To Forgive or Not to Forgive…

To forgive or not forgive

That is the Question.

I am instructed to forgive other regardless of the other person’s reception. For it is about me and not them. In Matthew 6:12, I am to forgive others in order to receive forgiveness of my sins. In doing so, I receive grace, peace, and freedom because holding on to a grudge is only hurting me and my relationship with God and others. I have acrostic for this.
Forgive
Others            Matthew 6:12
Regardless
Grace             Ephesians 2:8-9
In
Virtue to         Colossians 3:13-14
Everyone!
Grace is a freely given gift. I am, in turn, to freely share grace with others. Jesus made it all possible. I am grateful for this because on my own; I would fail.
To forgive is a virtue for every believer in Jesus. It is what sets us apart from the rest of the world. I am to pardon others as Christ first forgave me. I did not deserve it and there were no conditions to be filled before I could receive other than believing and confessing Him. He will help me work to absolve others of their sin against me. All need to do is ask Him to help me.

What it Means to Forgive.

Forgiveness is not that we forget but in choosing not to pick up and mistreat/gossip about it. Matthew 18:15-17, provides instructions on how to go to someone and offer forgiveness for a wrong that has been done to you. Reconciling is a healthy and right thing to do. I heard it said in a sermon that if that person refuses after every effort has been made you are to treat the person as an unbeliever and try to win them back. Reconciliation is the ultimate goal. Yet, this passage is often abused because people will quote it but rarely is it ever modeled in the church. I would like to see it modeled in a sermon via a skit.
Max Lucado put it this way; when I forgive, it sets the prisoner free and that prisoner is me. I can honestly say that I am free! There is no excuse for me not to do this for others. Therefore, I will choose to do the right thing.
 
I choose to forgive. Is there someone that you need to forgive?
My Prayer: Dear God, forgive me as I forgive others. Remind me that holding on to a grudge only hurts me more than the other person. Cause me to embrace Your forgiveness that I may, in turn, forgive those who have hurt me and offer amends to those I have hurt. Amen.
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Christ Jesus Came to Set Us Free!

Free

Yes, There is Freedom In Christ Jesus!

As a believer in Christ, I have been freed from the slavery to sin. In Stasi Eldredge’s book, Becoming Myself Embracing God’s Dream of You, she lists the things that we have been freed from and to those that we have been freed to do. We can be free from:
Bondage, sin, the fear of man, shame, regret, rage, disappointment, addiction, fear, You name it.
We are free to:
Be happy, be glorious, succeed, love, live, forgive, not be bound by chains. She goes on to say that we are free to fail! Because we are free from the cages of other people’s expectations, demands, yokes and judgements– even our own.
Therefore, I will rejoice. Hallelujah!! How amazing is that?! I no longer have to be “perfect” in the eyes of others or my own. I can admit my mistakes and seek forgiveness, therefore, I am free from guilt and shame. Yes, I will fail but I know that if I confess my sins to God, who is faithful and just, He will forgive all my sins.

The Law of the Spirit of Life has Set You Free!

In addition, if I allow someone’s inability to forgive me to keep me captive in shame and guilt, I am giving that person to much power. And what is that saying about God’s forgiveness? It is saying that I am not accepting of it.
However, this is no longer to be the case for the law of the Spirit of life has set me free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  Thus, I can stand firm and no longer submit to a yoke of slavery to sin. The word free is found 56 times in the New Testament.
Furthermore, I have a new lease on life for I have been made new. God created me and I will choose to live in the freedom that He has given me. I know live for Him and for His glory.

Live in the Freedom God Has Given You!

Don’t let faulty thinking rob you of the freedom that there is in Christ. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Here’s your challenge: to embrace the freedom that is in Christ Jesus. Ask Him to show you how.
My Prayer: Dear Father God, thank You for setting me free in Christ Jesus, Your Son. Help me to choose to live in that freedom daily. All to Your glory. May others embrace it as well. Amen. 
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Spiritual Liberty is Found in Christ

Liberty

Know the Truth and the the Truth Will Set You Free.

Spiritual liberty is the emancipation from bondage to sin thus freedom. There is no other place to find it than in the truth of Jesus.

John 8:31-32 (NIV)*
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
 John 14:5-6 (NIV)*
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Celebrating Liberty

This 4th of July, I not only celebrate my freedom in America but I also celebrate my freedom in Christ. For He has set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). I, especially, like the way 2 Corinthians 3:17, in the Amplified, reads,
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).

I am not free to sin but free from bondage to sin because I am a new creation in Christ. I heard said that ‘we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners’. This is what Christ has freed me from. Yes, I will have times when I do sin but I can confess my sins and repent.God will forgive me and cleanse me from all righteousness. (1 John 1:8-9). God has given His Holy Spirit to help me remember what I have been taught and provide a means of resisting temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

lIBERTY

So celebrate your freedom today and everyday!
My Prayer: Dear God in heaven, I give You thanks for the freedom that You have given me through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me tell others about this freedom. Amen.

Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: “It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man.”

Copy and WIN : http://ow.ly/KNICZ

Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: “It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man.”

Copy and WIN : http://ow.ly/KNICZ

Psalm 118 verse 8 is in the center of the Bible: “It is better to trust in the Lord than put confidence in man.”

Copy and WIN : http://ow.ly/KNICZ

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