP being a victim!
I fully believe that in order for you to walk a faithful and complete life in Christ, we must forgive. We must show forgiveness to everyone who offends us, for whatever reason, and without a hateful remembrance of their trespass against us. Without giving true forgiveness, complete with the love of God, we cannot walk in an intimate relationship with God.
Jesus stepped forward and was punished in our place. He bore the stripes we deserved as punishment. He was bruised and pierced in our place. He bore our death so we could live forever. He found, within His almighty love for us, unmerited favor, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Forgiving us of all our past sins once and forever.
WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE, CAN YOU STAND BY AND WATCH CHRIST TAKE YOUR BEATING. CAN YOU COUNT OUT THE LASHES HE TOOK FOR YOU AND STILL JUSTIFY THE UN-FORGIVENESS YOU HOLD FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE SO LITTLE TO YOU COMPARED TO WHAT YOU DID AGAINST GOD?
We are commanded to love everyone as well. Matthew 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you; "
This not only proves that we are to love everyone, but we are to forgive them as well. How could you follow this one verse without being able to forgive them? How could you forgive them if you could not love them? Verse 45 tells us why. "That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Then verse 48 tells us "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
I Corinthians 13:1-3
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."
We have been commanded to 'forgive as' we have been forgiven. Love gives us the ability to forgive. Harboring unforgiveness in your heart toward someone, and living with the consequences of that unforgiveness; anger, bitterness and resentment, can not only poison you physically and make you sick, but it keeps you unhealthy spiritually.
Harboring unforgiveness does something else; it makes a statement to God that you are better than He is. That you know more than He does. That your pride will not allow you to humble yourself and forgive. Your unforgiveness is saying to Jesus; "I know what you did on the cross, the beating you took and the love you showed with your forgiveness, but you don't know what this person did to me." You are saying, "I choose not to obey your commandment in this area."
If you choose, through your free will, not to forgive as God forgave, you are standing defiantly in the face of God and that unforgiveness becomes your willful disobedience.
You can not stand in willful disobedience with God and claim to be a Christian. Willful disobedience is a sin and you cannot stand with God with sin in your life!
Anyone who claims they have forgiven someone but continues to hold ill feelings, resentment, and anger toward the person has not truly forgiven them. Anyone who claims to have forgiven someone but makes loud statements of anger, resentment or bitterness non-verbally has not truly forgiven them. Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."
How about you, do you want to obtain mercy from the all mighty God?
We all see through our old worldly heart. We don't want to let anyone off the hook for the wrongs they have committed against us because we want them to be punished for what they have done. We want revenge. God says that revenge is for Him to take care of, not us. We must find within us, through faith, the humility to hear, and understand, what the Bible tells us about harboring hate, anger, bitterness and resentment. We need to listen to our master and do what He commands us to do. If we do not listen and obey the master, God, than who is the true master in your life. You are.
Let God be your master. Listen and obey His commands. Forgive as He has commanded us and you will become the perfection, through Jesus Christ, that He desires you to be.
Let God's love, peace and joy find you daily through your walk in Christ.
Michael
