News Ticker

THE WORD THIS WEEK: Forgiveness sets you free

September 30, 2013 cm-admin Inspire 0

30 Sept 2013 by Rev Jai Kumar-

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Mk.11:25.

THERE IS HEALING IN FORGIVENESS

The power of forgiveness is the power you have over anyone who has hurt you! Forgiving sombody sets you free! It takes the load off your back and enables you to live once again.

As long as you don't forgive someone, you take them with you. Bitterness and resentment do more damage to the one who carries them than the one who wronged you.

It is an undeniable fact that we live in an imperfect world. Many things are not fair and right in this world and we are never rewarded justly even when truth is on our side.

Nevertheless, it is only human that we continue to fight for our rights. And you know what? It only makes us downright resentful. Such destructive emotions only deplete your energy and strength and prevent you from walking in the blessings. Besides, it steals the joy out of your life.

WHAT A TRAGEDY

Let's be serious, nobody makes progress when they are facing the wrong direction! Only when you turn your focus in the right direction and forgive, there will be a light for you shinning from the other end of the tunnel.

However, that obviously doesn't mean that you don't recognise the wrongs other's have done to you. It simply means that you choose to forgive and focus on what you can control, and that is your attitude and your responses. Whatever you don't forgive, you 'relive' those hurtful moments. That causes you to keep striking at others and doing that will rob you of the joy of loving and being loved in return. What a loss! Here is a key: "Whatever you don't want to be carried into your future, you need to cut it out in the present. Repeating the past will only create more of your past."

THERE IS JOY AND PEACE IN FORGIVENESS

When you choose this line of action to forgive, you will discover very quickly:

It increases your energy
It builds your potential
It brings Gods grace and favour on you
Your life span and health increase tremendously

A BITTER ROOT WILL PRODUCE BITTER FRUIT

It will contaminate everything you do in your life.

Time is speeding pass us and in fact, we are running out of time so to speak. Meanwhile, many lives have been fractured, many families have been divided and many people are sick and miserable because of the 'bitter root of unforgiveness.' Many people are not able to come to terms in view of the hurts and pain derived from unforgiveness and bitterness. It is a sorrowful state because of 'this bitter root', which is unfortunately not dealt with in many lives.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Bitterness is more devastating than betrayal.

Betrayal is something others do to you; bitterness is something you do to yourself!

The hardest time to be gentle is when we asume we are right and somebody else is wrong. And very quickly and very easily, we pronounce judgment on others according to their ACTIONS; we judge ourselves according to our INTENTIONS. And in most cases, we end up becoming bitter, hurt, and sorrowful.

IT IS TOXIC AND POISONOUS

Increasing medical evidence have been revealing that the root of bitterness and unforgiveness is largely responsible for a lot of psychosomatic and physical illness in human beings in the present society. When you hate somebody, you kill yourself either directly or indirectly!

When you withold unforgiveness, you not only hurt the other person, but you hurt yourself more.

You lose the joy of living. It hangs over you like a cloud, affecting everything you do. You become drained out, you age faster. No matter how much you try to hide yourself, one can at a glance decipher the condition of your heart. Because Prov.4:23 says, 'Out of the heart flow the issues of life.' But when you forgive, you release peace, joy, and restoration to the forgiven and also healing to your body soul and spirit.

You can see the sparkle and glory on your face because what is in your heart will always be transformed into the expression of your looks.

PEACE WITH GOD CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED BY JUSTIFYING YOURSELF

Despite all your good excuses to justify yourself for being where you are for withholding forgivenes to somebody, may I say to you, God will never compromise with you.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Mk. 11:25

But in the midst of all this, you and I are so fortunate to live in this world. Let us be thankful and grateful for God's goodness and mercy upon us. The mercy God has shown us; let us reciprocate the same mercy towards others.

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?

(Mt 18:33)

Let us no longer hold on to bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. The test of love is to forgive the guilty! That's what God did for you. The question is, "Can you pass the test?"

Only when you are at peace with others then you can have peace with God and the peace of God that passeth all understanding will remain with you for ever.

Note: Rev Dr Jai Kumar is the founder and pastor of Full Gospel Outreach Ministry KL. He is also a member of ECCM, spiritual overseer for Full Gospel Christian Church KL, co-founder of the Kingdom Christian Fellowshp Subang Jaya, and also the author of a book entitled, 'God's Time Clock.'