Breaking The Chains Of Unforgiveness

Breaking The Chains Of Unforgiveness

Scripture: Luke 17:3,4

Luke 17:3,4

There is much misunderstanding about what forgiveness really means. There's a story about a pastor who visited a man who had been active in the church, but, due to a dispute with a fellow member, he had stopped going to church. The Pastor reasoned with him at length about the need for forgiveness and returning to church. Reluctantly, he agreed, and then they prayed together. When the pastor was leaving, he followed him to the car and said, "Now, I’ll forgive him, but all I want is for that man to stay on his side of the church, and I’ll stay on mine."

Sounds like some of you all doesn't it? Let me tell you something: Unforgiveness will rob you and I of our friendships, Unforgiveness steals our joy, it keeps us focused on the past, it zaps our energy to the point that we can't even focus on the present.

How Do We Know if We Need to Forgive?

We need to forgive if we find ourselves thinking about an offense with no outside prompting. In other words, we bring up the subject to others or to ourselves for no apparent reason of how so and so offended me. 

In otherwords, Somebody hurt your feelings. They were rude to you, they showed you no kind of respect. Church folks are the most touchy feely people i have ever seen. One of the common themes being spoken of in the church today is "Church Hurt" listen if being hurt by church folks causes you to lose faith in God, then your faith was in people not God.

I have never seen so many offended saints in my life. There's a difference between "church hurt" and being rebuked. 

That's another message.

Jesus said in v.1 " "Offenses will certainly come, but woe to the one through whom they come!"

 Another Translation says , "Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.

Offenses will come … what you do with them will determine your future.

This is where Forgiveness comes in because If we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us. 

We may say "But God you don't understand if they say one more thing to me I just may set it off up in here....they dont know who they messing  with I will get em just watch. 

Listen, Revenge is a trap of satan that will destroy you. Don't fall into that TRAP!  Let God be your avenger let him fight your battle he said in Romans 12:9 "Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God's wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord" all you need to do is......… forgive and forget.  Forgiveness does not mean you agree with what the other person did, it simply means you are releasing them to God.

Sometimes an offense doesn’t disappear overnight.  If we have been truly wounded, it takes time for that hurt to heal.  A tiny splinter in the finger heals much quicker than the incision from open heart surgery.  

Yes some offenses have wounded our heart …but you need to allow the wound to heal.  Give yourself time.  Try to allow a distance between you and them, so that the wound will not be reopened and during this time, pray blessings over those who have hurt you and mean it!

Reconciliation isn’t always the case, but, If at all possible, as much as depends on you, the Bible says to live peaceably with all men. ( Romans 12:18) 

We want to be peacemakers … not peacekeepers.  A peacekeeper avoids confrontation at all cost to maintain peace, even at the risk of compromising truth.   A peace maker will go in love and confront, bringing truth so that the resulting reconciliation will endure.  He will not maintain an artificial, superficial relationship.  He desires openness, truth and love.  He refuses to hid offense with a political smile, He makes peace with a  bold love that cannot fail.

How can I know when real forgiveness has happened: Forgiveness has taken place when we no longer dwell on the offense.

We must stop bringing up the offense to the offender, to others and to  ourselves. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 says Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked,thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

If we have really forgiven someone, or covered it in love, we will not brood about it. Forgiving is a type of forgetting. Jeremiah 31:34 . . . declares the Lord, “ I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”