Jesus never intended for his present-day Church to be prisoners of war waiting for His Second-Coming rescue. He calls you to battle. He calls you to victory in Him! How can you come out of captivity and see that victory manifest in your life? There are Christians forfeiting their entire destiny because of things they are holding onto in their hearts. How can we all be free to fulfill our God-given assignment?
In Matthew chapter 16, when the Lord said He would build His church, and “…the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”, He was talking about the ones who would hear His call and relentlessly pursue fulfilling it. His team, if you will. His disciples were likely confused.
The Greek word used in this passage translated “church” is ekklesia. Until the time He made this statement, the term referred to a secular entity, a select group of people, but not the religious leadership of the Israelites at that time. In business and government, this would have been the Romans! So, Jesus would have seemed to be saying that the existing power structures would come to follow Him.
But, He wasn’t saying that. He was saying that we, His followers, would together become salt and light influencers in the world, to the degree that we allow Him to have His way in our lives. He told us, in no uncertain terms, that we must operate from a forgiving heart, or we would be powerless. Have we heeded that warning and actively learned to forgive as He forgives?
God’s forgiveness allows redemption to begin to flow into our lives. When the Lord exercised His mercy and grace through the power of forgiveness, at your request, it brought you out of darkness and into His light. However, where unforgiveness thrives, vision dies. Thus, I think we have ample incentive to seek the Lord to understand what constitutes complete forgiveness, don’t you?
There are certain things that should anger you. In Ephesians chapter 4 we are instructed to “be angry, but sin not.” The passage goes on to say we are not to give “place” to the devil. Some translations say “a foothold”, and what it amounts to is granting legal authority to the enemy by sinful anger. When your righteous anger becomes unforgiveness, this happens.
Our Lord repeatedly emphasized the critical importance of choosing to forgive. Your refusal to forgive those who have wronged you opens the door to Satan in your life. But, this is hard, I know. So many unfair things have happened to us. When we look to the cross of Christ, we get a better perspective, one that can enable us to carry out His command to forgive.
At the cross of Calvary, we see the guiltless lay down His life for the guilty, the righteous for the unrighteous, the pure and holy for the unholy and profane. He took our punishment. He gave us His crown. And, He gave us His victory.
Forgiveness is paramount in spiritual warfare to manifest that victory. Refusing to forgive denies YOU anointing and breakthroughs. Yet, it seems impossible in many circumstances. The good news is, you don’t have to do this by yourself, in your own strength. When you are born again, the love of God is “shed abroad” in your heart by a new life force. You are a new creation in Christ.
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is on the inside of you. Your walk in that Spirit depends on you maintaining your connection to the life flow from God’s Word. Psalm 119:165 says this: “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” You will find that you can forgive, when you invite the Holy Spirit and simply allow Him to do His work in your heart.
When you’ve made a quality decision that the Word of God will be your daily bread, you will notice a deficit when it begins to be harder to resist offense. Even when there is something to legitimately be angry about, you will be able to resolve your anger before the sun goes down any given day unless you are short on spiritual nourishment to strengthen you for the battle.
Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a decision, and it can be very painful, in fact. One thing that helps me get there is to remember that each time I choose to forgive, I am more like Christ. As you choose to forgive, you will literally move to a higher level of authority in spiritual warfare.
Worse than the thing done to you by the offender is the consequence of unforgiveness. The Lord Jesus told us, after His resurrection in John chapter 20, that by His Holy Spirit we could forgive or we could choose to “retain” sins. When, instead, you choose to release the person from judgment for what they have done to you, you also release that hurt and open your heart to be healed. Otherwise, you are carrying around a load of festering baggage.
Remember that you become what you hate. By giving place to the devil by holding onto offense, you give legal ground for that to happen. Don’t give license and opportunity to the devil by harboring unforgiveness. It’s like cancer of the soul. When you forgive, you are not condoning what they did, nor are you saying it was right. You are simply releasing them from judgment, by the grace of God.
For some people, it helps to write a letter to the person that will not necessarily be mailed. The purpose is for you to state your choice to forgive and to release them. Whatever you do, state their name and “I forgive you and I wish you well.” Let the Lord lead you in this.
DIG DEEPER
II Corinthians 2:14
· Matthew 16:18
· Matthew 6:12
· Ephesians 4:26-27
· Hebrews 12:15
· Romans 5:5
· Psalm 119:165
· James 1:2
· John 20:23
PRAY
– Praise and thank God for His forgiveness of your sins through Jesus Christ.
– Thank Him for His Word that accomplishes what it was sent to do in your life.
– Ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to root out all bitterness in your heart, to lead and empower you to forgive, so that you rise to a new level of spiritual authority, moving forward in your God-given destiny.
REFLECT
In case you need help getting started with cleaning this poison out of your life, here’s a short list to begin with that applies to most of us:
– Parents (even if you don’t know who they were) – none of us are perfect parents
– Anyone the Spirit brings up in your mind who has hurt you at some time in your life.
– Yourself – this determines how you will forgive others
(Love your neighbor as yourself.)
