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The Power Of Forgiveness - Our Insurance Policy Of Salvation

by French Miller  
3/03/2015 / Christian Living

"And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." -Mark 11:25,26

Today I am going to talk about forgiveness. I know that forgiveness is one of the hardest things that we can do, but forgiveness is not for the person who may have done you wrong, forgiveness is for you. When we hold un-forgiveness in our hearts we are then placed in bondage, a bondage that keeps us from the peace that Christ has for us, Jesus said "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you."

Jesus Christ carried a cross to Calvary and was nail to it for our sins. As He hung there on the cross with nails in His hands and feet, with blood running down His face from the beating and the crown of thrones that pressed into His head, He asked the father to forgive them for what they were doing. Jesus gave a strong example for us to live up to. Jesus had the power to step down from the cross at any time, He had the power to never have even went through the pain of the beatings and verbal abuse. Jesus Himself said in the garden of Gethsemane "do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will not provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels" Jesus had the power, but He chose to do the Fathers will and set an example for all to follow.

So many of us have an excuse for why we can not forgive, "you don't know what they did to me," that's the famous line that always comes out. Jesus does know what they did because He has endured more than you will ever have to in your life time but yet He still forgave. Jesus death on the cross was our life insurance policy, but like all policy there are stipulations. Life insurance policy have a stipulation that they will not payout if they suspect fraud, or the policy holder commits suicide. Jesus wrote us a life insurance policy for salvation, but in that policy He also placed a stipulation, His stipulation that will keep you from cashing in the policy is un-forgiveness. If we can not forgive we can not be forgiven,. Jesus explains the importance of forgiveness many times in scripture.

When you forgive it must be from the heart and not just idle words, Jesus told a parable about the un-forgiving servant, "There was a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants and when he started to settle one was brought to him that owed ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay the king commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all they had so payment would be made. The servant fell down before the king saying 'Master have patience with me and I will pay all that I owe. Then the master moved with compassion released the servant and forgave all his debt.

But that servant went out after that and found one of his fellow servants who owed him only a hundred denarii's; he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you all that I owe." He would not but had his fellow servant thrown into prison until he could pay. When the master who had forgiven him all his debt heard of what he had done called for him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not have done the same for your fellow servant? The master had become angry, and had him tortured until he should pay that in which he owed."

In this parable the master is God, and the unforgiving servant is man, God, just as the master in the parable will forgive us our trespasses against Him no matter how great, but we the servant can not forgive a minor trespass against us. Jesus went on to say at the end of the parable "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."

Forgiveness is the key to our forgiveness from God, not how many good deeds we do, not how much we place in the offering at church, not how often we attend service, but forgiving others, un-forgiveness leads to hatred and In the eyes of the Lord hatred is the same as murder. Jesus said we should love others the way that He has loved us, with un-forgiveness in your heart how can you love so how can you fulfill the commandment of Jesus. Proverbs 10:12 says "Hatred stirs up strife but love covers all sins." if we love others there will be no hatred so strife would not exist.

Joseph's brothers were so jealous of him that they plotted to kill him but instead they sold him into slavery. Joseph was then wrongly accused of a crime he didn't comment and spent years in prison. Joseph could have held a grudge and harbored hatred for his brothers, but instead he rejoiced to see them again and showed forgiveness even though he held the power to make their lives much worse than that in which he endured.

Joseph trusted God, he knew that god had allowed him to go through the hard times to place him were he was needed, and with this he was able to help his family during the time of famine. God placed Joseph in a position were he was now saving the lives of the very people who hated him so much that they wanted to destroy him. The forgiveness that Joseph displayed to his brothers is the kind of forgiveness that God expects us to show to those who have wronged us. God will make your enemy your footstool, but you have to be willing to forgive and let Him handle it.

I heard a story about a lady who had a problem with a shoe store, she felt the store had wronged her and said she would never shop there again but she went a step future and refused to even walk past the store. For years she kelp this promise and for years the store went on with business as usual. The same is happening in your life, that person you refuse to forgive, the wrong that was done to you that keeps you up at night from thinking about it. That person is going on with their life, "business as usual" while you are letting it eat away at your happiness and the peace that Jesus promised you.

There is so much strife and un-forgiveness amount family, it seems we find it harder to forgive those of our family than anyone else. Jacob and Esau were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob lived in the city of Judah and his brother Esau in the city of Edom. Like most siblings they had a rivalry between them, I have siblings and I know that each try to be the better of the others so you always find strife between them and things were no different with Jacob and Esau. When the time came that Judah was attacked by the Babylonians Edom joined in, Judah was defeated and its city was looted.

Scripture tells us that Esau stood at the gates of his brothers city and laughed at the destruction, instead of Esau helping his brother in his time of distress he became more concerned with getting the last laugh. In Proverbs 24:17 it says "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles" you can find many verses that will teach us how to deal with those who appose us but none more important than what Jesus said "Love Your Enemy."

God said to Esau in the book of Obadiah "But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity; Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of destruction; Nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress" a literal translation of this could be "You should not have had such a big mouth." We should learn to keep our mouth shut and let God fight our battles, God said "He would make our enemy our footstool" if we choose to rejoice and take matters into our on hands then we take it from God's hand.

Jesus said that we should love others the way He has loved us and that also means our enemy, Proverbs 25:21 says "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And the Lord will reward you" in others words "Kill them with kindness."

Jacob stood with God even as Esau his brother stood with his enemy and laughed at his down fall, but in the end it was Jacob who had the last laugh as the house of Jacob prospered and gained the possessions of its enemy. If we let God fight our battles we will have a bigger victory, the victory might not come when you think it should, but we will have victory.

When we forgive someone of their trespasses that doesn't mean that we forget, but not forgetting does not mean that you dwell on the matter every time you see that person. Not forgetting means that you do not leave yourself open for it to happen again.

Let's say that you are walking down the street and you cross over into a yard, in that yard there is a dog that bites your leg. You may feel hatred towards that dog, you may even want to run home get a gun and shoot the dog, but in your heart you know that you have to forgive the dog for biting you. Now! On the other hand you never forget what that dog has done to you so when you are on that side of the street again, you know not to step into that yard.

The same goes for those who have done you wrong, you forgive them for what they have done, and you forgive them from the heart and not just in words. Do not dwell on what they have done to you because that will allow the devil to take away your peace, you forgive, but you also remember, and you step with caution when you cross over into that yard again.

So do not hold un-forgiveness in your heart because it will not change the past, but learning to forgive will give you a much better future. Those who may have wronged you will carry on with their everyday life not knowing or carrying about how you feel, but the weight of un-forgiveness in you will keep you from the peace the Lord has for you.

I am a father, grandfather, husband and follower of my Lord Jesus Christ, I love to share the Gospel with others and I invite everyone to visit http://www.called2blessingministries.org, God Bless!

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