People like to say, “I can forgive, but I cannot forget.” Have
you heard that before? Now, in the first place, nowhere in the Bible does God
tell you to forgive and then to forget. It is not in the Bible! The
devil is adding something here to make the whole thing burdensome.
God only tells us to forgive because God in Christ has forgiven
us a debt we cannot pay. When we do this, we do ourselves a favor because
harboring bitterness and unforgiveness can sometimes destroy our health!
So just forgive and let God take care of the rest. When you
really forgive, sometimes, He makes you forget. But sometimes, you still
remember the incident because it was a major thing in your life. Yet, when you
look back at it, the pain is no more there. The sting is gone and you are not
bitter.
Joseph had forgiven his brothers before they came and bowed
before him. He remembered what they did to him, but he did not remember it with
bitterness (see Genesis 50:15–21). So you may remember the incident, but the
bitterness is gone because you have put the cross in the picture—“God in Christ
forgave me. Daddy, I forgive you. Mama, I forgive you. My cousin, I forgive
you.”
When you forgive, forgive by faith, not by your feelings. We
walk by faith, not feelings (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). Some people are waiting
for feelings—“I am waiting, Father, for the right emotion to come on me to
forgive that person.” That “right emotion” may never come!
No, forgive by faith, and do it once and for all. Spend time in
prayer. Take out your diary and write it down: “Father, I bring this person
before you. You know what he did to me. Father, as You forgave me through
Jesus’ cross, even though I did not deserve it, by faith, I now forgive this
person and I let my anger against him go in Jesus’ name. Amen!”
Once you forgive by faith, you will see the sting of bitterness removed from your heart. You will experience the peace and joy of God filling your mind, and see a greater measure of wholeness in your body! (Article & Picture; courtesy of Joseph Prince Ministries used with kind permission).
No comments:
Post a Comment