“The Gift of ForGIVEness”

“Forgive—ONLY THEN will your heavenly Father…wipe your slate clean.” Mark 11:25 (MSG).

 
How heavy is a glass of water? That Depends On How Long You Carry It! A minute is no problem, and after an hour your arm might ache. But after 24 hours you’ll probably be in pretty bad shape! In each instance the glass Weighs Exactly the Same, but the Longer You Carry It, the Heavier It Feels! And it’s the Same With Un-Forgiveness; it can get So Heavy that it Causes You Physical Pain!

 
Truth is, people will hurt you; that’s the reality of sharing this planet with others. Sometimes it’s intentional, other times they have no idea they even upset you, far less broke your heart. Does that mean you should go around pretending nothing’s wrong? No, the first step is to confront your feelings. And be honest, especially when the hurt is deep, because that’s when it’s even harder to forgive.
 

That’s why you have to remember Jesus said, “Pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:28 NIV) When you do that, something unexpected happens; Your Heart Softens and You Start Seeing Them Through God’s Eyes Instead of Your Raw Emotions!
   

Warning: When You Sow Un-Forgiveness You Reap Un-Forgiveness—Even From God! “If you have anything against someone, forgive—ONLY THEN will your heavenly Father…wipe your slate clean.”

Now Isaac Is a Prime Example of Practicing Forgiveness!

 
During a drought he dug wells that his enemies moved in and claimed. But Instead of Retaliating, He Moved On and Dug New Ones! As a result God Filled Isaac’s Empty Wells and Promised to Bless Him, and His Children Too! (Genesis. 26:22-23). Likewise, when you determine Not to Retaliate, He’ll determine to Restore! He’ll Fill the Emptiness in Your Life, When You Forgive Those Who Have Hurt You and like Isaac, Keep Moving Forward!

 
Listen: I don’t speak this to you out of textbook theology, but out of Life Experience. At the age of 12 years old, I was molested. He died when I was 25, I forgave him when I was 33. I’m now 47. Let’s do the math: Something that happened 35 years ago, Took Me 21 Years To Forgive! And of those 21 years, 8 Of Them He Was Already Dead And Gone! By no means do I seek to minimize anyone’s hurt or pain. But I Know First Hand What it’s Like to Carry a Dead Man and His Deeds Year In and Year Out! Like a glass of water, it didn’t seem all that heavy to begin with…But as the Years Went On, and I Never Unloaded My Burden, it Became Heavier and Heavier. “…heartache crushes the spirit.” (Proverbs 15:13 NIV). “…gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.” (Proverbs 17:22 MSG). It was when I began ministering about the freedom of forgiveness regarding sexual abuses, that my shackles began to loosen and fall off and revival flooded my soul. I eventually went to his grave and made peace, not for him, But For Me! 

 
I share this testimony with you because far too many, Christians, are sitting in the Sanctuary Suffering In Silence over things that happened when they were Six or Sixteen and now at Sixty, They Still Have Not Let It Go! People of God, We Cannot Preach a Liberating Gospel While Bound By Un-Forgiveness Ourselves! Understand: Somebody, Somewhere Needs a “WHOLE” YOU to Minister to Their “Broken Fragments.”  

 
The next time un-forgiveness rears its ugly head, remember these few Scriptures: 

 
“In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You Can’t Get Forgiveness From God, for instance, Without Also Forgiving Others. If You Refuse to Do Your Part, You Cut Yourself Off From God’s Part.” (Matthew 6:14 MSG).

 
 “Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, Forgive Him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ Forgive Him.” (Luke 17:3 MSG).

 
“Now, regarding the one who started all this—the person in question who caused all this pain—…What the majority of you agreed to as punishment is punishment enough. Now Is the Time to Forgive This Man and Help Him Back On His Feet. If All You Do Is Pour On the Guilt, You Could Very Well Drown Him In It. My Counsel Now Is to Pour On the Love.” (2 Corinthians 2:5 MSG).

 
“…If someone falls into sin, Forgivingly Restore Him, Saving Your Critical Comments For Yourself. You Might Be Needing Forgiveness Before the Day’s Out. Stoop Down and Reach Out to Those Who Are Oppressed. Share Their Burdens, and So Complete Christ’s Law. If You Think You Are Too Good For That, You Are Badly Deceived.” (Galatians 6:1-3 MSG).

 
“Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive One Another as Quickly and Thoroughly as God In Christ Forgave You.” (Ephesians 4:31 MSG). 

 
If You Don’t Sow Forgiveness, You Don’t Reap Forgiveness! Let It Go Today, For Real and For Good! 

 
“People insulted Christ, but he did not insult them in return. Christ suffered, but he did not threaten. He let God, the One who judges rightly, take care of him.” 1 Peter 2:23 (NCV).

 
Listen to this: A little boy who’d been rude to his Mom started sneaking off upstairs. “Where you going, young man?” she asked. “To my room to talk to God,” he replied. “Isn’t there something you want to tell me first?” she said. “Nope,” he said, “You’ll just get mad. God will forgive me and forget about it.”
As comical as that sounds, the truth of the matter is, Long After You Think You’ve Forgiven Somebody You Can Still Be Harboring Hard Feelings!  

 

Therefore, here are some clues that you’ve still got work to do: You get angry thinking about what happened; you give the offender the cold shoulder; you rehearse the incident mentally and in conversation; you seize every opportunity to remind the offender of what they did. Any of that sound familiar? If so, You Need to Understand that Refusing to Forgive and Forget is Just Another Way of Justifying an Unforgiving Attitude. 

 
The Bible says there are two things God won’t share: One, His Glory—Isaiah 42:8, “I am the LORD: that is my name: and My Glory Will I Not Give to Another…”; and two, His Right to Settle Old Scores. He said, “…Vengeance is mine; I Will Repay, Saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19). In Other Words: Don’t Usurp His Authority by Trying to Get Even; Take Your Hands Off the Situation and Let Him Work It Out!  

 

When “People insulted Christ…He did not insult them in return…He let God…who judges rightly, take care of him.” 

 

 
Furthermore, a “Grudge” shackles you to the offender, and YOU Become the Hostage! You see, the word ‘grudge’ is defined as: ‘a persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a Past insult or injury.’ Its origin comes from the word ‘grutch’ which means to ‘murmur, complain or grumble’. And it’s closely related to the word ‘grouch.’ For one, the definition says it’s the result of ‘a PAST insult or injury.’ In that case you need to: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over OLD history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-NEW. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” (Isaiah 43:18-19 MSG).
 

 

No Matter How Bad It Was Conceiving This Bad Seed, It’s High Time You Abort It! 

 

Listen: After trying for years to get pregnant, I finally did, unfortunately, it was what they call a ‘tubal pregnancy.’ Although I was pregnant, the baby was not growing in a Healthy Environment for either of us. Eventually, the tube would burst, and a Life or Death situation would’ve been on our hands. As much as I wanted to hold on to it, Doing So Would’ve Been Deadly! Likewise, there are some situations you just have to let go. Why? Because You’re Causing Yourself Mental, Emotional and even Spiritual and Physical Injury! This Is Not a Healthy Environment For You or Those Involved! Let It Go! 

 
Secondly, its origin means to ‘murmur, complain or grumble’. Let’s look at how God feels about such people: “How long is this going to go on, all this grumbling against me by this evil-infested community? I’ve had my fill of complaints from these grumbling Israelites…here’s what I’m going to do: Your corpses are going to litter the wilderness…this whole generation of grumblers…Not one of you will enter the land and make your home there…the… promised land…” (Numbers 14:27-30 MSG). Now do you really want to go on grumbling?! Jesus said, “…Murmur not among yourselves.” (John 6:43) And even the Apostle Paul said, “Do all things without murmurings…” (Philippians 2:14). 

 
Understand that dwelling on something your parents did, an associate that took credit for your work, or what someone said about you, Makes You, Not Them, Miserable! You walk around in turmoil and they don’t even know/care you’re upset! Why Give Someone That Kind of Control Over Your Life? What’s important is what happens IN you, not TO you! So Forgive, Forget, And Move Forward!

 
Telling of his experience as a POW, Ernest Gordon related how after work one evening a guard noticed a shovel missing. Insisting one of the prisoners stole it, he screamed for the guilty party to come forward. Then he prepared to kill them one by one till someone confessed. Suddenly a Scottish soldier broke rank, stood to attention and said, “I did it.” The guard beat him to death on the spot. When he’d exhausted his fury, the other POW’s picked up their friend’s body along with their tools and returned to camp. At that point the shovels were re-counted. The guard was wrong. None Was Missing! With that thought, I ask you: What kind of person would take the blame for something he didn’t do? Answer: JESUS! 

 
“We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for…how someone…noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son…while we were of no use whatever to him” (Romans 5:7-8 MSG). 

 
If God Could Do That For Someone So Un-Deserving As Us, Certainly We Can Forgive Others, Deserving Or Not! 

 

Therefore, TODAY, FORGIVE! 

 

Don’t Allow Your PAST To Kill Your FUTURE! 

 

Remember, Receiving Forgiveness ONLY Takes Place AFTER It’s Been Given!

“ForGIVEness” Has the Word “GIVE” In It For a Reason! The Word “Give” is defined as “To freely transfer the possession of something as a gift.” And “Gift” is defined as “a thing given willingly to someone without payment”  

Today, determine to stop attempting to make people Pay for what they did to you. Instead, take the higher road, the one Your Jesus traveled and Give Them the Free Gift of ForGIVEness! “Jesus prayed, Father, Forgive Them; They Don’t Know What They’re Doing…” (Luke 23:34 MSG)  

FORGIVE THOSE WHO HURT YOU!

Two kids were playing when one accidentally hit the other with a stick. That night the injured boy’s Mom said, “Son, you must forgive Harry before you go to sleep.” Grudgingly he replied, “Okay, but unless I die before I wake up, he’d better watch out tomorrow morning!” Sounds comical, but when people hurt us it’s hard to believe it could’ve been unintentional or done in ignorance. Yet amazingly, after being flogged, humiliated and nailed to the cross, Jesus said, “Father, Forgive Them; They Don’t Know What They’re Doing”.  

Forgiving means Refusing to Remain a Victim! 

By not holding grudges or retaliating you free yourself from the control of those who offend you. Remember: Jesus said, “…love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you” (CEV). Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was persecuted by the Nazis, said, “God doesn’t promise that when we bless our enemies they’ll not despitefully use us. They Will. But that can’t hurt or overcome us, so long as we pray for them. By praying for them, we are doing for them what they can’t do for themselves.”  

Professor Tony Campolo routinely asks his secular college students what they know about the teachings of Jesus. The response is always the same: “Love your enemies”. More than anything else this command stands out as the thing that Differentiates Christians from non-Christians. Jesus said, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. GIVE as FREELY as you have received!” (Matthew 10:8 NLT). Practicing forgiveness stems from a deep gratitude to God for wiping out a debt so great, we could Never have repaid it! Therefore, when forgiving TODAY, remember: “…Give As Freely As You Have Received!“

“Forgiveness is not something we do for other people. It’s something we do for ourselves, to move on.” (Author Unknown)

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

“You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.” (Lewis B. Smedes)

“Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were.” (Cherie Carter-Scott)

“Forgiveness is not a feeling, but a decision to be free of ill will. The feeling is relief.” (K. Bradford Brown)

“Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.” (Jonathan Lockwood Huie)

“Forgiveness isn’t approving what happened. It’s choosing to rise above it.” (Robin Sharma)

“Let us forgive each other – only then will we live in peace.” (Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy)

“Forgiveness is the best form of love. It takes a strong person to say sorry and an even stronger person to forgive.” (Author Unknown)

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” (Author Unknown)

“You forgive yourself for every failure because you are trying to do the right thing. God knows that and you know it. Nobody else may know it.” (Dr. Maya Angelou)

“Forgiveness is Freedom.” (Author Unknown)

“Forgive others as quickly as you expect God to forgive you.” (Author Unknown)

“I never knew how strong I was until I had to forgive someone who wasn’t sorry, and accept an apology I never received.” (Author Unknown)

“Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.” (Author Unknown)

“When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.” (Nelson Mandela)

“Someday, we’ll forget the hurt, the reason we cried and who caused us pain. We will finally realize that the secret of being free is not revenge, but letting things unfold in their own way and own time. After all, what matters is not the first, but the last chapter of our life which shows how well we ran the race. So, smile, laugh, forgive, believe, and love all over again.” (Author Unknown)

“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward.” (Dr. Steve Maraboli)

“Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer and forgiveness.” (H. Jackson Brown, Jr.)

“Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a commitment. It is a choice to show mercy, not to hold the offense up against the offender. Forgiveness is an expression of love.” (Gary Chapman)

“Forgiveness is a process. A choice you have to make over and over, every day, until you’re free of hurt.” (Author Unknown)

“To forgive doesn’t change the past, but it does change the future.” (Author Unknown)

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” (Mark Twain)

“Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behavior. Forgiveness prevents their behavior from destroying your heart.” (Author Unknown)

“Forgiveness is a promise, not a feeling. When you forgive other people, you are making a promise not to use their past sin against them.” (Author Unknown)

“It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.” (Dr. Maya Angelou)

“Everyone makes mistakes. If you can’t forgive others, don’t expect others to forgive you.” (Author Unknown)

“Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much.” (Oscar Wilde)

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” (C.S. Lewis)

“Anyone can hold a grudge, but it takes a person with character to forgive. When you forgive, you release yourself from a painful burden. Forgiveness doesn’t mean what happened was okay, and it doesn’t mean that person should still be welcome in your life. It just means you have made peace with the pain, and are ready to let it go.” (Author Unknown)

“Holding a grudge doesn’t make you strong, it makes you bitter. Forgiving doesn’t make you weak, it sets you free.” (Dave Willis)

Much Love, Dr. Shermaine #EnjoyTheRead #BeInspired #BeEncouraged #BeEmpowered #BeChallenged #ShareTheWord #HealthyBodySoulAndSpirit #IWantYou2Live Well