Everybody knows that if you stick your hand in a fire
you're going to be burned. This is a fact that was
branded in our minds since childhood, therefore we
usually take special precautions when dealing with
fire. You wouldn't intentionally burn yourself because
you are aware of the pain and discomfort it will cause
you.
But what if I told you that you could be causing
yourself and even more painful and deeper discomfort?
What I'm referring to is the pain and suffering caused
by holding on to a unforgiving spirit.
A common misconception that people believe is they
have a right to be unforgiving based on the amount of
pain that was caused to them. Also since they feel
alot of pain every time they think about what happened
it's only logical to hold on to that resentment.
It seems right not to accept the guilty parties
apology and sometimes they never apologize, but I'm
here to tell you today that forgiveness is for you not
them! It's so you can move on with your life and not
dwell in the past on things that are not praiseworthy.
Holding on to unforgiveness is very painful to the
unforgiving person and alot of times causes you to
experience sleeplessness and stress which in turn
could make you sick.
In addition it makes you meditate on angry thoughts
toward the person who did you wrong which could lead
to hatred.
Hebrew 12:14 "Make every effort to live in peace with
all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will
see the Lord."
Beyond a shadow of doubt, our spiritual enemy, the
devil, will try to get us into a state of
unforgiveness so that he can have an advantage in our
life.
He will remind us of past hurts that occurred months,
weeks or even years ago, if that will work for him.
What he is trying to do is to get us to ponder them
long enough so that we will act out on them. To
"resist" these thoughts is to resist the devil.
I know first hand from my own personal experiences
that the above statements are true and terrible, but
the worst part of all is that unforgiveness keeps the
all mighty, all knowing, all powerful, most high God
from forgiving you!
In Matthew 18:21-35 The man who received personal
forgiveness but refused to forgive the man who owed
him a mere "hundred denarii's," was labeled a "wicked
servant" because he was forgiven his debt which was
far more than the debt he refused to forgive.
The power of forgiveness is immeasurable. It is a
power that Jesus used often and even delegated to his
followers.
Luke 17:3-4 "Take heed to yourselves. If your brother
sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents,
forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in
a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying
I repent, you shall forgive him".
God loves us very much and is very forgiving, even
when we make mistakes. God gives us chances to work on
our behavior and be the best we can be. When you pray,
if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so
that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Matthew 6.14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sin
against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive
you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your
Father will not forgive your sins."
In conclusion, to be unforgiving is to: anger God (Mt.
18:34), to give the devil an advantage in your life (2
Cor. 2:10,11), to conform to this wicked generation (2
Tim. 3:3), not to walk in love (1 Cor. 13:5), to stop
God from forgiving you (Mt. 6:14,15) and to negate
your own salvation (Mt. 18:32,34,35;).
David Hopkins is a "Christian Article Writer" who
specializes in helping people remember to glorify
God in everything that they do, so they don't miss
out on any of His wonderful blessings.
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