“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25-26)
This post was inspired by my friend who shared her problem. She has a problem to forgive her boyfriend who has been hurt her heart. I am interested to post this article because forgiving is often times be a difficult thing to do in our lives. Hopefully this article can be useful for many people who has same problem with my friend.
When we repented of our sin and asked for God to forgive us, He forgave us for all of our sins in the past and any we would commit in the future. It did not matter what sins we committed in our life. God was willing to forgive us. He knew our heart than we had a genuine sorrow for our sin.
There was only one perfect person, Jesus Christ. We are not perfect and sometimes people say things of do things to us that can cause hurt or anger. We have to remember that the other person is not perfect either. Whether they meant to do the things they did or said does not matter. They may not see that they have done something wrong.
If the person is another Christian we are directed to speak to them to let them know that we were offended or hurt by their actions (Matthew 18:15-17). If they do not listen we are to go to the person again with other Christians. After that point we are to go to the pastor of our church. God tells us that if they still do not hear then we are to let them be as ‘an heathen man’. We still have to forgive them for their actions.
What about the lost person that falsely accuses us, persecutes us, or commits some wrong against us? We need to look at the person through the eyes of God. They need Christ just like we did. On the cross Jesus made a request of God concerning His persecutors, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24). They do not understand the impact of their action and do not realize what they are doing is wrong in the eyes of God. We have to forgive them.
Forgiveness does not mean that we need to embrace the person who persecuted us by allowing them in our life to continue the persecution. It only means that we understand ‘they know not what they do’
Forgiveness is not initially about the person who wronged us; it’s about us. If we will not forgive someone who has hurt us, we start to change on the inside. We grow in anger and resentment. The quality of our own life continuously suffers and in this way, we compound the wrongdoing until it becomes something far more damaging than it originally was. One of the most important reasons we must forgive is that we cannot grow into the mature Christian whom Jesus is calling us to be with all that hurt and animosity building up inside us. Forgiveness is that act by which we release ourselves from our own prison of bitterness.
I know and realize that forgiving those who have hurt us is not an easy thing. But let’s we ponder this; God tells us that if we do not forgive that He will not forgive us . As a Christian this means that our prayer will be hindered. If this time we are struggling to forgive someone who has hurt us, do not rely on our own strength. Remember we are not the perfect person. Ask for God to help us so that we are able to forgive someone. God can give us the strength and understanding we need to forgive so that we can grow closer to the Lord. More than that, we have to pray for the people who have hurt us so that they are aware that they have done wrong to us. Forgiveness is about how we respond. If we follow Christ’s pattern, we still love the person who offended us, even to the point of death. That is love. Love and forgiveness go together.
My dear friends, what about us? whether we still have the spirit to forgiving? Are we still hard to forgive someone and still would not give forgiveness to everyone who has hurt us? If we realize that they are imperfect people like us who one day might also be able to hurt others? Once again, let’s we ponder this verse: “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Amen.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”Matthew18:35
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32
Karina
Thank you to my sister in Christ Julie http://followhislight.wordpress.com for your awesome suggestion on this post.
Photo credit: sunset in Uluwatu,Bali by Kimiko Sato
Karina's Thought 
As usual, very inspiring post Karin. I find it hard to forgive too especially if I was deeply hurt. It takes a strong person to forgive. I hope one day I’ll be that. =) have a great night my lovely friend.
Thank you dear Ar Vhee 🙂 yes it was so hard to do it but we should to learn for it. Have a great night to you too 🙂
Wonderdul, Karina. I love how you said that forgiveness releases us from our own prison of bitterness. Thanks
Hi sis.
You are welcome and thank you for your kind comment. Many blessings on your beautiful morning.
Blessings back my sister. 🙂
I believe, one of the greatest ways to show Christ to others is by being willing to forgive those who have wronged us. How important your posting is this morning Karina! Lord bless.
Thank you for your kind comment,Rob 🙂 Blessings.
Whenever I have trouble forgiving, I remind myself that there are times I may have hurt someone without my knowledge. Maybe someone was trying to say hello, and I didn’t see them, or maybe said something that was taking out of context, but would want to be forgiven if what I did hurt someone else. When don’t forgive it gives rise to Satan, and weakens the Kingdom.
What such a great testimony. I have learned valuable thing from your comment. Thank you so very,very much. Blessings.
Amen! 🙂
Forgiveness is about how we respond. If we follow Christ’s pattern, we still love the person who offended us, even to the point of death. That is love. Love and forgiveness go together. You’re right, it is not easy. But in the end, if we don’t learn to forgive, it will eat us up like poison.
Thank you for a wonderful post. I think it’s awesome.Blessings on your day!
Hi sis, good evening.
Thank you for your suggestion, sis. I think I must update my post and add your suggestion. Yes I miss this an important thought. Once again thank you, sis. Many love and blessings to you.
Thank you. And good morning to you.
Blessings on your day!
Wonderful post! I love this and it is so important for us to do this. Love you! 🙂
Hi grandma, Good evening.
Thank you so much 🙂 by the way how are you? Hopefully everything gonna be well..:) love you too. Have wonderful evening.
Reblogged this on Sarah's Voice.
An important lesson, not always recognized as valuable by this world. ❤
Thank you sis 🙂 glad you like it. God bless.
Wonderful post.
Thank you very much, sis Julie 🙂 God bless.
Another very good post, Karin. One note…if we forgive anyone who has wronged us, and they wrong us again, we need to forgive them again. This may be hard to do, but it is what the Lord expects of us. We need to try not to give these kind of people chance after chance to betray us, but we must forgive them each time they do…(Matt. 18:21-22).
Thanks for a good post, sis!
Steve
Dear, brother..
Thank you very much for the important note from you. That is very true. We always to forgive without limitation..Thank you for lovely comment on my post, brother. Have a blessed day.
I know you would be one to forgive without number. No, we don’t need to go looking to spend time with those who always betray us in some way. But if and when they do…we forgive. Think of all the times God forgives us…over and over again!
Take care with God’s rich blessings, Karin!
Steve 🙂
Forgiveness is not always easily accomplished. God though calls us to forgive others, as He has forgiven us. Blessings, A. ❤
Yes it is true. Sometime so hard to forgive some one. But God teaches us to always forgive others as He forgives us. Thank you very much for your lovely response, Sister. God Bless.