Forgiveness
“…bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
It’s not easy but for Jesus’ sake, we must do it... Also for our freedom and peace of mind, we must forgive one another. Remember to forgive is to forget. You cannot forgive someone today and then two days later say: “Remember that thing that you did against me?” We cannot afford to carry the burden of unforgiveness around for the rest of our lives. It is too heavy and it will eventually destroy us. We say: “Ja, but that’s not fair.”
Maybe so but is it fair that the Son of God, who was totally pure and without sin, had to die a criminals death on a cross for something that He never did? You see, un-forgiveness turns, eventually to bitterness, to hatred, which eventually if not dealt with severely, will actually kill you.
If we go to Acts 7:60 we see that Stephen, the first martyr in the New Testament, when he was being stoned for nothing, said in a loud voice,
“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” - That is forgiveness! Then of course the best example of all was our blessed Lord Jesus Christ... in Luke 23:34 when He said:
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
You and I need to forgive. You know, often Jesus would say to a sick person, “Your sins are forgiven, be healed.” You see, unforgiveness can make you very sick, it can eventually kill you. I want to say to you this Sunday - Please forgive that person. You say to me, “I can’t. He was unfaithful to me, he committed adultery!” or, “That partner stole my money,” or even something worse. You need to leave them in God’s hands so that you can get up and carry on with your life.
Now, I want to do something I haven’t done before. I want to lead you in a simple prayer of forgiveness - Please pray this prayer after me, for the Lord’s sake and your sake. And I want you to name that person when we pray this prayer. Let us pray together:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I don’t feel like it... I am angry, I am disappointed, I am hurt but today I choose to forgive (name that person or those people) in Jesus’s Name.
I forgive them and Lord, I close the door - say it! I throw it into that pool and I put up a big sign there, “No fishing.”
And Lord, I am carrying on with my life today.
In Jesus Name. Amen.”
God bless you and have a wonderful Sunday.
Goodbye.