True Forgiveness

   A friend of mine posted something on twitter that really had nothing to do with me but it really got me thinking. He said

“You have not forgiven until you've completely let go of everything you hold over that person"

 

    This really hit me hard because I thought that I had forgiven and let it go but I realized when I thought of them my heart was still hard.  This really shook me and broke me down.  I want to not feel that anger towards that person anymore because it is not right.  Even when someone wrongs us in the worst way God tells us to forgive.  Even if they never say they are sorry for what they did to really hurt you we are still told to forgive.  So last night I really just got into the word and started seeking for some guidance from God.  Here are a few of the verses that I found where God talks about forgiving others.

 

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Matthew 18:21-22

 

 

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 6: 14-15

 

 

So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

Luke 17: 3-4

 

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:7

 

When they came to a place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:33-34

 

 

  The word of God has the answer to any question you might have.  In the first verse it is one that if you grew up in church or are a believer you would know.  It is just saying that no matter how many times someone has sinned against you that you are to forgive them. 

  The second verse is also a great example of God telling us to forgive others and to not hold bitterness in our hearts to others so that he can in turn forgive us of the sins we have committed against him.

  The third verse is the same lesson as the first.  The forth is one that I think everyone struggles with and I know it is defiantly something I struggle with.  People are so quick to judge other peoples sin but nobody is without sin.  No sin is greater than another and it is not for me or for anyone to judge others.

  The last verse is the one that really gets to me every time I read it or think about it.  It seriously broke me down because while Jesus was being crucified and tortured instead of being angry with us for our sin that he had to carry and die for.   He cried out to God and said “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”.  The savior of the world cried out in his moment of pain for me and for you that God would forgive us.  When I read that and really understand what forgiveness is and the love of my savior I find that my heart is softened to even the worst offenses that have been made against me.    

  Sometime we think we have really let go of something until in some way God brings it to our attention that we have not really forgiven the way he has told us to.  Even though the realization of the fact that I was not truly forgiving people shook me it also helped me to let go and forgive the right way.

  God is so good and I am brought to tears when I think about how much God loves me and how much I love him.  It is a love I can’t understand and a love that only God can give to us.  I pray that today and every day my heart would be softened more and more to people and my heart would be open to what God has for me and what he is saying to me.