I dealt with unforgiveness for a while several years ago. I felt so hurt and I just couldn’t seem to overcome the feelings of displeasure that was deep seated in my heart. I harboured a lot of bitterness against the person who I believe had offended me. What made it worse was the fact that this person kept on dishing out fresh doses of offense to me on a regular basis.
It so happened that just as I was trying to overcome one session of hurt, I find a new one coming up. By the time I could say I had forgiven the last hurt, another one was waiting. This was a cycle that I struggled with for several months.
Then the time came when I got baptized in the Holy Ghost and that marked the beginning of my reformation.
I started to see my offender in a different light. Scriptures that had to do with forgiveness felt weightier. God’s instructions began to make sense to me.
I was convicted of the piles of files of offense I had stored up over that period of time. I saw clearly how I had said I had deleted the files but refused to clear them from the recycle bin.
Before that revolutionary time came, I was busy deceiving myself into believing that I had forgiven my offender by constantly saying that I had even when I kept talking angrily about this person.
My friends, forgiving your offender is usually not an easy task, i wouldn’t lie to you. But it is an inevitable action if you must maintain a working relationship with God.
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15 NLT)
Forgiving those who have offended you is a command. It is a prerequisite to living a meaningful life. Refusal to forgive is a sin on its own account. It’s hard to give forgiveness but you must give it anyway.
Freely we receive forgiveness from God; freely you should give to fellow men.
The fact is that forgiving your offender brings relief to your heart too. When you refuse to forgive, you not only injure your spirit man but also damage your soul and body too.
Unforgiveness is a cancer. It controls you. It destroys. It magnifies offenses. It is a stubborn siege. But you can break free from it.
How?
Watch this video to learn more about how to forgive and why it is very important:
Decide to forgive. Choose to be at peace with all men. Meditate on Scriptures that talk about forgiveness. Tell The Holy Spirit to help you let go. You can let a spiritually matured person help you through the process if you are finding it really hard.
One thing that has helped me for years now to forgive easily is that I see beyond the person who has offended me physically to the spirit that is controlling the person and making him/her to misbehave. That way, I see it as a spiritual battle instead and tackle it in the place of prayer.
Jesus set an example for us when He asked that God would forgive those who had done Him evil because they knew not what they were doing.
For the sake of you having peace with God and enjoying peace as a person, forgive ALL those that have hurt you. You can do this with God’s help no matter how tough it may be.
Shalom!
~ OMOSEBI Mary Omolola
© 2016
