Mark 11:25-26 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Forgiveness. Seems this word keeps coming up and back to me. Seems the people I need to forgive keep coming up and back to me. It’s a simple concept. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. Don’t forgive and you will not be forgiven. By God that is. OH but it isn’t that simple. I can say I forgive all day long. But… If I am holding a grudge or resentment or anger against my trespasser, HOW do I feel I deserve forgiveness when I trespass against others? Let less expect it from God??
“Andrea, you don’t know what they did to me. You can’t expect me to forgive them of THAT!” I AM NOT expecting you to do anything. ** I have my OWN issues I’m trying to deal with. I’m just letting you in on MY forgiveness issues.
The Bible is plain and clear. If I don’t forgive others, God is NOT going to forgive me. It doesn’t give any limitations or parameters for me. As a matter of fact Jesus says I have to forgive 77 times, for the same offense from the same person, everytime. (Matthew 18:21-22) So if they do something else, the ticker starts all over again. Yep. Yeah. That.
Mark 17:3-4 (CEV) says “Correct any followers of mine who sin, and forgive the ones who say they are sorry. Even if one of them mistreats you seven times in one day and says, “I am sorry,” you should still forgive that person.” That means I have no excuse. Even if THEY don’t mean it, I must mean it. Not with my mouth but with my heart. I must forgive. I refuse to miss HEAVEN because I refused to forgive here on Earth. It is not worth it. I don’t care what it is, what was said or what was done. I HAVE TO find it inside of me to forgive. Rather I must find HIM inside me to give me the strength and courage to forgive. I am NOT going to risk HELL in order to keep my perceived grudges, slights, bitterness, anger and unforgiveness against people… some of whom don’t deserve it. Some of whom do! Forgiveness is not approval of what was done to me. Forgiveness is letting go of the hurt, resentment, pain, grudge and judgment that came from what was done to me. When I look back and realize THEY are human, just like me, and stop holding others up to an unrealistic expectation that even I CANNOT hold, it is easier to forgive. WE ALL FALL SHORT. That statement blankets me and THEM. So no matter the offence, I am going to forgive. I am human, I will remember sometimes, somethings but I am not going to be passive aggressive. I am not going to just say I forgive but I am going to heart forgive. I am not going to lord my “bigness-being the bigger person” over them. I’m not going to make them pay for forgiveness by exacting some type of repayment or revenge. I am not even going to tell them they need to ask for forgiveness from me. Freely I am forgiven by God. Freely, I shall forgive everyone who has trespassed against me. It’s as simple as that. It’s as hard as that.
**I AM THAT I AM is thou…
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