FESTERING UN-FORGIVENESS

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

ARE YOU SEEKING?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I had occasion to be at TCN very early yesterday morning. For those not from Xenia, TCN is a valued partner of the FREEEDOM ministry that provides a variety of mental health, addiction and housing services for Greene County. They are a wonderful partner.

But what led me there yesterday was to provide some support for a woman troubled by a long addiction and an even longer sadness.

Praise GOD she was now seeking help and prayer, but the pain she had been covering up via isolation, addiction and sadness was deep in her past; 26 years in her past. It was a wound of emotional hurt that had been “festering” all these years by un-forgiveness, denial, bitterness and anger.

But yesterday was a new day!

It was a “page turning” day as I like to call it. She was making a decision to leave that hurt behind; to forgive that old and unchangeable transgression and take a step toward a freer, a more sober and more positive future.

Pray for my friend, CP that she will find what Jesus promises to those who extend forgiveness and ditch the bitterness in life, FREEDOM!

But it made me think, she is not alone. We all struggle with un-forgiveness.

Joyce Meyer says it this way.

Many people ruin their health and their lives by taking the poison of bitterness, resentment and un-forgiveness.

Why do we do that when the LORD calls us to be forgiving, to cancel debts, to bless and not be bitter?

Because it is not easy to do!

This “forgiveness” thing when we have been hurt deeply or wronged substantially is no easy task but WE ARE CALLED to do it!

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another,forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Forgiving is crucial to the success of recovery and relationships. Forgiveness encourages us to put down grudges, cancel the records of misdeeds against us, and to quell our angry spirits and emotions. And while those things are sometimes incredibly difficult to imagine doing, when we do it opens up a whole new perspective on life.

It demonstrates CHRIST!

Colossians 2:6

New International Version (NIV)

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him...

And because He forgave much. We must do the same.

We must remember is that forgiveness is an act of God's grace. That verse in Ephesians directs us to forgive each other; just as in Christ God forgave us. God extended His grace to us. We can't earn His forgiveness it is a gift. Jesus paid the price for our sins; we receive forgiveness by accepting Him as our Lord and Savior. God wants us to forgive others the same way. Not because they deserve it, but because of our love for our Lord and our gratitude for His forgiveness.

And while sometimes this forgiveness thing is tough, God will help us when we allow HIS GRACE to ENERGIZE OUR FORGIVENESS.

I like this little statement about the dangers of what I will call “festering un-forgiveness”

Dr. Steve Bradshaw of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, often says that things that are buried dead stay buried but things that are buried alive come back to haunt us. Forgiveness helps us bury things dead. Forgiveness is not forgetting. It is choosing to remember the past in a way that does not affect the present in a toxic way. To forgive means to turn loose, release, or remit.

So ask yourself the question today.

Have I buried anything alive?

What hurts from days and years gone by are “toxifying”my present?

For my friend they had manifested in a bondage to a severe depression and addiction. Are you bound too?

Remember, you have the POWER living inside of you that you can FORGIVE THE SEEMINGLY UNFORGIVEABLE.

It is HIS GRACE. HIS FORGIVENESS.

HIS LOVE!

1 Peter 4:8

Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

You can do it!

Forgive.

Have a blessed day.

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney