We all probably know the story. Somebody offended us. We harbor the unforgiveness in our hearts and eventually it boils over. Like a pot of boiling porridge it spills over and burns everything it touches. Sticky, difficult to clean, yuck! Unforgiveness is deadly.
A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing, But a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (Amplified)
Some versions say ‘bitterness dries up the bones’. And isn’t that exactly what unforgiveness is? Its bitterness! It crushes the spirit and worse, it causes illness.
The person feels wronged. Done in. Conquered. We go through the conversation and re-enact it in our minds. What we said, what we should have said, how we could have won the argument and all the while we focus on ourselves. Our hurt. Our anger. Our resentment. Me…. Me…. Me. Those around us give ‘advice’ because they love us. But what we would really want to see is the other person suffer. “They need to go through what I am going through” we mumble under our breath. Seething inwardly at the mere thought of them. We tell others about the wrong they did to us. Asking them to pray with us. Gossip wrapped in a prayer request.
The emotions reach higher and darker. Our mood is affected. We question our worth and fiercely defend our right to be angry. And then God says:
“Have I not also created them? Have I not also forgiven them? Am I not also walking a road with them? Who are you to harbor this malice in your heart toward my created? Have you not also been forgiven much? Shall I remove the grace I gave you because you cannot extend it to someone else? Forgive my child and come to me with your pain.”
But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:15 (Amplified)
I believe the entire issue of unforgiveness springs out of 2 things namely Self-Centredness and Pride. These two ‘qualities’ are the cause of an immensely long list of hurt and sin. They set themselves up against the knowledge of God. His character. His person. His plan. His forgiveness. His Love. They seek to establish a ‘me’ instead of a ‘He’. My hurt is more important than His truth. My Feelings are more important than His love and what I am going through nobody can understand. (Not even Jesus?)
As I am writing this I have just had to forgive somebody. A person that was very close and that has caused immense hurt in my heart. I have not heard from him. It has been three months and this morning the Lord told me to ‘make it right’. So here I am, moments after sending them a detailed voice note. It hasn’t been easy getting to this point and my flesh still wars within me, but there is a calm. A peace that is growing. A deep sense of satisfaction that this too shall pass and that what I did was out of obedience. The immense relief is flooding my spirit and it really does feel that a weight has just been lifted. My countenance is smiling.
Friend – God wants you to forgive. His covenants, both old and new, are based on the concept of forgiveness. It is mentioned multiple times in the old and new Testaments and is one of the key ingredients to a spiritual life with no hindrances. (Matthew 6:12-15, Mark 11: 25-26)
If we do not forgive our brothers, who then will forgive them? God places great emphasis on love and relationships. Our pride and self-centredness are constantly vying for attention. Feeding them is like setting a match to petrol. It will burn. Hot and fast. The anger that comes with them will overtake us and feed the bitterness in our hearts. Do not let the enemy steal from you any further. Forgive. Let go and let God.
God Bless you as you seek His face.
WR
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