This study actually goes along the same lines with my bitterness/resentment study from a couple weeks ago, this was part of my notes but I didn’t find a place to put it in those articles and I felt like it was a entire article itself.
So let’s talk about forgiveness…
What is forgiveness?
Forgiveness is an act of the will.
Forgiveness is not a passive process of forgetting or letting something fade in memory.
Instead, it is an active process which involves a conscious choice and deliberate course of action. Isaiah 43:25 tells us that God has willed to remember our sins no more. Same for us: we must grab hold of God's grace and decide not to think or talk about what others have done to hurt us.
Forgiveness is not excusing sin/hurt by saying, "It's okay, it wasn't that big of a deal." Forgiveness is the opposite of excusing - forgiveness says, "yes, we both know that what you did was wrong, but since God has forgiven me, so also I forgive you."
True forgiveness is saying:
(a) I will not dwell on this incident,
(b) I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you,
(c) I will not talk to others about this incident,
(d) I will not let this incident stand between us
or hinder our personal relationship.
C. S. Lewis once wrote, "Real forgiveness means looking steadily at the sin, the sin that is left over without any excuse, after all allowances have been made, and seeing it in all its horror, dirt, meanness and malice, and nevertheless being wholly reconciled to the man who has done it."
Recognize :
"...without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins." Hebrews 9:22 ( remission here just means forgiveness ) If God needed the Cross of Jesus to forgive us, then we need the Cross of Jesus for forgive others.
There is only one way to forgive in the Bible - God's way. God created the concept of forgiveness, established forgiveness, practices forgiveness, explains forgiveness, tells us how to receive His forgiveness and then tells us to forgive each other in the same way He forgives us.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The Greek word used in the Lord’s Prayer for ‘forgive,’ aphiemi, means simply “to let go, set aside or leave behind.“ The verb, understood in its Greek sense, reminds us that forgiveness is, like love, not a feeling, but an choice/action involving the will rather than our emotions.” And Jesus is saying, If you want to be forgiven, you must also forgive those who have wronged you.
Ephesians 4:32:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
This is how God wants us to treat one another.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
When we were born again, we received complete remission—a forgiveness, a cleansing, a wiping out, of our past sins—because of what Jesus did for us. God continues to forgive us “for Christ’s sake” whenever we sin against Him. Through repentance and His forgiveness, we are restored back into fellowship with Him! Now as His sons and daughters, we have the privilege to follow His example and to forgive others and graciously restore fellowship with them just as God has done for us! Forgiveness means to do a person a favor, be kind to, show oneself gracious to, give or bestow a thing willingly or graciously; to pardon; to forgive graciously.
When we forgive a brother or sister in Christ for a wrong they’ve done to us, we are doing that person a favor, showing ourselves gracious to them, being kind to them.
Paul discussed this very topic in II Corinthians 2:6-8:—Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
Paul knew that if this man was not forgiven and provided the God’s love by the church, he would be overcome with sorrow or despair. When we love and forgive others, they will not be “swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”
Here is another spiritual benefit of forgiving one another. II Corinthians 2:11: Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. A big benefit of extending forgiveness among believers is that it does not allow the Devil to cause further damage in the Body of Christ. What a burden is lifted when we forgive one another and defeat the adversary! We are so much stronger together!!
Let’s also consider that when we forgive someone else, we are graciously benefiting ourselves as well. Like I touched on before, sometimes when we are offended or hurt by a fellow believer, our mind can replay the incident over and over in our thoughts. It can get us agitated and angry each time we think about it. By doing this, we are allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by the past. We can’t change the past; however, when we forgive, we can change the future. Forgiveness frees us from negativity and lets us move forward. We are doing ourselves a favor when we forgive! Forgiving others actually allows God to break the chains that bind US!!! Forgiveness is freedom!!
God wants His children to forgive each other. Forgiveness is a favor, a kindness that we show to others, and it is also a favor to ourselves. Let’s treat one another with the love and graciousness we have received from our heavenly Father and enjoy the benefits of forgiveness among each other.
A study I read about forgiveness stated more than one-fifth of practicing Christians (22%) reports struggling with receiving forgiveness for something they have personally done wrong. Around one in four practicing Christians (23%) has a person in their life who “they just can’t forgive.”Perhaps unsurprisingly, two-thirds of these Christians (66%) can also think of a circumstance in which they don’t want to forgive someone. Among practicing Christians who claim there is an individual in their lives they can’t forgive, more than one-quarter (28%) admits they wish they could do so.
How sad!! The reason I believe is we aren’t asking God to help us to forgive…Some things are just too heavy for us to accomplish alone… We need supernatural help!
We all have reasons we think to hold grudges. People wrong us. Situations hurt us. Even God does not always do what we think He should do, so we get disappointed or angry. We hold offenses against those who have wronged us, and sometimes even against God when we think things should have turned out things differently. A grudge is nothing more than a refusal to forgive.
What does the Bible say about it?
God has such a strong concern about grudges that He included a specific command about them when He gave the Law to the Israelites. Leviticus 19:18 —Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.”
It is interesting that God concluded this particular command with the words “I am the Lord.” In saying this, God reminded us that He is the Lord, not us. To hold a grudge is to set ourselves up as judge and jury—to determine that one person’s wrong should not be forgiven. No man has the right or God’s authority to do that.
Romans 12:19 —Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Misunderstanding forgiveness often keeps us in bondage to grudges. We think that to forgive is to excuse sin or pretend the offense did not matter. Neither is true. Forgiveness is not about the other person at all really. Forgiveness is God’s gift to us to release us from the control of someone who has hurt us. When we nurture a grudge, we are giving someone we don’t even like power over our own mind and emotions. Without forgiveness, just the thought of an offender can send acid to our stomachs and heat to our faces. When we forgive, we release to God any right to vengeance or restitution. Forgiveness puts our relationship with God back in proper perspective. We acknowledge that God is the Judge, not us, and that He has the right to bring about any resolution He chooses.
Forgiveness is the choice to trust God rather than ourselves with the outcome of the offense.
We often hold on to grudges because we feel we have the responsibility to see that justice is done or that others know how badly we were hurt. But when we release the situation to God, we allow Him to write the ending. We give Him liberty to work as He sees fit without our anger getting in His way.
Forgiveness is a matter of the heart. It is an act of surrender to God’s will and is mainly between us and God. We give Him full control of the situation!!
“The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James1:20). We have no business trying to “help” God right a bad situation through our own vengeance. He does not need our anger. He needs our obedience as we submit to doing things His way (Proverbs 3:5-6). God’s way is always to forgive as He has forgiven us (Matt 18:36; Eph. 4:32)
We can release all of our grudges, resentment, bitterness with a simple act of our will, by offering the whole situation to God and letting go of it. Forgiveness will bring healing to our souls and will allow God to build His strength and character into our lives.
So as you have been forgiven,
so forgive others!!
-Tiphanie❤️
