Final Touches on Forgiveness - Part 2 - 09/26/2021

September 26, 2021 Thank you for condolences Final Touches on Forgiveness Is Forgiveness a Choice and Reasons We Don’t Forgive? Select Scriptures IS FORGIVENESS A CHOICE? … to that I say: You Decide! I heard someone once say that “unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” It’s true: Holding a grudge is harmful to you and not really hurting the other person at all. Jesus best illustrates what choice looks like when it comes to forgiveness: In the Lord’s prayer, Matthew, Chapter 6, Verse 12, Jesus said for us to pray: “And forgive us as we forgive others”. That’s person to person or horizontal forgiveness. That level of forgiveness is between me and you, you and me. But then He ratchets up the ante of choice in Matthew 6: 14 & 15 when He brings Himself into mix and says: 1 If you choose not to forgive neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you. That’s the choice of vertical forgiveness. Unforgiveness can have an effect on your health, your personality, and your overall happiness. That’s why we all need to know the Importance of Forgiveness from a biblical perspective. God knows how much harm the choice of forgiveness can wreak on us. That’s why He gives us knowledge and understanding on how to set ourselves free from the pain and suffering of unforgiveness which allows us to live a victorious life! Some of us have allowed the “enemy of unforgiveness” to own us for too long. It has dogged your life for far too long. Some of us have been festering in the same unforgiveness for months, even years – 5, 10, 15, 20 years or more because you refuse to forgive. It’s time you put unforgiveness in its place. You’ve been flying the flag of unforgiveness long enough. Take it down today and fly the flag of victory in Jesus today. As long as you fly the flag of unforgiveness, you are glorifying Satan. Take it down and replace it with God’s flag of victory and glory. Serve notice on unforgiveness today. Just be willing and God will step in help you. You don’t have to have all the ingredients of forgiveness working in your life. All God is asking for is for you to give Him permission to come in and help you. You give Him permission by first having a will to embrace His Word and instructions on forgiveness. Just be willing and God will take it from there. 2 2 Corinthians 8:12 says . . . For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. Forgiveness is a choice! It may be a hard choice and it may seem impossible, but the bottom line is, it’s up to you to make the decision to forgive. It’s not a decision based on how you may feel, because the flesh is a deceiver. It is at war with the spirit; the flesh wants to do what the flesh wants to do. It wants to do what feels good and that’s usually not the answer. In the case of unforgiveness, the flesh wants to glorify the devil through: Revenge, Retaliation, Vengeance, Payback, Disconnection]. You will need to side with your spirit and bring your flesh under control. Galatians 5:16 KJV “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Anytime we cater to the flesh, we have elected to not walk in the Spirit. It’s a choice. Sadly, we prematurely conclude “I CAN’T FORGIVE”. When we draw such a deep line in the sand, we’re really saying, “Jesus’ death on the cross and His forgiveness of me and the whole world is inadequate . . . it’s in sufficient. We’re saying, He lacks the power to empower me to forgive as He desires and command. So then, we don’t forgive! Why Not? Next Week FOUR reasons why we often refuse to forgive: . . . Final Touches on Forgiveness Is Forgiveness a Choice? Yes! 3