“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failing and shortcomings and let them drop.” (Mark 11: 25-26 AMPC).
We live in a world that is constantly pushing against us; constantly attacking us and constantly seeking to overwhelm us through a variety of means. We experience betrayal, hurt, rejection and many levels of woundedness in our lives. Those things deeply impact us. Being a child of God does not exempt us from those things. But being a child of God does give us the means to overcome them.
One of the things the Holy Spirit does for us is to empower us to do what we could never do on our own. He empowers us to forgive those who have wounded us. It is not our nature to do that. Our nature is to want to get even. Our nature is to want them to hurt more than they hurt us! We don’t want them to get away with it! We want them to pay for what they have done! We want them to deeply regret what they have done to us!
Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to surrender our pain to Christ. And only the Holy Spirit can enable us to surrender that person to Christ. When we choose to do so, and it is a choice, we then allow Christ to become our vindicator (Rom. 12:19). His powerful love can then free us from the painful emotions that ensnared us. That is the wonder and the power of the Gospel! Our ability and willingness to forgive is only made possible when we realize just how much the Lord has forgiven us! When realize we have been forgiven much, we are then in the position to forgive much! (Luke 7:40-48). It is when we come to the place of forgiving and releasing that person to the Lord that we are made free and are placed in the position of also being forgiven!
So let us determine to walk in forgiveness toward one another so that we may experience forgiveness ourselves and enjoy unhindered fellowship with the Holy One!
James W. Black
