decide to forgive. what forgiveness is NOT

[chariot72]

Hi, I hope you are well.i care

in due time, I believe this topic will be helpful to you. I pray that you can receive it and that loving Christians comfort you when taking steps in faith. in the end of the messagel there is the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples on how to pray. It has principles in it, it is not a formula, we pray from our hearts and as Gods Holy Spirit guides us. prayer is just talking to God, knowing who we are and knowing more of who He is, God is love and hears our prayers. we can only do so because of Jesus Christ. He gave His life for you and me also when we were still sinners. please feel free to show this message to christians you trust to pray with you.
Thankyou and Gods blessings,
Chariot72

first a story from the bible Jesus told, Gods word: a servant owed a very very very large amount of money to a king, he could never pay back. and someone owed him a few pennies...

bible, matthew 18 ...
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.f
23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.</SPAN> 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talentsg was brought to him.</SPAN> 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.</SPAN>
26“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’</SPAN> 27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.</SPAN>
28“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.h He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.</SPAN>
29“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’</SPAN>
30“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.</SPAN> 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.</SPAN>
32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.</SPAN> 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’</SPAN> 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.</SPAN>
35“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”</SPAN>

God loves you
God offers forgiveness and asks us to forgive others. He does not ask to forget or say it was right what others did, or belittle, diminish or condone what they did. nor does he ask to mentally go thru the ordeal you suffered again in order to forgive.... it is only a decision, a very important decision. the effect of forgiving others in obedience to Christ is that we are 'freed from the tormentors'. In our own strenght we may not understand complete forgiveness yet, but we can SAY, not just read, (taking in position) (best accompanied by loving christians who also pray over you!)

I ask forgiveness God for all my sins, and thank you that Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the grave (i believe it in my heart), paid the price for me to be forgiven. and I want a good relationship with people. With the ones that hurt me, i would want the relationship to be as if the misdeeds had not happened, and not be in fear, as far as it depends on me and I do not want to be hurt by my past again and want to pain to go away. therefore I choose to forgive and release now anyone who has done misdeeds against me, because Jesus also forgave me, and I do not want to let this evil in the past hold me away from a new bright future, I do not want to suffer anymore from my past, i do not want (and i do let go now and release) resentment, pain, hurt, anger, selfpity, hate, but I want love and peace and joy in my life now and in the future. I want to see myself and others in the way God sees it. God will avenge and deal with my enemies and show He is the Righteous One. I choose to obey Jesus Christ and forgive (fill in names) and I will not be bitter or held back anymore, I will be better and not bitter and move forward. I release the persons holding me and trust God for justice towards me and the others. As far as I can, I choose to live in peace with everyone, and walk in love God shows me, but the others are responsible for what they do. I ask Gods Holy Spirit to help me and comfort me now in Jesus name. because I have forgiven I command the tormentors to go from me to the place Jesus says and forbid them to come back. By doing and saying this I submit to God and His Word and resist evil and God will raise me up. I do this in the power of Jesus' name and in the strength and understanding God gives me.


THE LORDS PRAYER, bible matthew 6:7-14

7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.</SPAN> 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.</SPAN>

9“This, then, is how you should pray:</SPAN>
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,</SPAN>
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.</SPAN>
12Forgive us our debts,</SPAN>
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,</SPAN>
but deliver us from the evil one.a’
14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.</SPAN> 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.</SPAN>











amen

 

[cronjecj]

Hi chariot,

thx for sharing..

Matthew 5:7 (KJV)
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

 

[tribesman]

This is all about binding/loosing among believers.

We are to forgive and seek forgiveness. In the Lord's prayer we indeed pray"forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors". But, as we shall see, we are not obliged or commanded to always forgive without any exception and under every single circumstance.

In Matthew 18, actually in the verses before what was quoted in the starting post, it reads:

Matt.18

[15] Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
[16] But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
[17] And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
[18] Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Thus, the key can be used to remit and retain sins. Yes, the minister of God can also use the same key for binding as for loosing.

John.20

[23] Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

We can also look at Jesus teaching in Luke 17, where we see that the trespasser should ask for forgiveness and also repent from his trespassing.

Luke.17

[3] Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
[4] And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

All sins are not the same.

1John.5

[16] If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
[17] All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

What is to miss the mark here and fall into the sin of unforgiveness is to refuse to forgive, even if a person is repentant. That is to say "I will never forgive" (including if the person actually repents and ask for forgiveness). Then Matthew 6:14-15 comes into place:

Matt.6

[14] For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
[15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Sometimes when the part who is to be forgiven do not ask to be forgiven and show not a single trace to repent from their trespass, there can still be forgiveness given. This can happen because the offended part has too much wounds from the hurt or is tempted to something bad when carrying the burden of the pain inflicted. So to release this forgiveness is then given for the sake of peace. This would be "at the discretion" of the offended part.