Matthew 18:21-22…..Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
This is a scripture that continuously convicts me. Jesus says He forgives 70×7 and that HE remembers our sins NO more. Which means while we sin, while we offend, while we take matters into our own hands, God continuously forgives us and gives us a clean slate. He loves us so much that He doesn’t hold our sins and our wrong doings against us. It is us that lives with shame, guilt and bitterness. Stop holding someone’s offenses towards you against them. Stop trying to prove you are right and they are wrong. That is a battle of pride. Forgive, forgive with boundaries if you were hurt. You are forgiven so forgive. If God remembers our sins no more why should you hold someone’s sin against them? Jesus says he must become less so that others may become more. Let someone see the power of Christ, his truths and his WORD come to life. Let them see Jesus in you as you forgive, give a second chance, as you become less (letting down you pride) so that they may become more ( seeing Jesus in the flesh). Hard concept but one we are CALLED to do. FORGIVE 70×7. Love unconditionally and trust in HIM. You will be lavished with his love and blessings, you will not be disappointed
Knowing all this to be true and knowing how forgiveness is one of the hardest things I walk through, it is my daily cross, I feel that the term forgiveness is soo loosely used and so misunderstood. What people need to remember and understand is that it is only through the supernatural strength of God that we are even able to begin the forgiveness process. To forgive is a choice. Its is a choice to say YES, I am going to start the process of allowing my heart to heal from a wound. It is a choice to free YOURSELF from bondage and really has nothing to do with the person that offended you. Its saying YES to Jesus and no to satan. Satan would LOVE for you to stay in a place of unforgiveness, bitterness and hurt. He would love for you to seclude yourself, isolate yourself and hold onto ALL the offenses towards people and grow a seed of hatred in your soul. When we live in a place of unforgiveness we allow ourselves to be ruled by the enemy. We aren’t living in true freedom and we aren’t praying for and loving our enemies. We are allowing the seed of bitterness to rule our lives and spread like cancer throughout our bodies. To forgive is not an easy process, in fact its one of the hardest things we need to do. But Jesus tells us very clearly in Scripture what needs to be done and how we are not called to hold grudges..
There maybe times throughout your forgiveness journey where you feel like you are healed from the offense and then boom, you are triggered buy something and you feel like you are back to square one. If you have been deeply hurt, wounded or broken by someone or something its ok if it takes you a while to heal. The saying time will heal all wounds isn’t always an accurate statement. Time gives you a chance to get right with God and do what is necessary to to heal. But if no words are spoken, no prayers are being lifted up, no action is being taken then things don’t just heal..
I was just in a situation where hurtful devastating words were spoken against me and about me. I had every right to be bitter and angry and trust me when I think about the situation and all the pain it caused, the people that have turned against me, defriended me, and unfollowed me on facebook, I can feel the rage of bitterness rise up in me. I immediately have to ask God to intervene in my thinking because it can quickly take me down an ugly road. But I consciously made a choice to forgive. In dong so I messaged the person that offended me, said I was sorry for my part in the misunderstanding and asked for forgiveness. I needed to do this to be right with God. It wasn’t about getting a response from that person, which I never did. It was about hearing God’s voice and being obedient to what he commands me to do, even if the other person is unwilling to reconcile.
The reality is we are the only ones that are accountable for our actions. We are the ones that are going to be face to face with Jesus in an account for our lives and we cant say, well that person didn’t apologize so I didn’t either. NO Jesus calls us to be different, to be a light, to bring truth and bring love. As hard as it is for the flesh to do, we made a choice and that choice was JESUS. In choosing HIM, we also have to chose what he commands and that is to forgive 70×7. Ask Jesus to guide you and help you. He will hold your hand and walk this journey and you will be blessed