Unchained to Love
“We cannot be right with God when we are wrong with others.” — Lehman Strauss
When you hear the word “forgive,” what do you think of?
Many of us immediately will think of someone who has hurt us deeply or scarred us, the person whom we once were close to who betrayed us. Some of us, when we hear that dirty word “forgive,” our stomachs start to churn. We have all faced it, and none of us will escape it.
We are all human with something called the flesh (sin) that plagues us and tells us that we have the right to hold on to unforgiveness and bitterness, that the person who has wronged us should be punished or a prisoner in a jail cell in which we take on the role of the guard. We chain ourselves, and we become a servant to sin.
Let us look at the Word of God to see how it instructs us on how to handle forgiveness and what we are called to do about it.
In the Gospel of Matthew 6:14-15, it reads, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
And in the Gospel of Mark 11:25, we see a similar verse: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
We see how important it is to forgive. If we don’t forgive, we are not forgiven, and it puts a gap between us and our Creator and Savior. God’s Word makes it clear we are called to forgive.
Forgiveness releases us from our guard duty. People who refuse to forgive hurt themselves — a lot of times they can’t sleep, have no peace, physically their blood pressure rises, they end up with ulcers, it has been proven to cause the risk of cancer to be higher in one’s body, and they become negative and cannot see the good in anything. However, forgiveness brings health in the physical, emotional and the spiritual aspects of our lives, and we are released.
This quote from D.L. Moody is so true: “One of the greatest barriers to effective prayer and spiritual vitality is an unforgiving heart.”
Forgive today and be released!
As I think of all the commands of Christ, I think that the command to forgive might be one of the top 10 that is the hardest to get a handle on. It goes against our nature to the very core. Everything in us screams not to do it, but then we remember what the words in red say, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” And we know what our response must be.
I do want to encourage you that in forgiveness, we are not called to forget; only God the Father has the gift of holy forgetfulness. We need to remember that we learn from our mistakes and actions. God is perfect and doesn’t have to learn anything; He is all-knowing.
As I close, I want to share a quote with you: “Forgiveness doesn’t change history; it makes living with it easier with no ill effects,” Unknown.
So I encourage you, fellow runners in Christ, to let go, forgive and be UNCHAINED TO LOVE.
Running with you, Pastor Dave