November 13, 2022— I remember one night in my church I spoke about forgiveness. Our church was small. Before that day, we had about 12 members. However, on that day, there were about 25 people in the church. God must have done that, because there was not a special event nor a different preacher speaking that night. Regardless, it was definitely within His will. When the pastor called me to pray, I ended up doing what I normally do: I prayed, and I preached. I had told them something like this, “Stop saying that you are not smart enough, Stop saying that you are not pretty enough, that you are not strong enough. Before you forgive others, you need to forgive yourself.”
Oh Lord, the Holy Spirit moved that day and hearts were changed. By the end of the service three women were saved. Hallelujah!
The underlying message that I made was actually two-fold:
God made you as He did. You are enough.
Forgiveness starts and ends with you.
God Made You and Provides for You
Before the world began, there was God. God has no beginning nor no end; He is everlasting (Psalm 90:2). Yet, in His plans He made you and He has brought you to Him. Psalm 138:13-14 says, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.”
Now understand this, God made you and gave you what you needed. In fact, God is still providing for you. Here are a few things to consider:
You were born naked, but He gave you clothes. For God taught Adam how to make clothes (Genesis 3:21).
You need shelter, but He holds you. Psalm 139:10 says, “Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.”
You were hungry, but He fed you. God provides for everyone and everything on this earth. There is a perfect passage that describes this. When Jesus was teaching His disciples, one thing He taught them was not to worry, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25).
You were thirsty and He gave you Jesus Christ of Nazareth (John 4:1-26, The Samaritan Woman).
You need God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and the Holy Spirit. Deuteronomy 8:3 says that man shall not live by bread alone but by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Yes, you may have struggled, or you may be struggling now, but do not be angry with God. We sin, and we backslide wanting things that are way beyond what we actually need. We chase after the things of this world. Your eyes grow wide for money, food, and material possessions but not for God.
You saw in Psalm 138 that God made you. In fact, God created everything, “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the sea. And established it upon the waters.” (Psalm 24:1). Beloved I am here to tell you, that you marvel at the creation, but I must ask you, do you praise or wonder about the Creator? Do you lean your ears toward the Lord? If you do, are you listening and are you keeping the word to perform it?
Faith to Listen to God’s Word
One day when Jesus was ministering, a woman told Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” (Luke 11:27). Do you know what Jesus’s response was? It was simply this, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28). James 1:22 repeats this message, “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Friends, it is not enough to listen to the Word of God, we need to keep it and act on it as well.
We do this by the spiritual gift of faith. Faith “comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). The apostle Paul defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Paul continues stating that, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). There are two worlds my friend. The first is the world that you know of and that you live in (our world), and the second is the spiritual world. Though some can see the spiritual world, not all can.
Let me explain what Paul was saying. When Paul was speaking of worlds he was speaking of our world and the spiritual world. Those of us that understand this have faith because we cannot see it, but we believe it. In addition, we cannot see God (Exodus 33:20 and 1 John 4:12), but we believe in Him. While faith enables you to understand the things that we cannot see, faith also plays a part in forgiveness.
Faith Plays a Role in Forgiveness
When one of Jesus’s disciples asked Him how to pray, He gave them what we now call the model prayer:
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
(Matthew 6: 9-13 and Luke 11:2-4)
When He gave them the model prayer, Jesus Christ taught them about forgiveness, “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.” (Matthew 6:14-15). Forgiveness is an essential step in your salvation. You just read what Jesus said, that if you do not forgive others, neither will God forgive you. This message is echoed in Mark 11:25, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.” We see it again in John 20:23 “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Similarly, to what Paul said on things unseen, forgiveness is not something that we see though we feel it, just like God. God remains unseen from mankind, but we feel His presence and we know He is there. By believing in the things that are unseen, this truly comes from faith as Paul had mentioned. Now, did you know that the Holy Bible states that when someone is sick that they should be anointed with oil by the elders in the name of the Lord? In addition, they need to make “the prayer of faith and if he committed sins, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:15). Beloved, let it be knows that faith is necessary to forgive, and that there is a power in forgiveness.
The Power of Forgiveness
God has mercy on us (Deuteronomy 4:31and Psalm 116:5) and He gave us the gift of eternal life through the belief of Jesus Christ as your savior (John 3:15-16, and Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ forgave others of their sin. We see that when Jesus forgave a paralytic man in Matthew 9, Mark 2, and Luke 5. By forgiving him of his sins, the paralytic man was healed. We also read in scripture that Jesus Christ asked God to forgive the men that were crucified with Him at Calvary, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34).
We see that God forgave us for He is great, and His mercy lasts forever (1 Chronicles 16:34). As ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), we must also practice forgiveness. For Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, taught us to forgive and that we must act on it because it is a word from God. If you chose not to forgive someone, God will come after you. Jesus said this when Peter asked Him how often he should forgive a brother:
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and 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.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
(Matthew 18:21-35)
Forgiving Someone
While Jesus Christ and His apostles stated that we would have tribulations (John 14:33, and 1 Thessalonians 3:4) we should count tribulations as a blessing because God sees us fit to be tested and if we pass, we receive the crown of life (James 1:2, James 1:12). The apostle Paul said, “we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4).
However, know that as a part of these tests and tribulations, someone is going to hurt you in some way, and you will need to forgive them. It is easy to forgive someone, though you may find it hard to move past the hurt that they caused. You will need tell them of their fault, and if they repent, you must forgive them, and then you have gained a brother or sister in Christ (Matthew 18:15). To forgive them, say this, “I forgive you.” If you are struggling to forgive them, then pray to God. You can use this prayer that I thought of:
God, in the name of Jesus please help me to love people more. The person that trespassed against me has hurt me and I am finding it hard to forgive them and to move past this. Teach me how to forgive them and let me not dwell on this. Grow my heart before you Lord. Amen.
If you need to forgive yourself for something you have done, confess your sin To God. Also, confess your sin to the person or the people that you trespassed against and ask them for forgiveness. Pray for one another as well. The Holy Bible states “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16). If someone that you trespassed against has died before you came to Christ or before you had a chance to ask them for forgiveness, then pray to God asking Him for forgiveness. While you pray, be sure to state your trespass and to repent from your sins. By repenting from your sins and accepting Jesus Christ, you will be saved, and you receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)
Accepting Jesus
Beloved, I ask you now, is there someone that you need to forgive? Are you still in sin but are ready to repent and accept Jesus Christ as your savior? If so, say this prayer:
God, I confess that Jesus came in the flesh and blood, paid the price for my sins, died on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sent the Holy Spirit to help me understand Your ways. For that, I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord, and I welcome the Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen!
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