Total Forgiveness - Part One

I just finished an amazing book on forgiveness…..and I wanted to share some things that just really spoke to my heart. I hope someone else can take something from this and learn from it or helps you to grow closer to our Lord.

1. Being aware of what someone has done and still forgiving them……this means that you know fully what they did and you still can forgive them in your heart. You need to ask God to bless them without any consequences for their wrong (again who are we to judge)……..if you can do this…….you can then start to be a little more like Jesus.

2. Choosing to keep no records of wrong…………..1 Corinthians 13:5…..Love keeps no record of wrongs……..how amazing…….just think about this …….marriages would be healed overnight if both parties would stop pointing the finger……..re-read 1 Cor. 13:5…..

3. Refusing to punish…….we need to give up our natural desire to see that person getting to them what they deserve……..1 John 4:18 says….."there is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

4. Not telling what the person did …..don't gossip about them. Keep it to yourself……..again……..God is the judge not you.

5. Being merciful……..Matthew 5:7 says "blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy." God carries out the punishment….not you.

6. Graciousness……..this is shown by what you don’t say even if what you could say would be true. Self righteous people find it almost impossible to be gracious they claim always to be after the truth no matter the cost. Total forgiveness sometimes means overlooking what you perceive to be truth and not letting on about anything that could damage another person. GRACIOUSNESS DESCRIBED JESUS ALL THE TIME.

7. Forgiveness must take place in your heart or it is worthless. So you can speak words of forgiveness all the time but if it does not come from the heart…….wow. God is the one I want to please at the end of the day.

8. Absence of bitterness………you have to see to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble.

9. Forgiving God……..only a fool would claim to know the full answer to the question "why does God allow evil and suffering to continue when He has the power to stop it ??? But there is a partial answer…….He does so in order that we may believe. There would be no need for faith if we knew the answer concerning the origin of evil and the reason for suffering. It makes faith possible. As for all the unhappy things He has allowed to happen to me………I affirm His justice. He is God. He knows exactly what He is doing and why. For all of us who struggle with Gods right to allow evil to exist in the world there still must be a genuine forgiveness on our part.

10. Forgiving ourselves…….there is no lasting joy in forgiveness if it does not include forgiving yourself. Never go to a person you have had to forgive and say “I forgive you”…….this would be counter productive evertime unless it is to a person that you know is yearning for you to forgive them. Otherwise you will create a stir with which you will not be able to cope. They will say to you……..what am I forgiving you for? It is up to us to forgive them from our heart and then keep quiet about it.

Learning to forgive and wanting to be more like Jesus………
Kim Caldwell

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