HOW TO FORGIVE EASILY…
Forgive her, forgive him.
These are a few statements we hear and maybe we do not understand how to forgive people even when we want to forgive them.
- Is forgiveness a feeling?
- Do I have to feel good to forgive someone?
- How can I easily forgive?
- They say I can forgive people ahead, how can I do that?
- Benefits of forgiveness…
These and more are what we will explore in this lesson.
Forgiveness is a critical issue and it is something we all should do.
This is because there is so much attached to forgiveness but for this study, we will address it to just two things.
- You receiving forgiveness
- Receiving healing
1. Your getting forgiveness is tied to you forgiving others, when you haven’t forgiven others, God will not forgive you no matter how much you pray.
Let us look at the Lord’s prayer, where Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples how to pray.
He told them that their receiving forgiveness is dependent on how much they forgave other people.
Luke 11: 4
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” NIV
So, we should not even pray for forgiveness when unforgiveness lurks in our hearts. As we progress, I will show why this is necessary.
3. Healing – many times we pray for healing, we cast demons out and we decree the word of God concerning health and healing and yet, we have witnessed many people’s deaths and unhealed hearts and bodies.
Remember Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. NIV
This scripture says we should seek the kingdom and its righteousness. But oftentimes, we seek only the kingdom and forget the righteousness of the kingdom.
Righteousness means the laws of the kingdom. The kingdom is a country and every country has a constitution and laws, there are laws guiding the kingdom.
When you face challenges in accessing a kingdom right, there is a knowledge gap on your side. There is something you have not done right, you must sit back and check well.
I will illustrate this with a story my husband shared with me days ago. I have an amazing husband who helps me daily with house chores.
One morning, he went to pack the dried clothes after he washed them in the morning.
He was looking at his phone I guess while dragging the clothes on the line. But this particular dress was not responding.
He didn’t bother to check what was hindering the clothes, he just applied force and the peg with which he pinned the clothes to the line sprang off, and then, that caught his attention.
He told me the Holy Spirit ministered to him immediately that, this is how life is.
Many of us apply force to what shouldn’t be an issue. Anytime you are struggling with something, stop and check again.
When the healing is not coming forth, check your forgiveness quotient.
WHY?
Because healing is a natural occurrence that happens after forgiveness takes place. The following scriptures illustrate this…
2 Chronicle 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. NIV
Psalm 103:3
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, NIV
Forgiveness precedes healing.
Maybe that is why healing is the children’s bread because children do not have an iota of unforgiveness in their hearts – Matthew 15:26.
Having established the need for forgiveness, let us see what forgiveness is…
WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?
Forgiveness is not a feeling, forgiveness is simply opening the prison door.
When we sin, death is the penalty for sin.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV
When someone sins, death is the penalty but a convict is not executed without being put in prison.
Forgiving someone is opening the prison door of death caused by the sin for them.
A look at the parable of the ungrateful servant shows us this…
Matthew 18:21 – 35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[g]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[h] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had to be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” NIV
God has forgiven us our debts when Jesus died on the cross for us.
This kind of debt is what we cannot pay for even if we sold our entire lineage to slavery.
Then, God wants us to extend this same forgiveness to people who err against us because that is the basis on which our sins are also forgiven when we err after salvation.
From this parable, you can see that forgiveness is opening the prison door and letting people go.
Let us look at what Isaiah said…
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; KJV
Opening of prison door talks about forgiveness.
I want to ask you, does it require emotions to open a door?
No! All it requires is a key.
The question is – do you have the key to the prison door?
Yes, you do as a believer…
Matthew 16: 9
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[a] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[b] loosed in heaven.” NIV
Forgiveness is one of the keys to the kingdom and you already have it, just use it.
It is nothing emotional.
If unforgiveness has held you bound and stopped you from getting your healing or has even degenerated to envy, jealousy, and wishing someone evil, you just got the key to your deliverance.
Be liberated and healed now in Jesus’ name, amen.
There is a saying that goes like this…
To err is human, to forgive is divine!
In as much, it was written in the scripture in black and white but the scripture supports it.
You have a divine nature and so, you have the same abilities of God because you are in the God family now.
That is why you can forgive sins on earth.
I also want you to know that Steven, the first martyr, and Jesus Christ understood that forgiveness is not an emotional issue, that is why they prayed and forgave their killers.
Forgiveness is not an emotion, it is the deception of the devil to think it is.
WHO CAN YOU FORGIVE?
Should we go about forgiving everything and everyone? How do we apply ourselves to the principle of forgiveness?
- The person who sinned against you
- The person who confessed their sins to you.
These are the two categories of people you can forgive.
- Remember when Peter asked Jesus in Matthew 18:21 how many times he should forgive his brother for sinning against him, Jesus answered him 77 times.
There are two takeaways from this scripture
- The sin was against Peter. So, someone can sin against you…
Judges 10:10
Then the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord, saying, “We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals.” NIV
In this case, the people sinned against God.
There are times when the people will sin against God and man like in Luke 15:21 which is the story of the prodigal son.
- Forgiveness should not be counted, it is something we do often.
2. The second set of people you can forgive are people who confess their sins to you.
James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. NIV
A believer can confess their sins to you and you have the key to unlock the prison door for them and pray for their healing.
I think this is the principle on which the catholic church instituted the ordinance of confession.
The laity confesses to the clergy and he prays for him and gives him some penance to do to atone for the sin.
However, we do not atone for our sins anymore because the blood of Jesus Christ atones for our sins, so we do not need to do penance – which is some sort of punishment for our sins.
However, the principle of confessing to one another and forgiving each other is biblical.
Caution should be taken in practicing this to ensure that the believer receiving the confession is mature enough to handle it and not go about gossiping about the sins confessed to them.
HOW TO FORGIVE
Now you know you have the key to forgive sins, how do you forgive people?
It is simple – by words.
Saying you forgive them…
To substantiate this, let us look at the scriptures where forgiveness was given and explore how it was given.
- The parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18, the master forgave him with words.
- Steven prayed(words) for God to forgive his killers – Acts 7:60
- Jesus Christ forgave people by simply telling them – your sins are forgiven.
- Luke 7:48 – Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
- Matthew 9:2 – Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
With the above scriptures, you can see that simply telling someone or saying it aloud – I forgive you is enough.
Will you go about forgiving others?
Go and forgive people who you have held captive so you too can be released.
Many of us have imprisoned ourselves by imprisoning others.
Letting them go is letting yourself go.
Go, proclaim to them that the prisoners are free.
I love you
Your RC
PS; kindly use this Link to read about Eve, who she is, and how it applies to us.
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