Good day
I trust you're doing well by the grace of God.
For today's message I believe the Holy Spirit has prompted that the subject of showing forgiveness gets covered. Again, there may be many who find themselves coming under attack in this area where the devil may be looking to use unforgiveness as a stronghold in somebody's life in order to keep them in bondage and enslaved from serving God wholeheartedly and hopefully, with God's help, we can address this today.
We know that the Bible teaches us that God, out of His mercy, grace, faithfulness and love has made a way for all to receive salvation through the death, resurrection and life of Jesus Christ His Son. The scriptures tell us that salvation cannot be found under any other name (means) (Acts 4:12). It is only through receiving the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved.
Ephesians 2:4-10
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Colossians 1:13-14
For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
1 John 1:9-10
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Forgiveness is available to all because of God's love towards us and God Himself has set this into motion (John 3:16) and freely offers us this forgiveness because of His great love towards us. It is out of this love that He expects us to show others the same.
Matthew 10:8
Freely you have received; freely give
God expects us to forgive others and extend grace as we have been shown grace. When we forgive others, we are not saying that what others may have done to us was OK, but we are releasing them to God and letting go of it's hold on us so that we can be set free from all bitterness, anger, grudges and unforgiveness. We are seeking to obey the commands of God by showing forgiveness and walking in love. That if we expect God to show us mercy and forgiveness, no matter how many times we fail Him, fall short of His expectations and stumble along in our relationship with Him, as He patiently continues to show us His abounding love towards us, regardless of our performance (all the while of course not neglecting and seeking to grow as His disciples), then we should be treating others the same way.
We can see from the following scriptures that the Bible is quite clear on this subject:
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Luke 6:37
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Matthew 6:9-15
“This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 18:21-35
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. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
In the above parable we see a comparison of two people. We find a servant that has just been handed a gift where he owes his king far more than he could pay. He was entirely helpless under debt and that placed him at the mercy of the king but the king acted kindly and forgave the servant of his debt. The parable then expects that someone who has been forgiven that much debt to have mercy when faced with a fellow servant who owes so little by comparison. When the forgiven servant refuses to forgive the relatively small debt owed to him, the king, who forgave so much, declares judgment upon the unforgiving servant. At the end of the parable, Jesus makes the point that if we, the people who have been forgiven an unpayable debt—the debt of our sins, refuse to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us, we too will fall under the profound judgment of God: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
A good way to overcome unforgiveness is to take a moment to remind ourselves that our salvation wasn't cheap, that the just punishment for our sin was death (Romans 6:23). That God does not forgive our sin because we deserved it (Romans 5:8) - and we can never pay God back for what He did for us. That the reason God shows us mercy and forgives us is because He loves us! ... we also need to take a moment to reflect upon our relationship with God: Consider how many times we've fallen short of God's commandments and expectations, how many times we've been disobedient to His word, how many times we've committed sin; maybe there's been times when we've given up on our walk with Him; maybe we've done certain things we know we shouldn't have done with the knowledge that we'll make things right with Him again ... the list can go on and on; and what stands out even more is how often we can find ourselves in these positions! ... and yet, no matter how far we may have drifted, no matter how bad our "performance" as believers may have been, there remains forgiveness when asked of it ... It is upon reflection like this that we're left with the thought, "how can I withhold forgiveness?"
Another way is asking God to help us to forgive. You could say the following prayer for example, "Father, please forgive me for all the times that I've allowed anger and bitterness to fill my heart. Forgive me for the times that I've refused to forgive others for the wrong they may have caused me. Please help me Father to forgive them. I want to forgive them but I'm struggling to, and I'm asking you to help me. Please help me Lord to show mercy, have patience and forgive others the way You so consistently forgive me. Help me to walk in love towards others. It is my desire to please You and to grow in my relationship with You, so I ask Lord that You help me in this area, and I receive and welcome Your help and love right now, in Jesus name, amen"
Be blessed my friend. I trust this message could bring you encouragement and that you can share it with others as well who may need to read this message, amen.