Category — Compassion

Forgiveness starts where anger stops.  Forgiveness is embraced when hurt has been released.  Forgiveness is about what you do despite what others have done. 

The Bible student will know that forgiving others is the active ingredient to having power, authority and blessing in your life.   After openly forgiving his brothers for their heinous crimes against him Joseph had 2 sons Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 46:20).  In short Manasseh means forgiveness and Ephraim blessing.  The old phrase “you can’t have one without the other” truly does apply. If there is any doubt about this Christ Himself dispels it in Mark 11:24-25.  In verse 24 we hear the kind of thing that stirs our faith:

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”.

However Christ does not stop there for in the same breath He continues by saying:

“And when you stand praying [for whatsoever ye desire believing to receive it] FORGIVE, if ye have aught against ANY: that your Father…may forgive you. But if you do not forgive neither will your Father…forgive you…”.

Christ Jesus again reinforces the thought in Matthew 6: 14-15.  There is no better way to say it than to quote the Saviour:

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”.

Don’t miss the central point being made by the Lord Jesus Christ –  forgiving someone else is as much about you as it is them and often more so.  Unforgiveness is sin that will steal, kill and destroy in your life whereas forgiveness will set the offended person free in life, in ministry and eternity.  In Matthew 5:22 – 24 the Lord drills the point home regarding how your actions impact massively on you.  Here the Lord tell us that we should not bring our “…gift to the alter” (v23) when there is anger, bitterness and resentment in our hearts.  What is this gift?  It is ourselves offered to Christ to serve him (Romans 12:1).  To fulfil the call of God you have to let forgiveness fill your heart. Selah!

It is vital to note that forgiveness does not mean that one deliberately places oneself in the firing line for abuse and mistreatment.  Matthew gives us specific instructions with reference to specific situations in chapter 5 verse 44.  Those as designated as your enemies (that curse you, hate, despitefully use and or persecute you) are all dealt with differently.  Whilst love (including forgiveness) can be specific to each scenario, actually doing a good dead may not be the right thing regarding those who are prepared to despitefully use you.  In this instance, for example, we are told to pray.  Whilst Paul forgave Alexander the Coppersmith he made the decision not to reach out to him, to move on in his own life and to leave Alexander for God to judge.  On the other hand with reference to those who let him down in ministry he mentions it as an issue that hurt and disappointed him but Paul makes a point of expressing an attitude of forgiveness and reconciliation.  In effect he leaves the door open for the future. See 2^nd Timothy 14 – 16.

Loving your enemies, however, is a blanket statement and applies to all.  It is only possible through a revelation of how you have been forgiven.  Not to forgive (though the journey to that place may take a while at times) makes you a hypocrite for you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ’s forgiveness when you were yet deep in sin (1 John1: 8 – 10).   

Remember one of the greatest revelations you will ever get regarding how much it cost Christ to forgive you is in that very moment when you have to forgive unconditionally and without “hope” of  revenge or recompense.  Don’t leave yourself open to harm’s way but make sure that unforgiveness doesn’t become the stumbling block to your personal walk with the Lord Jesus.  What you truly leave behind will not raise its ugly head in your future.

Despite years of suffering Joseph was determined not to get bitter. Consequently he kept his relationship so close and intimate with God that the prophetic gift and hand of favour on his life, preserving and blessing him, never faltered or waned (Psalm 105: 17 – 19).  He forgave others and found that God had not forgotten him. In fact he discovered that being prepared to forgive kept his heart soft toward and in the centre of God’s will.

How is this forgiveness possible? The answer lies in Mathew 7: 11 + 12 reading verse 7 – 12.  When you recognise that God is in control of your life not people or circumstance, at that point, “… all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you [you will actually be able to reach out and do to them]”.  When you are convinced that God is your judge, source and salvation you will find the heart and the willingness to give and forgive.  A forgiving heart is one that is preoccupied with the Lord Jesus Christ.