Category: Forgiveness

Are you feeling better since you confessed your sins to God and to others???  It may not be immediate, but it will come.  Even if the other person has not forgiven you, you did your part.  Leave it in God’s hands to work in their heart. 

Surgery.  The examination we talked about a few days ago is the beginning of the process.  Part of the healing process sometimes involves surgery.  When you have surgery, you don’t always instantly feel better when you wake up in recovery.  It takes time for the pain of the surgery itself to go away before you realize that the cause of the pain having been removed is now bringing healing.  So it is in your heart.  Once you’ve examined your heart, confessed your sins to God and others, now the true healing can begin.

Recovery.  You may have carried guilt and sin with you for a long time and it’s left its mark.  Now that’s behind you and you can allow the healing process to begin.

“He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.”
Psalm 103:3 NLT

Researchers have found that forgiveness and right relationships contribute to healing of the body.  Of course it does because God is the ultimate healer.  We probably have no idea how some of the things we do or say affect our bodies but occasionally get a glimpse when they are resolved and we are feeling better.  God wants to see us whole in spirit, mind, and body.  Take a moment to listen and worship with the song  “I Am The God That Healeth Thee”. 

Rest.  What does rest have to do with healing?  I think we all know that when we’re sick, we need to rest our body.  Sometimes a nap replenishes our strength and allows our body to heal.  If you break a bone and keep using that part of the body, it isn’t going to heal as quickly or properly as it would if you give it rest.  When we’ve come through a time of examination, confession, and forgiveness, we need to rest in the Lord for strength to continue on the right path.  Read the Bible and meditate on the words you read.  Let them seep into every pore of your body.

Pray.  During this period, spend extra time in prayer.  Keep praying for the person(s) you’ve wronged, that God will bring healing into their lives.  Keep praying for yourself, that you will not fall into temptation again and that if you do, the Holy Spirit will nudge you right away before you succumb to it.  Years ago I was on a prayer team and I made the patch in the picture above for us to wear so that people in that particular camp setting would know who the prayer team members were.  We made ourselves available to pray with and for everyone in that camp, and many did come and ask us to pray with them.  That is something you may want to do—find someone who is willing to pray with you.

In the beginning of this series for the season of Lent, I wrote more extensively about preparing ourselves with prayer.  So I want to remind us here that prayer is not a once-and-done thing, not a once-a-day task, nor an as-needed action.  It is CONTINUAL!  We need to be in the habit of praying without ceasing.

Suppose you decided you would only talk to your child once a day in the morning.  Then he or she goes to school or to a friend’s.  When they come home, isn’t it natural to talk about their day?  If you didn’t talk to them, you’d miss out on a lot.  God wants to hear from us throughout our days.  Yes, He already knows what’s going on in our lives, but He wants to hear about it from us.  As a parent, I might see something on social media about my kids and grandkids, but nothing beats hearing it straight from them via a phone call or text!  I’m sure God feels the same way.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about fasting, and then head into a new topic of communicating with God.

PRAYER POINT FOR TODAY:
Lord, thank You for bringing resolution and healing to me. I pray for those I’ve wronged, that they, too, may experience Your healing.

• Week 1 – temptation
• Week 2 – confession, forgiveness, and fasting
• Week 3 – listening to God and answering when He calls
• Week 4 – God’s love for us
• Week 5 – waiting, anxiety, and trust
• Week 6 – suffering, pain, and struggles
• Easter – resurrection and salvation

Forgiving ourselves.  Before we can forgive others, we need to have God’s forgiveness, and forgive ourselves.  You know what I mean???  Something happened that shouldn’t have and you are so upset that you let it happen that you can’t forget and forgive yourself.  That’s especially difficult if there is a death or injury involved.  It is definitely hard to forget such things, but it is possible to forgive ourselves which will enable us to eventually forget.

Holding yourself responsible for something that happened to you or someone else is not good.  You are not in charge of what happens in your life and to those around you.  God is the one who arranges the moves of life as you would the figures on a chess board.  You are the one in charge of the moves on the chess board, but God is in charge of what happens in life.  So if you lose a game of chess, you can blame yourself because you were the ones making the moves.

In life, you are not totally responsible for the outcome of a situation.  You may have unknowingly or even purposefully contributed to a wrong and need to own up to your part, but God’s got it.  He can make a wrong right, but don’t blame Him when a right goes wrong when it’s your fault.  He wants to teach you through those hard times.  So when you confess your part in the wrong and ask forgiveness, it becomes God’s responsibility.  Now you and God can work to make it right.

Asking others to forgive us.  This is the next step after talking with God about a sin that is against someone else.  This is probably the harder of the steps and many people want to skip this one because they think that if they tell God, they don’t have to make it right with anyone else.  Not true!

If the other person whom you’ve offended or wronged is not aware of what happened, it might be best to not only pray about it but talk it over with a pastor or counselor.  (See the link on my home page for a good counselor who does Zoom.)  There are times when confession to another person may not be the best thing to do, but as a rule of thumb, we should always confess to the other person.

When we go to the other person and ask forgiveness, we not only help ourselves but them to deal with the situation and move on.  Explanations can be helpful.  You and the other person might have a totally different perspective as to what went wrong and one or both perspectives may not be the truth in the matter.  Being honest and talking it out is the point where healing begins.

Why should I forgive you?  If in the past you’ve had a bad experience with confessing and not receiving an acknowledgement of forgiveness or they threw it right back at you, you may wonder if you want to do this again.  That is natural.  I had that experience with someone and it’s disconcerting.  But not every situation is going to be the same. 

“Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37b, NLT)  Everyone needs forgiveness whether they are the offender or the offended.  “Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” (Luke 17:4, NLT)  Repeated offenses are exasperating and we tend to not want to forgive, but Jesus tells us not to keep tabs…just forgive!

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins,
your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:14-15

Forgiving others.  I’ve also had opportunities to attempt reconciliation that though it was a rough start came around to reconciliation.  We need to forgive others if we want to be forgiven by God and others. 

When I was little, my dog was left too close to my toys overnight and he chewed up one of my dolls’ dresses.  As a child, I was so mad.  As I look back now as an adult, that was the least significant loss of my life.  I had to forgive my dog because he was just a puppy and didn’t know his toys from mine.  If I hadn’t forgiven him, we would not have enjoyed our times together.

Results.  Knowing that we have done our best no matter what the outcome should ease our conscience.  Letting it in God’s hands is the best place for it to be.  This is where healing and prayer come in which we’ll talk about tomorrow, and the next day fasting.

PRAYER POINT FOR TODAY:
Lord, it is so hard to go to another person and tell them the wrong I’ve done/said, but please give me Your strength to take that necessary step, and prepare the way.

• Week 1 – temptation
• Week 2 – confession, forgiveness, and fasting
• Week 3 – listening to God and answering when He calls
• Week 4 – God’s love for us
• Week 5 – waiting, anxiety, and trust
• Week 6 – suffering, pain, and struggles
• Easter – resurrection and salvation

This week we covered examination and confession so far.  Now we move on to forgiveness.

God’s Forgiveness. God’s forgiveness could be likened to a prisoner’s pardon.  When a prisoner receives a pardon, he is given a release from prison, cancelation of his sentence, and freedom to go home.  God’s forgiveness extends a pardon or acquittal of guilt and sin, a clear record, and a promise of eternal life.

God is way more merciful and kind than we are. When someone does something wrong, man is ready to throw the book at them, lock them up, and throw away the key…not that it shouldn’t be done in some cases…but my point is that God is merciful and kind to the repentant sinner.  He knows man’s heart and sees whether or not a person’s repentance is genuine and will deal with that accordingly.  In the above Psalm, it shows us that God was not pleased with His people but held back the anger and fury He felt, and instead forgave them and gave them many second chances to get it right.  He wants to forgive but we must do our part and confess, repent, and ask for His forgiveness.

Second Chances.  Have you asked God to forgive you for something?  Then what happened?  Did you stay on the straight and narrow way or did you find yourself repeating the same thing again?  God forgives and forgets—until we do it again.  Then we have to ask forgiveness and start over.  He gives second chances numerous times, but just like a line at the store, there is an end to it.  Don’t take advantage of God’s second chances because it may be the last second chance.

During the Covid pandemic I learned of a place that was giving away free potatoes at a specific time and place.  Even though I left very early, traffic near that location was bumper to bumper.  I spent almost three hours weaving in and out of an extremely long line in a parking lot, only to get to the end where the potatoes were one car too late.  The car in front of me was the last one to get free potatoes before they ran out.  God’s mercy is like that supply of potatoes.  It lasts for a long time, but there is an end when God says enough!  So don’t zigzag in and out, hoping God will forgive you when you get to the end of the line (life).  Seek forgiveness now while you can.  Tomorrow may be too late.

Generously.  God forgives generously (Isaiah 55:7).  I love generous people.  I’ve had those in my life who gave whatever and whenever they could to others in need.  They would gladly give the shirt off their back if that was what was needed.  I’ve also known those who were stingy and could have afforded to help but for some unknown reason refused.

“And do not neglect doing good and sharing,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Hebrews 13:16, NASB

God is generous with us and I believe He wants us to be generous with others.  Too often, though, our financial needs are met by God, but then we put the excess in the bank for a rainy day instead of helping someone else who could use help.  It’s called paying it forward.  Years ago that would have been me.  I was a bit of a miser at times because our budget was tight.  I was not completely trusting God at that time because if I was, I would have shared with others in their need.  Now sometimes I leap a little too quickly to help others and then realize I have a bill to pay and should have waited to share.  God wants us to take care of our own commitments and then as He provides and we are able, give to the needs of family, friends, missionaries, and others.

Results.  Confession and repentance needs to take place before God can forgive us.  He waits for us to come to Him with confession on our lips and repentance in our heart.  Do it STAT:  Stop sinning, Tell Him that we’re sorry for what we’ve done, Ask His forgiveness, and Turn from our sin.  When we do, He will forgive because that’s Who He is.

Tomorrow we’ll continue to talk more about forgiveness in terms of forgiving others, and then healing, prayer and fasting.

PRAYER POINT FOR TODAY:
Lord, I know that You know everything—everything I’ve done and said and more. Thank You for second chances to get it right. Please forgive me for _ and give me Your strength to turn away from it and stay on the right path.

• Week 1 – temptation
• Week 2 – confession, forgiveness, and fasting
• Week 3 – listening to God and answering when He calls
• Week 4 – God’s love for us
• Week 5 – waiting, anxiety, and trust
• Week 6 – suffering, pain, and struggles
• Easter – resurrection and salvation