Not Forgiving Is Like A Poison!

The following is an excerpt from an excellent article that I read by Terri Cole entitle "An Exercise In Forgiveness"...

“Not forgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”—Unknown

Are you a good forgiver? As a therapist for fifteen years in both Los Angeles and New York City, I have found forgiveness to be one of the most misunderstood concepts from coast to coast.

When I encourage clients to forgive a grievance, many of them feel I do not really comprehend their situation. They believe my advice should be to never talk to the person again, NOT to forgive them. This is a common reaction due to the misunderstanding of what forgiveness is all about.

The most common misconception about forgiveness is that two people are required for it to work. This is not true. You can forgive people who are no longer here, or with whom you no longer have contact. Forgiving is all about you. Deciding whether to hold anger or release it occurs in your mind. How do you want to feel? What do you want taking up space in your brain and body? It’s your choice. Forgiveness is not condoning the actions of the other party. It is not rolling over and giving up. It is not giving in or losing anything. Forgiveness frees YOU from resentment prison.

Need another reason to give up your grudge-holding habit? Consider this: not forgiving also creates feelings of constriction and those feelings (which are energy and attract like energy) block the flow of your abundance.

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”—Paul Boese

Those are some great thoughts on forgiveness. I believe that many physical ailments and illnesses are caused by the toxic build up of unforgiveness. I also believe that the best "forgivers" should be those who have tasted the grace of forgiveness from the greatest Forgiver of all time - the Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered the excruciating torment of crucifixion and the emotional torment of being taunted by heathens and yet He forgave us "all" our sins. He expects us to forgive as well.

 

Ephesians 4:32

King James Version (KJV)

 ³²And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3:13

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹³Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

 Forbearing is an interesting word. It is the Greek word ἀνέχω anechō and it means to "sustain" or"endure". It basically means to "put up with" someone. Let's face it, there are times when we genuinely need to confront others with our grievances but most of the time we need to learn how to put up with most of their behavior. If we can learn to endure others more often it will make it easier for us to learn to forgive. For the most part we are too sensitive and too interested in protecting our self interests. We need to forbear and forgive as often as possible. Still, we will never be equal to the great Forgiver. Have you been forgiven for all your sins? Trust in what Christ did on the cross to be sufficient payment for your sins! Do it today.

 

What The Dictionary Says About Forgiveness

When you are writing posts for a blog on forgiveness you always have your eyes roaming for some subject matter! I use a lot of internet free tools and one of them is http://www.thefreedictionary.com/. Today I thought I would look up the word forgiveness and this is what I found...



1. To excuse for a fault or an offense; pardon.

2. To renounce anger or resentment against.

3. To absolve from payment of (a debt, for example).

Now I think those are all pretty good definitions for forgiveness but the one that jazzes me the most is number 3. To absolve from payment! That is the one definition that best captures the Bible's definition of forgiveness. To be sure there are consequences for our sins here on Earth. Drunkeness and immorality can wreck your physical and emotional health and most any sin has some effect at some level. But the ultimate payment, before the throne of God, is absolved or done away with for those who place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8 (KJV)

¹There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The word "condemnation" κατάκριμα katakrima means "damnatory sentence". There is no damnation for those who simply trust what Christ did on the cross to be sufficient payment for their sins! This is the very thing that makes Christianity unique and superior to all other religions. There is no karma, no uncertainty about the future. Christ saves and forgives us to the uttermost, to the end of the road. Why live another day under a damnatory sentence? Come to Jesus! See the short video in the right sidebar "How To Be Forgiven In Three Minutes".

Sorry Roger Simon, But Jesus Forgives And Forgets Our Sins

I found this article in the Chicago Sun Times...click here.
Roger Simon wrote the article and I view it as another liberal trying to smear a Republican candidate for president so I take these things with a grain of salt. Roger is probably a slippery little liberal himself but I'm not here to make judgements which Roger is definitely doing in his assessment of Newt Gingrich.
The article is titled "Sins Forgiven, Not Forgotten?". He points to Newt's past transgressions and says that it is fair for all of us to hold these transgressions against Newt and that these "sins" are the reason Newt should not be a serious candidate for our lands highest office.
First, let me say that we all need to be very careful about dwelling on other peoples shortcomings since the Bible declares "there are none righteous, no not one" and "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". Second, I don't like Roger's title. You see, the truth of the matter is that God through Jesus Christ forgives sin and forgets sin. That is something that human beings cannot do. We may have the power and the obligation to forgive but we do not have the capacity to forget.

Heb 8:12
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Heb 10:17
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

I like good news, don't you? That my friends is good news! I have heard Newt Gingrich say that he has sought God's forgiveness and I'm not going to doubt him. That is between him and the Lord, and if he has sought God's forgiveness through Christ then God has forgotten his sins.
So much for Roger Simon and Newt. Let's talk about you...have you been forgiven or are your sins still in God's record books?  Are you struggling with guilt? Trust in what Jesus did on the cross to be sufficient payment for your sins. Believe in Jesus and God will forgive all your sins and forget all your sins! Watch the little video in the right side bar of this site...How To Be Forgiven In 3 Minutes. Come to Christ today.