Why Should I Forgive

Forgiveness ÿ

Definition: To release someone from your judgment and cancel the debt they owe you.

What Forgiveness is not:
It is not a sign of weakness.
It is not saying that the other person is right.
It is not excusing the offender.
It is not forgetting the offence.
It is not blindly trusting the person.
It is not re-entering a harmful relationship.
It is not a guarantee that the relationship will be restored.

What Forgiveness is:
It is a choice of your will.
It is a risk, that the other person may never respond correctly.
It is releasing the offender from your judgment, letting them off your hook but not off Gods hook.

We have been forgiven: 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

God commands us to extend forgiveness to others. Mark: 11:25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him. So that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

How do You know that you should forgive someone.
When someone has hurt you.
When you feel angry, bitter, hurt, disappointed about a relationship.
Are you avoiding a person.
Do you have arguments with a person in your head.

Steps to Forgiveness
Forgiveness is something that you do everyday of your Christian walk, not just when you were saved.

Realize that when Jesus die on the cross he paid the price for all the sin of world. Your and Others

Understand that if God has asked you to forgive, then he will supply the power for you to forgive.

Do not make excuses for the one who hurt you, acknowledge the hurt.

Accept that to forgive means that you choose to live with the consequences of the other person's sin.

Choose to release he other person from your judgment.

By doing so you release that person in to Gods' hand, to be dealt with according to God's judgment.

Here is a prayer:

Thank you Jesus for dying that I might be forgiven. By an act of my will I now choose to forgive Name the Person who has hurt me by (name the hurt, & emotional pain) . I release Name the Person into the freedom of my forgiveness and from my judgment. Father, I confess that as a result of Name the Person actions I have allowed List your sin ( Ex. Judgment, rejection, bitterness, resentment, rebellion, hidden anger) to have place in my life. I acknowledge my sin and I now repent and turn from it, asking that you will forgive me and cleanse me. In Jesus' Name. Amen