Forgiving Others

[Chad]

Forgiving Others

Jesus spent a great deal of time talking about the importance of forgiving others. He made it clear that forgiveness is to be a characteristic of his followers. So let's explore what it means to forgive others, the benefits of forgiving and how to forgive.

What It Means To Forgive

"Do not take revenge, my 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)

To forgive someone means to not seek revenge on the one who has hurt you. It means letting go of the anger we harbor inside us and allowing God to deal with him or her as he, in his perfect wisdom, sees fit.

It doesn't mean excusing a wrong or denying that it ever happened. It means we don't allow ourselves to be consumed with anger towards the one who has done something to us. Instead of cursing him, we pray for him. Here are three verses that reflect the attitude of the forgiving heart:

"Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

"Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it." (1 Peter 3:9)

"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, 'I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,' says the Lord. Instead, do what the Scriptures say: 'If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you'. Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good." (Romans 12:17-21)

The Forgiveness Factor

"And don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior" (Ephesians 4:26-27,31)

As the verses above tell us, anger gives Satan a foothold in our lives. Anger has a devastating affect on our relationship with God as well as with others. Over time we will take our anger out on those around us. It will consume us and eats us alive unless we deal with it. Jesus passionately taught us to forgive others, to let go, to let him handle it. He wants us to be at peace and for that to happen anger must be replaced with forgiveness.

A few years ago Christianity Today featured a cover story entitled, "The Forgiveness Factor: Social Scientist discover the power of a Christian virtue" (January 10,2000). In it, they discussed how researchers have discovered the importance of forgiveness. What was most interesting was that they had come to the conclusion that the one who does the forgiving is the one who benefited the most. Social science is just now beginning to understand what Jesus taught 2000 years ago!

How To Forgive

"Without Me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

After Jesus taught the apostles about forgiveness (Luke 17:3-5) they said to him, "Give us more faith!" Forgiving is not easy. It takes the strength of God to truly be able to let go. It takes faith and much prayer to say to someone, "I will repay this evil with good. I will not hate you."

"I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)

The One who spoke these gentle words has the power to heal the hurting soul. He can take your shattered life and piece it back together again. You just need to let Him. "Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you."

Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and when we do something beautiful and indescribable happens: He takes that which is terrible and molds it into that which is wonderful. He gives us beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3). With His help all the restlessness, all the anger that has built up for so long, will wash away like waves turning back into the ocean. He will, just as He promised, give us peace.

Here are some tips to help you forgive:

- Do not deny that you have been hurt. As we learned, forgiving is not denying.
- Make a decision to forgive others (Luke 17:3-5)
- Do not seek revenge or repay evil for evil. Let God handle it in his perfect way (1 Peter 3:9)
- Ask Jesus to help you release the anger inside you (Ephesians 4:26-27,31)
- Pray for a forgiving heart and read what the Bible says about the subject. Pray for those who have hurt you (Matthew 5:44)


Article From:
Forgiving Others - BibleStudyPlanet.com

 

[SpiritLedEd]

One thing I've learned about forgiveness is that it is usually not a one time event. I held a resentment against a member of my wife's family for a long time and each time the offending person's name came back into my mind , I felt the anger reaching the boiling point again, I had to decide to forgive that person over and over and over.

:ip: Over the years, I've forgiven this person for this offense many times, but I've found that in doing this, over time, the resentment has largely eased up. It no longer threatens my serenity.

SLE

 

[stephen]

Forgiveness.....It is essential as we follow the master, but it is not always easy.

Upon recommendation, I invited a brother unknown to me, along with his wife to Pastor a local fellowship. Many of this congregation were introduced to Jesus and the church by me. Lovely couples with children. Probably a dozen families or so, within the church of 200 folks

Within a few years all these lovely folks, and others, had been driven away, by the covetousness, boasting, general brazen-ness of this minister and his wife. Finally the church was decimated and he was asked to leave. That was 4 years ago. A new Pastor and family now reside, but the church remains low key and struggling

I find it difficult to forgive this man and his wife, when I think of the damage they have done. I also find it very hard when he approaches to give me a hug at Regional Meetings.

Only Jesus can help me......Pray for me please

 

[ladylovesJesus]

Forgiveness.... I can empathize with you Stephen as I have been through 2 church splits. The last one a lot of damage was done by the Pastor and he was like a friend in so many ways. I find it hard to trust leaders in church now. I actually left the church after he left.

Some years ago, I had counselling and there were several occasions when I had to forgive people who had hurt me in the past. Even those who were no longer alive. It is a decision we make and choose to forgive others. It is not a feeling or we would never be at a place to forgive. Never easy but something we need to do in order to be free. The person who is responsible may or may not ask for forgiveness but it is so important that we do as Jesus told us and forgive them each time.

God bless :rainbow:

 

[pixie]

I am pretty lucky

I am blessed because it is easy for me to forgive. God gave me the gift of forgiveness and forgiving is very easy for me to do. I don't seem to harbor any resentment over anyone.
I have been hurt deeply in the past, but God gives me the Power to forgive.
It is a true gift from God. I also pray a lot about bitterness, forgiveness....
I find that it only hurts me.
One thing that I do harbor resentment towards and it only impedes my journey with Christ and that is, I find it hard to forgive the Roman Catholic church.
I get so peeved that I was taught so wrong about Jesus Christ. There is such little emphasis on Jesus. He is not really considered for too much, for instance a person prays to a priest called Father, who mediates on behalf of the person who is seeking forgiveness, with the Father. Jesus isn't even mentioned. I am carrying a burden, because of this. I just want to completely break away from all the teaching, that I have been taught.
I pray for anyone that has a spirit of unforgiveness. May we all be able to forgive. My dad says that in the Roman Catholic church that "it isn't the church, it is the people". Well, I think those people had better get themselves spiritually better.
Anyway, there is always such good teaching here at Talk Jesus. Thank you Chad for sticking it out all these years. God WILL reward you, for the faith you have had in His Son, Lord Jesus Christ. Amenixie

Acts 13:38 (Whole Chapter)
"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

Timothy 1:6 3If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing.

 

[HouseofJudah]

I have been hurt by both church and family. It was easy to forgive the church leaders for the manipulating and dominating as well as using me. The hardest to forgive was my family because I felt that they were supposed to care for me. It's a step by step process that GOD is taking me through to forgive them and sometimes He leads me to pray for them.

 

[Light&salt]

I agree with you HouseofJudah. It feels harder to forgive sometimes, especially the people we love the most. I believe the most important still is to make the decision to forgive. God see in our hearts our willingness to forgive, even if the feeling of forgiveness may take some time for us to experience. My hardest experience of forgiveness was to forgive the man that killed my grandmother. I made the decision, and nothing inside me followed. My feelings were still the same. After a while the change started to manifest in my feelings too, one small piece at a time. He restores us completely when we follow His heavenly laws. Think of looking into the heavenly realm to see what happens when we forgive. To see chains loosen up and fall off and people be set free.
God is awesome