Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the gateway to healing. We should be willing to deliberately forgive those who have hurt us in order to receive healing in every area of our life. Jesus is our role model; God who is holy forgave us all our sins and now we are held responsible to forgive those who have grieved us.  This is a commandment from God, and there’s no exception.

Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Micah 7:18,19 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Once, a 9th grader who had a close relationship with Jesus got to hear from his Geography teacher that Mariana trench is the deepest place located in the Pacific ocean on Earth with a depth of about 11 kms, and he unintentionally shouted hallelujah in his classroom due to the revelation of how deep God hurled his sins in the depths of the sea. No fisherman using their fishing lines or no diver can go deep into that level and pick it up. Having realised this truth, we too need not be stingy in forgiving others who have wronged us. Unforgiveness leads to bitterness which means unfulfilled revenge, and the longer we harbour such negative emotions the longer we suffer.

Forgiveness is a decision we need to take after analysing the outcome of unforgiveness. It may take time for you to feel and experience that you've forgiven, but you first have to decide in order to feel and experience the same. Harbouring bitterness and unforgiveness causes more damage to oneself than to the person against whom you have a grievance, especially when it’s toward someone who is very closely related to you (parent, sibling, spouse, in-laws etc.) God desires to restore every broken relationship in your life, be it toward Him or another human. If you are willing to forgive, God will give you the strength for the same!

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned 27 long years for political reasons and was harshly treated and here’s a statement from him: “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” Being imprisoned for 27 years, he surely had reasons to not forgive and to harbour bitterness; instead he chose/ decided to leave bitterness and hatred behind so that he’d be liberated even in his mind. One can make themselves a prisoner within their mind as long as they harbour hatred, unforgiveness and bitterness.

When we realise somebody is hostile toward us, we can send love toward them in our prayer and the Holy Spirit who hears our prayer in secret will bring down every fortress built by the enemy in their mind and  the relationship will be restored. 

Luke 10:5,6 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you.

Similarly, we can transfer God’s love to people’s hearts. We are all in the path of growth, and it is through conflicts and experiences that we grow. The disparate trials we face in life is the training ground where we’re given the opportunity to apply the biblical truths, knowledge, revelation and thrive in life. Each time you handle the situations in life rightly and based on the biblical principles, you get to grow in Christ. 

Luke 23:34  Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
 
Among the seven sayings of Jesus, this was a higher level of prayer that Jesus modelled for us. It was a prayer for those who surrounded and treated him harshly and also for the entire human race. The foundational truth of Jesus’s forgiveness and approach toward humans is that He considers everyone innocent and therefore we too should have a similar approach to those who offend us. 

Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.
If we grow to this higher level of God’s love, we certainly will be able to let go of every offence. When we prolong unforgiveness toward a person, we’re doing harm to that person as the relationship is at stake. Instead, if true love is developed within us we can count them innocent and will be able to easily forgive them. 

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