Forgiveness, Part 2

Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. Jesus said to pray, "Father forgive me AS I forgive others." This is a pretty powerful concept. You mean that we can prevent God from forgiving us if we do not forgive others? The short answer is YES! It is conditional and we play a huge part in it. As believers, we forgive out of obedience. We willfully choose, or decide, to erase the offense and hold nothing to the other person's account.

Forgiveness is a deeply rooted legal financial language term in the Bible. The last thing Jesus said on the cross was, "Tetelestai!" It literally means to let go, send away, or cancel. This Greek word means, "The debt has been paid in full!" This means the debt payment for sin was paid in full. When we choose forgiveness, we literally are determining to let that person go free from the sin or offense they did against us.

The reason that God worded it this way is because He knew the damage we would experience if we were unforgiving. Bitterness plays an ugly part in our lives. Unforgiveness puts a clamp, if you will, on our heart. It is a poison to our spirit and changes our perspective and

countenance. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

Unforgiveness removes God's blessing over your life. God will always love you, but He doesn't reward disobedience. He is a good Father and rewarding sin is not in his nature. When my sons were young, I disciplined them when they did not obey. I loved them fiercely, but the command to obey served as a protection for them.

When God commands us to obey in forgiveness, it is because He wants us to be free in every sense of the word. Unforgiveness doesn't keep the other person in bondage, like we may suppose. It keeps us in bondage.

Let's choose to do life God's way. Next time let's talk about the hardest people to forgive, self and God.

•