The Power of Forgiveness

The Power of Forgiveness


Often times one does not realize the power that lies in forgiveness. Forgiveness is such a powerful act of love and in fact true forgiveness is rooted in what God calls perfect love. True forgiveness is an act that must take place in the depth of your heart and is demonstrated by your actions. It is imperative that your seed of forgiveness bear the fruit of forgiveness, otherwise it is not true forgiveness.

When the seeds of unforgiveness remain, the fruits of unforgiveness grow and come forth often times without your conscious permission. So, every Christian must eradicate the seeds of unforgiveness from the depth of their heart and soul and pray that God help them to plant in their own hearts the seeds of true forgiveness that produce fruit of its kind.

As Christ was nailed to the cross; having been tortured and bruised, his love for mankind and commitment and love for the Father led him to complete the greatest act of perfect love, which was to die for the sins of the world; the sins of the very men and women that crucified him and nailed him to the cross so that the penalty of our sin would be paid and that mankind might be reconciled back to God and be forgiven.

Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. These were the very words Jesus spoke on the cross. God forgave mankind, even after man committed such a horrific crime against his innocent Son and God pardoned us from a penalty that mankind by no means could pay nor had the power or means for which to provide an atonement. This very act of perfect love is what Christ wants us to demonstrate toward each other. How dare we not forgive others that have trespassed against us when God went as far as giving his only begotten son to die for our sins and trespasses so that we could be forgiven, pardoned, reconciled and receive everlasting life.

Forgiveness truly is a gift for you…yes, the one who was wounded or hurt by another. Unforgiveness brings bondage, while forgiveness brings freedom, healing, restoration and peace. Many of the great torments found among God’s people whether it is spiritual torment, mental torment, emotional torment, physical torment and more are results of the consequences of unforgiveness. Where there is unforgiveness, there is no peace.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. According the Word of God, perfect love casteth out fear. For one individual it may be the fear to trust and love again. For another, it may be the fear of satan… but the good news is that perfect love casteth out the spirit of fear, which attacks us through the fears that best bind us and hinder the specific plan of God in our lives. So, if you have an anointing to acquire wealth, you will likely be struck with the fear to give. If you have an anointing to minister to the sick, you will likely be struck with the fear of sickness. When love is perfected, the goal of your daily walk becomes doing what ultimately pleases God even if it doesn’t feel good and even if it is uncomfortable…you will become one that is able to look beyond yourself and your own specific needs or emotions to love what God loves and do what is ultimately pleasing to him.

The price of unforgiveness is a price no man can afford to pay and should not want to pay. Unforgiveness halts the flow of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. It is like a cancer that eats away at the flesh of your heart and soul from the inside and its companion is “hatred”. As well, unforgiveness is the devourer of many of your blessings. Your forgiveness of others is imperative to maintaining a fruitful intimate relationship with God and is necessary to receive forgiveness from God. Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

No peace is also the price of unforgiveness. You can not and will not live in peace until you forgive. One’s own unforgiveness is the gatekeeper to their own bondage of torment. Matthew: 18:34-35 And his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due. So shall my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. The Lord delivers us to tormentors, which by his permission are able to torment us until we forgive. So for many, if you would truly forgive and walk in perfect love, your inner peace would be restored. The torment would stop and restoration would come again…..all this comes by the power of forgiveness.

My prayer for every one in the Body of Christ is that you forgive everyone that has ever hurt you in any kind of way from the bottom of your heart to the depth of your soul and that the seeds of forgiveness bear fruit after its kind… fruit that can say, I love you again;.....fruit that will stop the anger from arising;…..fruit that will change your tone toward those that have hurt you;…..fruit that will allow you to perform an act of kindness with no expectation of a return;...fruit that will keep you from judging;.....fruit that will keep you from condemning;.....fruit that will humble you enough to recognize that you can and should apologize too;…..fruit that will make you let it all go;..... fruit that will allow you to talk well of those that have hurt you;.....fruit that will make you bless those that have cursed you;…..fruit that will make you do good to them that hate you;…..fruit that will make you pray for those that have despitefully used you;…..fruit that will make you live, talk, move and walk more like Christ in the spirit of perfect love and true forgiveness.

And last of all, forgiveness is a choice that we must make on a daily basis. It is not a one time act, but it is a daily act that requires a conscious decision to give our hurts and wrongs done to us over to God every day and not go back and pick them back up.

To God be the Glory