How to walk in forgiveness
Welcome, dear friends! Grace and peace to you from Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ!
We are continuing to talk about the importance of forgiveness in every person’s life. We discussed that forgiveness brings healing and deliverance, but unforgiveness gives place to the devil in the life of a person and a local church, deprives of the grace of God and sows division into the Body of Christ. Today I want to show you what the signs of unforgiveness are. Some of these questions will help you to determine the condition of one’s heart.
- Is there a person you do not want to listen to?
- Is there a person you are avoiding?
- Is there a person you talk badly about and are not able to stop?
- Is there a person who consumes all of your thoughts?
- Is there a person whom you suspect of doing bad things?
- Is there a person you see as a source of your problems?
If you answer ‘yes’ to even one of these questions, it means you still have to work on some issues. It is very important to take an inventory of your life in order to detect the people you have not forgiven yet and then you need to repent. Let’s talk about how to walk in forgiveness.
- Stop making excuses for your offenses.
When we make excuses, it becomes more difficult for us to get out of the offenses. When we confess any manifestations of offenses and see them as sin before God, then we start walking in the right direction. It is quite possible that you were mistreated, but it does not give you right not to forgive. If your reaction on the things happening to you does not please God – and unforgiveness never pleases God, – then you need to repent and ask God to forgive you.
- Keep your heart from offenses.
«Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life»(Proverbs, 4:23).
If we make a decision to forgive people right away, we close the door of our hearts in the face of offenses. This decision must be made before and not after we’re hurt. If we pray according to the model Jesus gave us, we will be renewed in this decision daily.
- Ask God to help you.
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah, 4: 6b).
If you feel you have problems with unforgiveness, ask God to forgive you and He will help you. You also can ask God to heal you from all of your emotional hurts and inner pain. God will take your pain, if you let Him do it.
- Do not concentrate on the hurt you have experienced.
Do not meditate upon the hurt you have experienced. That type of behaviour feeds the root of bitterness and makes forgiveness harder. Of course, some sound thinking about what has happened to you is necessary, but it is not the same as continually re-living the events and heating up the pain. By sound thinking I mean thorough analysis of the situation in order to understand what the right reaction should have been.
But when we dwell on the hurtful experiences for too long, we remind ourselves of what happened and ‘resurrect’ the painful feelings. Then all possible negative emotions flood you soul and you need to spend more time to get full healing.
In order to help people forget and distance themselves from other people, many family therapists use the technique of a person keeping in mind only the evil the particular person has done to them. Many psychiatrists use this technique in divorce cases. In order to help a wife to bury her love for her ex-husband, therapist advises her to concentrate on the bad things he has done.
After hate and anger take place of love, it becomes impossible for these two people to stay in the same room, not to mention any relationship. Of course, this method causes more harm than good for the people involved. The Bible tells us that love thinks no evil and does not remember it.
To live in forgiveness – it is not only God’s will; it is also profitable for the person willing to forgive.
God bless you!
Till tomorrow!
Pastor Rufus Ajiboye
