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The Power of Forgiveness
1.
Know that you have a working RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
through asking for your own forgiveness and asking Jesus Christ into your
heart and life. This is the foundation to build on. This is where the power
comes from to take the next steps.
Romans
10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10. for
with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth
he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Want the
things for your life that God wants for you: freedom, health, wholeness,
power, love and sound mind.
Galatians
5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing
firm and do not be subject again, to the yoke of slavery [to sin].
2.
Choose to FORGIVE others. It’s a CHOICE, not a FEELING. It’s
not because they deserve it, but because you need to be free from the bitter
poison of unforgiveness. Holding unforgiveness in your heart is like
drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
Jesus set
the example after being brutally beaten and hung on a cross to die when He
said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”
23rd
Psalm, vs. 6 “…and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our
debtors.”
Read the
Parable in Matthew 18:21-35
Verses
33-35 “Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I
had mercy on you? 34. And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the
torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35. So shall My
heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother
from his heart.”
3.
Choose to RELEASE them. Choose to let them go. You are
not in control to teach them a lesson. That’s not your job. Your job is to
cultivate faithfulness to the Lord. God will take care of anything the other
person is to learn.
Psalms
37:1, 3-5 “Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward
wrongdoers. 3. Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land and
cultivate faithfulness. 4. Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you
the desires of your heart. 5. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him
and He will do it.”
4.
Choose to BLESS THEM. Again, your flesh will fight this,
but it’s right.
Luke
6:27-28 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, 28. bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat
you.”
You ask,
“How do I bless someone who hurt me?”
Answer:
Bless them with the Holy Spirit of God. He and He alone, knows what they
really need.
Luke
11:11-13 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish;
he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12. Or if he asked
for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13. If you then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
In other
words, you don’t know what is deep in the other person’s life that makes them
act the way they do. Only God does, and only He knows what action needs to
be taken to bring his child back to Him. God’s goal is always reconciliation
to Him. Changes in behavior only come through the power of His Spirit
working in their hearts. Nothing we can do in our own initiative will
accomplish God’s purposes in their life or for that matter, in ours. Blessing
others with the Holy Spirit of God is also a form of “RELEASE.” HE is in
control, not ME.
FORGIVE,
RELEASE, BLESS. As you choose to take these steps by faith, eventually
you will feel a huge burden lifted off of you. You will have freedom to live
and trust God in ways you never imagined before.
Philippians
4:7 “and the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension will guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Linda Smiley
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