Forgive Quickly and Always

Week 2 – The Power of Forgiveness by Pastor Mark Cowart

We must all be renewing our minds to forgive quickly. You need to do everything you can to get this into your heart and spirit.

Looking again at Matthew chapter 18, we see another example of amounts being contrasted, like the debts owed by the two servants in the first lesson. In this example, Peter asks the Lord if he should forgive his brother seven times, thinking this is a generous allowance. When Jesus responds 70 X 7, we know that he did not mean a literal counting, but rather a much expanded estimate of our capacity to forgive.

He is saying to forgive quickly and forgive always, because unforgiveness does more damage to the vessel that is unforgiving than to the perpetrator of the offense. The damage of bitterness within a person far exceeds any effect on the offender. This is a heart issue that will adversely affect you when you do not choose to forgive. Bless yourself, and forgive your enemies.

If you do not, you run the risk of ending up like the convicted murderer in ancient times whose punishment was to be chained to and drag the corpse of their victim until the disease it produced killed the criminal. Unforgiveness creates an unholy tie between you and the perpetrator. Harboring offense and bitterness is a major liability that Jesus was warning against in exaggerated terms

In ministry over 40 years, I’ve heard from many people their life experiences. I learn to hate the devil more and more when I see the things he perpetrates upon people. I recall a person who told me they were continually physically, sexually and emotionally abused from the age of 3 until they ran away, addicted to drugs in their early teens. As they told their story, they wept, but not for the pain they endured. They said they were weeping at the goodness of God! I wondered at that.

When asked how they kept from being eaten up with unforgiveness, they looked at me and said, “How could I be bitter and walk in unforgiveness, when the Lord has done for me what He has done?” This is the heart of the matter, what the Lord Jesus concluded for us from the parable in Matthew 18. All of us have been forgiven for the debt of sin.

We were spiritually dead, cut off from God and with no way back. Jesus came, and He paid the penalty we owe. He saves us from the final, irrevocable, condemning judgment awaiting those who die in their sin. Thanks be to God!! If you had nothing but hardship the rest of your life from the point when you are born again, redeemed and brought into the fellowship of God’s children, you have cause to rejoice all your days.

The servant in the parable who had a debt he could never pay – that’s you and me. We have had our debt erased, paid in full by the blood of Jesus Christ! He is the only way. He is THE way, THE truth and THE life.

When you choose not to forgive those who owe you (much less than you owed), doors are opened to the demonic into your life. I’ve seen believers tormented and defeated because they refused to forgive other people.

And his master, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he would repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. 
Matthew 18:34-35 NASB

There is no option but to forgive. There is no justification for holding onto offense. In looking closely at the scriptures that instruct us on this topic, you can experience a paradigm shift from forgiveness being something you are forced to do, to it being something you are empowered to do to walk in freedom and blessing.

Another man I know, whose traumatic childhood embittered and hardened him, discovered when he got born again that walking in and exercising forgiveness gave him the ability to go to the next level spiritually. When you forgive those who have wronged you, you grow in spiritual strength and authority.

In the arena of spiritual warfare, you can see how this is a major force. Forgiveness frees you from satanic plans and control that’s been given ground in you by unforgiveness. When you choose to forgive, it releases you from that demonic authority, and you come under the authority, and remain and function under the authority, of the Lord.

A person’s life can spiral out of control because they don’t understand the power of forgiveness. After all, it is counterintuitive to let someone off the hook who has wronged you.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; Proverbs 3:5 NKJV

If someone hits you, you want to hit them back. If they betray you, you want to get back at them. Vengeance comes out in your mind. But, wait a minute.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19 NIV

That doesn’t mean you can’t be angry. This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the body of Christ. God Himself has righteous anger, and we should, too.

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Ephesians 4:26 KJV

For example, there are things going on right now in our society – in our schools, in our government, in media outlets – untruth and corruption being continually revealed. That makes me angry. But, what does the latter part of that scripture above mean? “Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,” means you need to clear you heart before you go to bed at night.

Unforgiveness is like a seed that begins to germinate in your mind and heart overnight. Sleep does not switch off these processes. So, you need to deal with your anger and process it out, so that it does not grow into something ugly. 
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) happens to people who haven’t done this. The cumulative effects of horrific things they have experienced take over their mind to some degree at times. This applies to not just soldiers who have been in battle. Growing up in a dysfunctional family can bring many opportunities to be traumatized. And there are many other examples.

The devil is on the lookout for victims he can influence to stay in a place of trauma, anger, unforgiveness and bitterness. But, there is good news. No matter how bad it was, there is healing for you. No matter how long you have drug that corpse with you, there is power in Christ to let it go and become whole. A key in this process is releasing the person or persons from our judgment, and you remove their influence from your life.

When my wife and I took over as lead pastor for Church for All Nations in Colorado Springs, there had been trouble, difficulty, scandal, wounding and trauma in the church. Blatant attacks by the enemy through witches and satan worshippers were happening there, and it was just craziness. The worst part was what other believers were saying to me regarding the future of the church and my role as a leader that wounded me.

I started to get bitter and angry. That’s when the Lord dealt with me. He said, “Mark, you have no option in this. You must forgive those who you think have wronged you, or you will not fulfill your destiny.” Hearing that, I took some time to pray and fast. That’s when I learned the principles of forgiveness.

1) Forgiveness is a decision and not a feeling.
2) The best way to break the back of the enemy is to start praying for those who have wronged you.

By walking this out, things began to change in powerful ways.

Pray this over your life:
Thank you, Holy Spirit, you are my helper and you bring the power necessary to fulfill the Word of God in my life. I choose to forgive. I release the people that have wronged me. I am not their judge. You are Almighty God. I cannot exact judgement or revenge on them. I leave that up to you. Help me to release this fully. Search me and know me God, do not allow unforgiveness to hide out in my life any longer.