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Forgiveness

 

Matthew 6:12 - And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

You need to understand the forgiveness of God to forgive those who have hurt or wronged you.

Dr. Charles Stanley says there are five symptoms of an unforgiving spirit.

  1. You can’t stand to be around certain people.
  2. You want to strike out at people when certain subjects are discussed.
  3. You lose your temper over little things.
  4. You struggle with guilt over things that happened in the past.
  5. You find yourself hating the ones you should love the most.

Understand that an unforgiving spirit always hurts you more than anyone else. Forgiveness is an act of setting someone free from an obligation to you that is a result of a wrong done against you. In setting someone free, you experience freedom also from the hurt and bitterness that accompanies an unforgiving spirit.

Forgiveness is not just forgetting it, it is not, justifying or explaining away why the person acted toward you as they did, it’s not just asking God to forgive the person, or asking Him to forgive you for being angry, nor is it denying you were really hurt.

Godly forgiveness is choosing by an act of your will to forgive those that have offended or hurt you. You may not feel like forgiving, but do it anyway; the feelings will come later.

Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.