The Power of Forgiveness!
People don’t seem to really understand forgiveness, its true meaning or its power. There is great power available in the art of forgiveness, but let’s start with your definition. For some reason, we believe that forgiveness means “it was okay” what was done to us. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Forgiveness is simply the process of allowing yourself to let go of and release all the negative feelings of anger, bitterness and resentment, toward someone for any and all offenses, flaws or mistakes that they have made against you. I know this is easier said than done. People are capable of some horrifying things! Keep reading and you’ll see how important it is that you engage in this process.
In order to help this process along, an assessment of the situation has to be done with our greatest helper the Holy Spirit. Questions like the following need to be answered: What the heck just happened?; Why didn’t I see it coming?; Did I play a part in this?; Could I have prevented it? Why did this happen to me?
Satan really does a lot of things to hurt children because they’re too young to defend themselves and they are incapable of mentally and emotionally assessing their situations and circumstances. Additionally, they have no power or control over these situations. This makes children easy prey for Satan. For those who have been abused in any form as children, professional and spiritual help are necessary to guide and direct in this forgiveness process.
However, there are a lot of things that happen that can be prevented. Most people have to learn to fully use the Holy Spirit because He can see attacks coming at us that we can’t see for ourselves. For example; you know the way to go to work, you go the same way every day without giving it much thought. For reasons all your own, you decided that that’s the best way to go and you go that way every day. So what happens when Satan plans an attack against you on your way to work? He knows your routine as well as you. If you use the Holy Spirit as your help, you would talk to him every morning about the way you go to work, asking him if it would be okay to take the route you normally take or if you should take another route. This gives the Holy Spirit an opportunity to help you avoid an attack. The Holy Spirit and I review my calendar in advance. I ask Him for the best day and times to do the things I have to do. I also ask Him for the best route to get somewhere to avoid accidents, traffic and any other problems. I ask the Holy Spirit for help for everything I have to do in my life. I ask him to help remind me of things, I even ask His help in what clothes to wear! I really do, I understand that He’s my help and I try to take the best advantage of it that I can. This process is very effective in avoiding attacks and staying safe.
However, even with all of this, Satan’s attacks sometimes get in. And to make matters worse, when these attacks hit our lives, they sometimes come through the people closest to us. The people that we think should love us and protect us are the very ones who betray us! That’s why I also ask the Holy Spirit about everyone in my life and the reason they are there. But if you live long enough you will be betrayed, let down, disappointed and hurt by someone close to you. It’s bad enough to be hurt by a stranger, but it’s 1000 times worse when you are hurt by someone you love and who you thought loved you!
The Bible has told us that weapons will be formed against us but none will defeat us or destroy us, but how can that possibly be? The answer to that question is actually simple, but you may think I’m a little crazy when I tell you. But here goes, the act of forgiveness is how the attack can’t defeat us!
Let’s break it down and talk about it. When someone hurts us demons are there to release all kinds of negative thought responses that release feelings of hurt, resentment, anger, pain, disappointment, shock, etc. in the same moment, we accept these thoughts and feelings as a true way to react to the offense. But what would happen if you rejected those thoughts and feelings and turned to God and asked Him for help and direction? That’s not how we normally respond right? Shouldn’t it be?
I know that concept is hard to comprehend, but if we never let those negative feelings in, then we never have to deal with them and the damage and destruction that they cause. Just in case this doesn’t make sense to you (it didn’t make since to me at first either) let’s look at it another way.
Look around at all the people you know in your life. Don’t you know someone who is never happy and has no joy? Everything they have to say is negative and according to them nothing good ever happens to them. Do you like being around them? You cringe when they come in the room, don’t you? Do you want to end up like them? Even science has proven that bitterness and anger cause various sicknesses and diseases and even blocks the body’s ability to heal. So you have a choice to make.
As I know you’ve already figured out by now, one of Satan’s tactics is that he uses his attacks against you to invade you with all these negative demons via reactions to an offense. When you’re not quick to forgive, the negative seeds that have been deposited in you take root and grow. And little by little, over time, these negative demons have taken control over you. It happens so subtly that you don’t even notice it at first. But those around you notice quickly. These demons of bitterness and resentment repel people from your life, leaving you alone as they destroy you from the inside out.
This is why the act of forgiving is so powerful! The act of forgiving rejects those negative demons and spirits and the feelings that bring. The act of forgiving makes you turn toward God for His help. You can’t do this without God’s help. And together you and God can work to keep the negative seeds from rooting inside of you as you & God process what happened to you. Then you and God will develop strategies to make sure this doesn’t happen to you again and if the demons try you again, cause they will, you’ll be ready. This process of you and God working together changes you from being a victim to being victorious!
In addition to this, you have to forgive in order to receive forgiveness. Remember the whole sowing and reaping thing? Now keep in mind that you were not perfect either. You are going to make mistakes and you’re going to hurt and disappoint people too. You’ve probably already done it. You too will need someone to forgive you.
Remember the Lord’s Prayer? You can check it out in Matthew 6:12. There is a part of the Lord’s Prayer in which we are asking God to forgive our sins and mistakes. Our being forgiven by God requires us to sow the seed of forgiveness first! We are forgiven to the degree that we can forgive others. I know we don’t like a part but we have to accept it.
I know I did not like that part when I realize the reality of what God was asking me to do. God knows we would not freely forgive someone who hurt us, even though we hurt other people, so He set us up to be free as He loves us so much. When people hurt us we want revenge, but when we hurt others we want mercy, right? LOL. He saves us from ourselves because he knew how harshly we judge others and how lightly we judge ourselves. So as a way to protect us, God made giving forgiveness the requirement to getting forgiveness. Remember that sowing and reaping thing? Do you get it now? You know people can dish it out but can they really take it? Truth be told the answer is “no.”
Forgiving doesn’t make you a doormat and the recipient of bad treatment. It doesn’t mean you have to have people who mistreat you in your life. You don’t have to accept abuse of any kind from anyone, and you shouldn’t. You can cut off those people and remove them from your life. God wants you safe from harm. Cut off all the suckers in your life and after you do that, release yourself from all those negative demons and spirits that came with them. This re-positions you into the place of power and true forgiveness!
clarence D. Sellers jr
forgiveness is mostly important to me, because it allows me to have the blessings of God to continue to flow in my life. It also allows me to be in position to allow myself to grow. Thank you for this Pastor Karen.