Forgiveness- The struggle, the process and the freedom.

 Forgiveness- The struggle, the process and the freedom.

Matt 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Forgiveness is something that we all want to receive but find that it is something that we either struggle giving or don’t really want to give. This is due mostly to the pain that we experience and the lack of remorse or repentance by those that have hurt us.

Matt 6 here though shows us the importance of us forgiving others.

Matt 18:21-22

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Had a friend ask an interesting question in regards to these verses. Is it simply about someone continuing to sin against us 70x7 times or could it also be that it takes us 70x7 times to get over something that someone did to us once?

Forgiveness sometimes is a process. The hurt we experienced was really and sometimes the wounds were deep. Also because we didn’t deal with the offense properly from the start the infection of unforgiveness set in. So we find ourselves dealing with the same hurt and unforgiveness over and over again even when we thought we had forgiven.

Matt 5:44-45a

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;

One of the most effective ways I have found to stay free from the prison of unforgiveness and to root out bitterness and offense is to apply Matt 5:44-45a.

Instead of praying God repay them for what they did to me I started praying for God to bless them, to bless their families. Doing that brought freedom.

Unforgiveness only hurts the one carrying it.