Be Free From Your Past

Week 3 – The Power of Forgiveness by Pastor Mark Cowart

Some people have been brought up in painful circumstances. The fact that they are still functioning and relatively sane is a testimony to God’s provision. Many still walk through life with crippling effects of their past, an emotional limp, if you will. I’m here to tell you – you can be free from your past! Forgiveness can free you from anything the devil has held you back with.

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
John 20:23 KJV

This statement by the resurrected Christ came after He had breathed on them in the upper room and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. Then they had the power to do this, to remit sins. Unforgiveness will keep you bound. You may think you are free but scripture makes it clear this is not the case. There is a very real consequence for you holding a person hostage, as it were, by not forgiving the wrong you believe they have done to you. Some will say they cannot forgive because the offender has not asked for forgiveness. Nowhere in God’s Word does it state that requirement.

Jesus, the innocent Lamb of God, illustrated this clearly when he entreated from the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Most of the time, the people who wrong us are totally blind spiritually. Without the blood of Christ over their life, they will often have demonic forces driving them. Generational curses, sins of the fathers, can repeat over and over again. Curses are very real. But, the good news is Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law!

Back to the scripture above, when you refuse to forgive someone, you “retain” their sin. Whatever you focus upon grows bigger within you. You will become what you hate, as the seed of bitterness you allow continues to grow within you. You want to clear all this out before sleep each night, because whatever you’ve chosen to let your mind dwell on will be reinforced in your mind during sleep overnight.

Unforgiveness will keep you bound, no matter your intellect, your talent and your determination otherwise. I have met near-genius individuals who are literally caught in a cycle of iniquity because of not forgiving. These are good people who have compartmentalized their unforgiveness (like corrupted files on a computer) so they function well in other areas. But, the corruption will throw the whole system off eventually. One critical effect of this condition is to limit your ability to love as God intends for us to love. Why is that important? Because faith works by love!

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6 NIV

If a person is holding unforgiveness and hatred, that shuts down the power of God being able to flow in your life. You find you cannot do what you want to do in your Kingdom work. You become frustrated in your spiritual life.

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” – Martin Luther King, Jr

What you have to learn is this: It is not up to you to “pull off” the forgiveness thing, because it is only accomplished by walking in the supernatural love of God. The good news is, as a believer, you’ve got it in you!

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:5 KJV

So, God puts this deposit in us, but we still have the right to choose. We are talking here about agape love, the God kind of love, enabling you to truly forgive as He forgave you.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV

Another Greek word translated into English as “love” is philia, a brotherly type love. Yet another is eros, which means distinctly physical love. It is important to note that the enemy and the world have confused these distinctions. The senses being stirred by physical attraction or lust is not love.

Familial love is the Greek word storge, a sort of obligatory affection that needs to be infused with agape love as well. As a side note, family relationships are a particular target of the enemy who is here to kill, steal and destroy everything God designed for our benefit. If the devil cannot take you to hell, he wants to cause you unimaginable pain and suffering. Jesus is saying, in the John 20 passage we started this study with, that when you release the sins of someone who has hurt you, they are remitted. They cannot stay on you. If you have believed the lie that a past trauma defines you, you will find that forgiving releases you from those limits.

It may well be that the level to which you can grow spiritually will be higher than you would have achieved without the injury done to you. Look at what Joseph said to his brothers who had sold him into slavery and many years of hardship. We know he later rose to power in Egypt and managed a severe famine, providing food to many, including his own family when they came to him.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20 NIV

We need to also remember that hurt people will hurt people. This doesn’t excuse what they are doing, but it helps us to keep it in perspective. It is not so much about us. By the same token, healed people can help heal people.

A dear Christian brother, Mac Gober, founder of Canaan Land ministry, who has gone to be with the Lord, had a personal story that illustrates a cycle of wounding within a family and then the redemptive power of God’s love. Out of a life of childhood abuse and ongoing violence came one of the most godly, loving, tenderhearted men that I have known. He tells his story in a book titled Unchained which I recommend.

This man went from being so out of control that it took more than a dozen police officers to subdue and arrest him to a person who radiated God’s grace. As his mind was renewed in God’s Word, he was absolutely transformed. After experiencing years of walking in bitterness and becoming what he hated, he learned to forgive as God forgave him and to walk in newness of life.

As long as we hold onto offenses, they have power over us. For example, if you were abused as a child and do not appropriate forgiveness for those who abused you, you are more likely to become an abuser of some sort. This stuff needs to be dealt with. This is part of what we see as generational curses.

On the other hand, when you remit those sins, you release them – all of a sudden, this power cuts you loose from all that the enemy was going to bring about in your life. When you choose to forgive, you tap into the love of God, the agape love shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit. Then, you are not only freed from continuing a cycle of abuse and wounding, but you are able to love the unlovely.

Forgiveness is a decision, not a feeling. You must remember that feelings are like the caboose on a train. The train runs with or without it. If you’ve decided to work out certain days of the week, when you wake up not feeling like it, does that mean you’re not going? You discipline yourself to override feelings that are contrary to your end goals.

When you want to forgive someone, you do it as a decision, and in time the feelings will follow. Feelings cannot determine whether you will forgive or whether you have forgiven. They are an unreliable measure.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 KJV

That Hebrew word for “all diligence” means “twice the amount”. In the same way you would conscientiously protect your digestive system from disease in water or food while in a foreign country, for fear of death or sickness, you must guard what goes into your heart even more so. This is foundational to spiritual warfare. Most people think spiritual warfare is “out there”, but in reality, it is “in here”.

Your heart is the ground you must first take and hold for the Kingdom of God. The spirit and soul of a person – this make up the heart. The soul, again, is the mind, will and emotions. Many people feel justified in their unforgiveness and anger, because of what they have allowed into their heart. This lack of understanding can have you stuck.

“The darkness is not the problem. It’s the lack of light.” — Bishop David Oyedepo

Some people cringe when they hear they must forgive. No, you get to forgive. You have the power to forgive and be free! You have the power to go to the next level. You have the power to become more Christ-like, more loving.

A paradigm shift can take place in your life. An example of something similar would be deciding not to complain about the job you have among ungodly people, but rather to give thanks. To recognize you have a job, you are making money, you have an opportunity to grow spiritually and gain spiritual authority through what you endure.

Once you understand the benefits of forgiveness, you can be freed from your past and the way cleared to move forward into all God has for you. By releasing those who have wronged you, you are released, as well, into your destiny.

Pray this over your life:
Father, in the name of Jesus, you said the hearing ear and the seeing eye is from you. Give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him to be totally, completely released from my past and from the generational curses that have followed me. I pray that this word sown in my heart will bring forth much fruit, and that breakthrough will come forth. Amen.