Now Jesus calls every believer to follow His example and to manifest God to the people through our lives.
Jesus manifested God in two main ways:
· Through His lifestyle (character) and
· Through His deeds (gifts).
Jesus dwells in me, therefore I must manifest His life to others. Jesus did not reveal Himself to others; He only revealed and manifested to others Who the Father is and He did only the Father’s will. God said in His Word that whoever glorifies Him will also be glorified by Him. When God glorifies or uplift you, nobody can break, humiliate or pull you down.
«Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing» (2 Corinthians, 2:14-15).
The Bible says: «For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him» (John, 1:17-18).
The law can never save people because the law only reveals the sinful nature of man. The law was given in order for people to realize their need for God and His help. It was Jesus who brought to us the truth and the grace that conveys spiritual power necessary to live in accordance with God’s will. Anyone who will accept this truth and grace will have the power to live a holy life and become an instrument in God’s hand that is able to manifest or declare God’s truth and grace to other people.
I can’t forgive him.
If that is your excuse, then listen to this: indeed you can’t forgive, but God can do that through you.
If I forgive him, he will abuse me or think that I am in support of his his sin.
Well, forgiveness from your side is not depended on whether the person is worthy of it or not, neither does it depend on the repentance of your offender nor his changed heart. The only reason why we forgive is because we have been forgiven by God’s grace.
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.
Unforgiveness destroys godly relationships and causes splits in the Body of Christ.
There is so much chaos in the Church of Jesus Christ because of offended people. Many of them are not able to fellowship with one another and built friendship due to offenses and the fear of rejection. Many people build huge walls around them due to unforgiveness. They receive new „revelations” that separate them from the other people even more and make them passive.
Unforgiveness gives place to the devil in our lives and churches.
The Bibles tells us not to give place to the devil. One of the ways to do that is to be quick to forgive: «”Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil» (Ephesians, 4:26-27).
We can suffer shipwreck of our faith and end up in the prison with spiritual tyrants. Forgiveness makes us like our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Who forgave us all our offenses: «Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases» (Psalm, 103:2-3).
It is important to see that forgiveness towards our debtors is a prerequisite for us to continue receiving forgiveness from God. The way we treat other people that are how God treats us. God uses the same measure we measure with.
When you truly repent, you realise that you have also sinned against other people. Therefore, true repentance includes confessing your sins before other people, those whom you have hurt or inflicted pain to.
