STOP! It is important for you to read John 15:1-5; before
reading the rest of this article. It is
important for you to know for yourself what the Word of God has to say and not
just take my word for it!
“…apart from Me [cut off from vital
union with Me] you can do nothing.” (John 15:5b AMP)
In
the past two weeks I shared about the week long lesson we had at mission
school about forgiveness. One main thing
we learned was that we are incapable of forgiving, TRULY forgiving, by
ourselves and our own efforts. We have
all heard the phrase, “To err is human, to forgive divine” (Alexander Pope). There is truth to that statement; humans tend
to hold bitterness but God forgives.
What is our natural response to being hurt? We recoil and lick our wounds. This is what “…seems right to a man…” Yet
what seems right to us actually causes death (Proverbs 16:25). What is Jesus’ natural response to being
hurt? “And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them…” (Luke 23:34a AMP). What was right for Jesus brought life (Romans
6:3-5).
The
fact that man is incapable of forgiving was drilled home to us just as man is
incapable of working his way to heaven (Ephesians 2:8) yet the most exciting
thing I learned that week really set me free:
since I am incapable of forgiving by my own effort then I need to call
on God and His ability to forgive. We
were taught to pray as follows:
“Heavenly Father, I do not feel like
forgiving (insert name here) and I am not capable of forgiving on my
own, but You commanded me to forgive so I ask that You would enable me to
forgive (insert name here) with the same power that Jesus’ forgave from
the cross, and I ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Then
we were taught to say the following (when off by ourselves, not within the
hearing of anyone else):
“(Insert name here) I do not feel
like forgiving you but I choose to forgive you, in Jesus’ Name.”
Do
you remember my sharing that during the week they taught forgiveness at mission
school I kept remembering people from my past who I thought I had forgiven but
discovered that I really had not? I
applied this teaching to every person the Holy Spirit brought to my mind that
week. It was the most liberating thing I
have experienced in my almost 40 years as a Believer! Lewis B. Smedes wrote in his book, Forgive and Forget, "When you
release the wrongdoer from the wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your
inner life. You set a prisoner free, but you discover that the real prisoner
was yourself."
I
have applied this way of forgiving to every person who has hurt or offended
me. Does that mean I am perfect at
forgiving? No, but I am God’s work in
progress! I just keep on forgiving,
again and again…and again…and again until the point when the person who offended
me walks in the room and I have no animosity towards them and can greet them
with true Christian love.
It'll clear the bitterness away
It can even set a prisoner free
There is no end to what it's power can do
So, let it go and be amazed
By what you see through eyes of grace
The prisoner that it really frees is you
-(Forgiveness - © Matthew West)
