People use different excuses to justify there disobedience to walk in forgiveness

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 6 minutes
Peace and grace from our Lord, Jesus Christ be multiplied unto you on this beautiful day! I pray that God’s word will impregnate you and strengthens you in your spirit, soul and body. Today we are going to conclude our topic on the importance of forgiveness to.   Earlier on we defined several steps we can take in order to walk in forgiveness. Lets us review the steps again: 
  1. Stop justifying your lack of forgiveness!
 
  1. Keep your heart free from offenses!
 
  1. Ask God for help in the area of forgiving others!
 
  1. Do not keep your focus or concentrate on the pains you experienced from other people
 
  1. Pray for your offenders and bless them!
 
  1. Submit your right to be offended to God!
 
  1. Look unto Jesus and follow His example!
   In addition all the above steps, to walk in forgiveness we have to: 
  1. Take into consideration the facts of what God have done.
   When we remember and take into account the fact that Jesus has paid for all our sins on the cross, we realise we have neither any reason nor right not to forgive people. Considering this, we will be able to clearly see and understand why God can’t forgive us our sins unless we forgive our offenders and debtors. The letter of Paul to Philemon is a good demonstration of this truth. One of Philemon’s servants stole some of his property and ran away. The name of the servant was Onesimus. Destiny brought this run away slave in contact with Apostle Paul, and as a result of this meeting he gave his life to Christ through the preaching of Paul. After Onesimus repented of his sins he desired to return to his master, but was not quite sure how his master would receive and treat him. Therefore, Paul wrote the letter to Philemon, and asked Onesimus to deliver the letter to his master.   Every one of us may have our own Onesimus who may have so deeply hurt or offend us, that it is too hard or difficult to forgive them and let them off the hook. However, after they repent, we can easily forgive and receive them if we consider what Paul wrote in his letter to Philemon:  
«Therefore, though I have all boldness in Christ to command you that which is appropriate, yet for love’s sake I rather beg, being such a one as Paul, the aged, but also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. I beg you for my child, whom I have become the father of in my chains, Onesimus, who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me. I am sending him back. Therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, whom I desired to keep with me, that on your behalf he might serve me in my chains for the gospel. But I was willing to do nothing without your consent, that your goodness would not be as of necessity, but of free will. For perhaps he was therefore separated from you for a while, that you would have him forever, no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much rather to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. If then you count me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. But if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, put that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides)». (Philemon 1:8-19)
   If you paraphrase the above passage by replacing the name of Paul with the name of Jesus in this verse, and Onesimus with the name of your offender whom you can hardly forgive, then the passage will read as follows:   
«I, Jesus, beg you for my son (daughter), (Tamara, John, Chris, Diana, etc.), whom I have died for. I am sending him back, therefore receive him. But I am not willing to do anything without your consent, so that your good work (the decision to forgive) would not be as of necessity, but of free will. That’s why, if you count Me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. But if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, put that to my account. I, Jesus, write this with my own hand: I will repay it (not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self besides) ».
   People use different excuses to justify there disobedience to walk in forgiveness, even though God is inviting us to forgive. You have to decide for yourself to forgive or not to forgive because the choice is always ours. Let’s see some of the flimsy excuses people use to justify their unforgivness: People often make statements like:   
  • 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.   
  • I have to do put maximum pressure on my offender in order to force him to repent. If I forgive him immediately he might not repent at all.
 If you are not God, then don’t try to do His job for Him. God can put such pressure on your offender that you know nothing about, if that is all it takes for him to repent. 
  • I have forgiven my offender, but I am not going to ever talk to him again.
 Did God talk to you after He had forgiven you? If yes, then who are you imitating? 
  • I forgave him, but I will never forget the wrong he did to me.
 Since God has forgiven and forgotten your sins, why can’t you do the same for the other person? 
  • I know I have to forgive but my offender has to feel how deeply I have suffered. Let him also feel my pain a little bit.
 Jesus completely forgave us, even though it cost Him His life, didn’t He? Follow His example! Let’s learn to forgive just as God has forgiven us all our sins through Jesus! God bless you and your relatives abundantly! Rufus Ajiboye, pastor

Support us so we can do more

We’ll get right to the point: we’re asking you to help us support our Church online minisry. We’re a nonprofit that relies on support from people like you. If everyone reading this gives €12 monthly, Spirit and Truth city Church can continue to thrive for years.

Similar Posts

  • There are three main types of believers: observers, consumers/users and servants!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes
    What type of a believer are you? What are you: an observer, a user or a servant? Today we will attempt to establish what distinguishes observers and consumers from servants.Observes do not care for what goes on around them; they demonstrate indifference. What happens in church does not concern him; he thinks that he only needs to attend Sunday services. He is there for the worship and the sermon and it is enough for him. Such a believer has no problems; he is doing fine at work and at home. He simply observes the events around him and he is happy.

  • We have to be ready to go wherever God sends us to

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    As we concluded yesterday, we have to become obedient disciples, so that our families, our church and our towns can be stirred. God uses obedient disciples to fulfil His prophesies and restore His will on Earth. Even more, we have to be ready to go wherever God sends us to. Thus we can fulfil our calling. Obedience to call begins with obedience to short instructions God gives to us through His word and our leaders in Christ.It´s also important to know that Jesus knows everything, He possesses all hidden information, necessary for our mission. That´s why obedience to the Lord who knows everything is vitally important! When Jesus had a need for a donkey to ride upon to Jerusalem, He knew where to find the animal. He knew where to go and find that donkey. He knew how to bring that donkey to Him.

  • Cooperation with God

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    When we continually pray and worship God, then our main desire is doing the will of God. Many prayers remain unanswered by God, because these prayers have a wrong foundation and demonstrate wrong priorities. For example, you may pray for a person with some serious problems. And you ask God to remove his or her problems or to solve them. At the same time you know that even if the answer to this prayer comes, the problems might return, since the cause of them has not been removed. That is why when Paul prayed he always asked for the people to learn the will of God and have a desire to do His will and be fruitful.

  • But he who endures to the end shall be saved!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    The question arises why so many people start their walk with God but turn aside in one of the crossroads of life; they turn back to where they came from. It reminds me the story of Jewish people. For a long time this nation was in slavery in Egypt. They were burdened by hard work with no payment. The nation of Israel cried out to God, and God delivered them and brought them out of Egypt. They had to walk to the Promised Land. Every day they were getting closer to it. There were difficulties on their way; they had to flee some wrong things, avoid making wrong decisions, wrong relationships; they had to overcome grumbling and complaining. Israelites had to obtain more and more knowledge of God while heading towards their Promised Land.

  • Do you know that you are not all you could be yet?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 3 minutes
    “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him”In the above passage, Jesus saw two brothers trying to catch fish by the sea side and immediately recognized that they have a better destiny, so He instructed them to follow Him. This word of God to you today is this: Follow me and I will make you.Do you know that you are not all you could be yet? Only the Lord knows who you are created to be and He wants to make you become who you are really created to be. That is why He said “I will make you”.

  • Is anything too hard for the Lord?

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    This question is so crucial because how we answer it will determine the measure of God’s involvment in our lives. This question helps us to realize that how much we know about God affects the level of our faith.When a person believes that there is nothing impossible for God, that person has a particular attitude towards life, a particular reaction to hardships, a particular spiritual attitude that appears when he or she runs into difficult problems that do not change for a long time.