People who have experienced spiritual brokenness usually learn to forgive. They do not find it hard or impossible to forgive.
On this side of eternity, offense will always come (Luke 17: 1). People will step on your toes. And it has nothing to do with whether you do good or evil. Jesus was baptized with the Holy Ghost and power, and He went about doing good, yet people hated Him. At a point, He asked His haters the reason for the hatred, “Is it because of the good works I do or because I testified of my true identity?” (John 10: 32) Jesus did not only forgive His haters, He also asked God to forgive them:
Luke 23: 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Your good character is not a guarantee that people will not offend you. Your response to their offense is what matters. Christians who are still proud, whose hearts are not yet broken, are easily offended. The way they express their anger/emotion is not different from that of those who do not know Christ. However, for a Christian whose heart has gone through spiritual brokenness, forgiveness is a lifestyle. We all should ask God to give us the grace to forgive with ease. In fact, it is possible to cultivate the attitude of forgiving people in advance. Forgiving people in advance makes it easier for you to forgive them when they eventually offend you.
The Holy Spirit and an unforgiving spirit are incompatible. So, we have to choose either to forgive (and give room to the Holy Spirit) or to harbor an unforgiving spirit (and ultimately snuff out the manifestation of the Holy Spirit from our hearts). The enemy of our souls understands this very well, so he often arranges people and situations that would cause us to be offended. Actually, we may have legitimate reasons to keep malice or to hate other people. However, the Word of God and His stand on this matter is very clear (Matthew 6: 12 – 15).
Matthew 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.
To forgive is to release a prisoner, only to discover that you were the prisoner! For those who do not believe in Christ, revenge is sweet. However, for the Christian, forgiveness is our sweet revenge. The disciples once asked Jesus to allow them to call down fire on His enemies. See how the Lord replied them:
Luke 9: 55 – 56 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
Do you know the manner of Spirit to whom you belong? The Spirit of Jesus breathes forgiveness. If you belong to Him, you must forgive.
to be continued.
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