It is often said that forgiveness is a virtue to not only for yourself, but to others as well. For the most part, I like to consistently act in other’s favors and grant forgiveness wherever forgiveness is due.
Ephesians 4:31-34 ~ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
This brings up the question for me: How do we love and forgive others who have committed crimes against humanity? How about those whom have abused us mentally, physically, and sexually? How could we possibly forgive the way that God loves and forgives us?
Essentially this pastor’s sermon summarizes the matter in that because God gave his only Son to save us, as humans, God holds us to this Godly standard to forgive those who may have wronged us. To deny forgiveness of others is to deny Jesus dying on the cross for our sins so that we can have Eternal life with him in Heaven.
“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” –Proverbs 17:9
As I leaf through my Bible, I come across a lot of content that deals with forgiveness. If your enemies call and say they repent their sin(s) to Jesus, you must forgive them (Luke 7:3-4).
Using these verses as context, I still do not understand how to forgive the person who raped me over two years ago. How do I know if that person repented for his sins and whether or not he deserves forgiveness for what he did to me?
Although I feel like I have let my jadedness disappear, I assume there is some resentment and anger that I hold onto that will take a long time to heal from.
From the way God spoke through this pastor, we must repent for those who don’t have the ability to ask forgiveness from God. We, as Christians, must instantaneously forgive those who have wronged us, just as though God instantaneously forgave us through His son that he sacrificed on the cross and had resurrected His son just three days later.
Through this pastor, God spoke and said that when we choose not to forgive the wounds we are given, this grants Hell and Demonic forces the ability to over power us with no intervention from God… until we repent to Him.
Moral of the story: Repent to God and ask for the forgiveness of those who have wronged you so don’t experience torment or torture through Satan. Jesus dying on the cross to save the believers, even if it was just you means that God loves you so much, more than we will ever know.
God grants us adversity not to watch us stumble and fall, but to rely on Him and shine His light through us believers so that others can see the goodness of God. It is difficult to forgive someone of their sins when they have no intention on apologizing for their actions. But without the forgiveness given to others as God forgave us and our sins, we must forgive them and pray for them and their salvation.
Honestly this question still stumps me because I feel as though in my own heart, I have went through my grieving processes and forgiveness towards my offender. But I never dreamed of repenting my sins in the matter and although I pray for the hurting man daily, I think of the resentment that I still have there in my heart and I am unsure how to get rid of it.
I suppose that praying and reading more scripture is the only way I can get the hurt out of my heart. That and through the support of my family, friends, and all of you.
Cheers to progression,
Dani
Precarious Aquarius 