A powerful message was delivered Sunday night. Delivered by God through this messenger. A message for everyone including myself. A message of forgiveness. Our scripture reading was Matthew 18:21-35. I opened with why it is necessary to forgive, what stops us from forgiving, what forgiveness is and what forgiveness will do for us.
There are five reasons we tend not to forgive someone. Revenge, Pride, Self Pity, Emotional Pain, and Not knowing how to forgive. All are real barriers in the forgiving process. Forgiveness is a choice but our Lord commands us to forgive. What God commands He enables.
Forgiveness is rooted in God's Grace and Mercy.(Ephesians 2:8-9) We picked through the parable of the King and servant and likened it to God's forgiveness of us. The King forgave the servant of a debt he could never pay (around 12 million dollars). Just as God forgave our sins. Our sins are so great we could never "repay" our debt to God.
We are to forgive as we are forgiven. Freely and unconditionally, it is likened to "canceling the debt" as the King did for the servant. We shouldn't dwell on it, plot revenge, criticize, give the silent treatment, or avoid that person. Because God forgave us we are obligated to forgive others.
Postponed forgiveness leads to resentment, anger and bitterness. It will destroy you. It effects our relationship with God and spills over to other relationships. It's that "chip on our shoulder".
Personal repentance and confession need to take place to start the healing process and to set yourself free. We need to bear the burden (James 2:13) and forgive from the heart (Matthew 18:35) to set ourselves free from the bond of un-forgiveness. I asked everyone to close their eyes and picture someone who has hurt them and ask themselves "Have I forgiven that person from my heart?".
The Holy Spirit was in the building, tears were flowing, and the message was felt by everyone including myself. Now I ask, do you have a "chip" on your shoulder? Set yourself free. Forgive them from your heart.
God Bless everyone....
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