"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matt. 6: 14-15
Many Christians hold on to grudges, not understanding the danger that they are putting themselves in. The scriptures are very clear, if you cannot forgive someone for sinning against you; God cannot forgive you your sins. Sin destroys and brings death. It has been proven by secular doctors that when you hold a grudge and cannot forgive someone, the higher the chances are of you developing heart disease, arthritis and other forms of sickness.
My father was an alcoholic and would frequently beat my mother. I would hide under my bed trying to escape her cries and my anger towards my father would grow. When I reached 18 and my parent’s marriage ended, I wanted nothing to do with him. I wished he were dead. I remember if I’d see him coming down the street, I’d cross to the other side in order to avoid him. I was very unforgiving towards my father and it ate away at my body and spirit. I suffered from anxiety attacks and depression. I would try to get away from the anger by turning to sex and parties. At 24 my body was worn out and I developed severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was told that by the time I reached 30 years old I’d be in a wheelchair. It was during this time I turned back to God.
I had accepted Jesus into my heart at 8 years old and remembered the joy I had at that time, but I had fallen away as I grew older. I asked Jesus to restore me, wash me, cleanse me and heal me. My hands and jaw that had been disfigured by the disease were restored and my faith in Jesus was renewed. I realized through reading God’s word where my illness came from and that I had to forgive my father. I sought him out and told him that I loved him and forgave him and asked for his forgiveness as well. We both wept and he asked Jesus into his heart a few moths later.
Where is your heart today? Do you have trouble forgiving someone who hurt you? We are to walk in forgiveness. How many times are you to forgive? Jesus said seventy times seven a day. (Matt 18:21-22) If Christ, when He was on the cross and all our sins were laid upon Him could say, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing." We have no excuse. We must forgive as He forgave otherwise we put ourselves in danger. Check your heart and forgive those who have sinned against you. I promise you it will bring healing to your life.
Thanks to Launa of Launa’s Little Piece of Heaven for creating the Take a Stand For Jesus banner for me. Let everyone know you are taking a stand and copy and paste it into your latest blog. Turn your space settings from private to public.
I encourage you to join Awesome MSN Spaces and let your faith be shown!
A Worshipper's Space 
Comments on: "Forgiving Others" (29)
Forgiveness is paramount. I was reading th Lord\’s Prayer in my Bible the other day… funnily enough, theologians seem to have watered it down from what is in scripture. In my version Jesus says:"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.". Not just "those"… but "everyone".It\’s hard, really hard.
I especially, can relate to your words. Being an angry young person, I have held a lot of negative emotion in my heart, believing it to have made me stronger, when all along it was only breaking me down. I have since released all of my anguish, I have let come to pass what I thought I would never relinquish. I also believe in signs, and upon randomly stumbling across your space, I believe that the words of Jesus were meant to touch me at this very moment. Thank you for giving the advice that I so badly needed. May God bless you, and all of those whome you have touched with your words.-Mike
Pastor Gerry,Thanks for the GFA link and your comment. The site is coming along piece by piece. (computers…duh!) And, re: the link, you betcha. Link away! Thanks. And, if it\’s OK with you, I would like to do the same. Have a great day and I hope you and your family have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
God bless GerryYou have come through a lot, Gerry and can testify of the power and freedom found in forgiveness. I had to forgive both my parents as well for things done and said. When I became accountable in my understanding I wanted to forgive. it was only then, I received true freedom and tasted real victory. This is what Jesus demonstrated to His disciples when washing their feet. Even the feet of Judas. God;s love has no end, always reaching out to extend forgiveness and healing. God bless your heart Gerry.
Hey Gerry still see the site is very active. Figured I would stop by as I should be spending more time at mine again.
This was a great weekend to worship the Lord. I pray that you will lead many into the realization of all that can come from Worshipping the creator of the universe.Blessings to you and your family, in Jesus\’ name. Amen.
i really enjoy reading your posts.i usually walk way feeling better after reading something youve written.thanx for the kind comments on my work.im surprised so many people are interested.well see yachat later.
As always…right on time! It is so hard to forgive, especially those who are close to us and should be the ones to protect us and love us…our parents! I have made steps towards my father but he just closed his heart to me and all his other children, except the youngest, who lives with him…I have to fight hard against anger and hate towards him because of all this, on a daily basis. I pray for God to heal our relationship but it takes a lot of time…I know that God is speaking to me right now through your devotional, so thanks for letting him use you my brother! May he bless every aspect of your life–in abundance!Cath 🙂
I couldn\’t agree more about forgiveness. I\’ve been struggling with my anger and forgiving those who have hurt me. I know the devastation an unforgiving heart can cause, but at times I question whether I am completely over the pain. I don\’t know if I\’m every supposed to not be angry. But I keep looking back rather than forward. It can be hard at times. But as long as I have Jesus, I can get through this. God bless.
Hey,man…cool that you have a blog too…i viewed Melodie\’s….cool…its good….Martin from China
Gerry, you inspire me on the one hand and provoke me to thought on the other. Reading you story about your father made me angry and I don\’t even personally know the guy!Beating my mother? Forgive him?Must we forgive others if they do not seek our forgiveness? I think not.It\’s not in the Bible.We Christians have taken too lightly the power inherent and surrounding the act of forgiveness. Prior to the rending of the veil in the temple in Jerusalem, every time a child of Israel needed to be forgiven of even just one sin, he had to spend hard earned cash to purchase a certain animal(s) to be sacrificed publicly by priests, their blood delt with in specific ritualized manners. Without that kind of daily reminder, especially now that butchering animals for daily consumption has been taken out of the home, we have not often enough been put into remembrance of the fact that no forgiveness is possible anywhere in the universe without the shedding of blood [Hebrews 9: 22 (AMP): "without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins"]). Our forgiveness, as born again Christians, is not contingent upon us forgiving others but on the blood of Jesus Christ. The passages in the Gospels linking a persons forgiveness to his or her forgiveness of others, have been taken out of context. Those words and requirements were NOT spoken to born again believers but to unredeemed Jews and gentiles prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ we ARE commanded to forgive one another “as God for Christ\’s sake has forgiven us”. BUT nowhere does it say that we will lose our ticket to heaven just because we refuse to forgive someone else, even if they are of the brethren. We are commanded ONLY to forgive other Christians "as God for Christ\’s sake hath forgiven [us]" (Eph. 4:32). BUT – to get our sins forgiven as a believer we are under no requirement that we must forgive anyone (1 John 1:9 requires ONLY our confession of our sins in order to obtain God\’s forgiveness and so keep open the opportunity to fellowship with and hear from Him).We are NOWHERE commanded to forgive our enemies, be they our parents or anyone else. Rather, we are commanded to not take vengeance OURSELVES for evil done to us or our loved ones. NOTICE: we are NOT told that it is wrong for us to WANT vengeance! In fact, [Romans 12: 19 (AMP)] says that we are to "leave the way open for God\’s wrath" and let Him take vengeance on our enemies. And, when we are told to do good to our enemies the reason given for such action is so that "[we] shall heap coals of fire on [their] head(s)" [Romans 12: 20]! Obviously God WANTS "coals of fire" on the heads of our enemies! It sure seems to me that God\’s NOT commanding us to forgive our enemies, IS THE MEANS desired and designed by Him to keep the way open for God to wreak vengeance on them. Perhaps, many Christians have closed an avenue of God\’s disciplining work in the lives of people who have wrought evil, simply by forgiving them.
Have to say… though I sympathise with your situation Doug, with respect I think you are wrong. The Lord\’s prayer teaches us to forgiver EVERYONE who sins against us.Philippians teaches us our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. I don\’t recall Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, the Sanhedrin or the soldiers who mocked, beat and crucified him ever saying sorry. Yet Jesus said "Father forgive". Jesus also said in Matthew\’s Gospel: "You have heard that it was said, \’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.\’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."Nobody is saying that anger such as yours isn\’t righteous… but God calls us to rise above it… because that is what he did and we are made in his image. After all, when we were God\’s ENEMIES Christ died for us.Where would we be if he hadn\’t chosen to supercede wrath with love? Remeber, he did that BEFORE you chose to accept his sacrifice, he did it once for all, despite the fact that many people out there will never accept his offer of forgiveness and unconditional love. Love holds a deeper righteousness that surpasses anger.I would urge you to put aside your anger… like Gerry says, anger and unforgiveness affect us negatively… in many ways.
Great blog for today.my space unfortuantely has been set to private because of threats and harrassment. I began posting more christain content and the msgs are getting pretty bad.i will turn it back on to public at a later date hoping they will go away and leave me alone. and its funny we just prayed for the persecuted church on sunday. this world is gettin too scary for me.Erika
DougI would also have to say you are wrong on the issue of forgiveness. We are called to follow Jesus’ example. If He was able to ask forgiveness of those that crucified Him, so are we. The words of Jesus came through the Holy Spirit and were written down by men. Matthew was inspired by the Spirit to pen them. Those words have a great impact on a believer’s walk with Christ. I fail to see how the church has taken these words out of context. It is the Holy Spirit that witnesses to our spirit that these words are true.When I first came back to Christ at 25, the first thing that the Lord dealt with in my life was the hatred and un-forgiveness I had towards my father. I found I couldn’t progress in my walk with the Lord as long as I kept these things inside. It was destroying me. God was very clear in his direction to me and it was because I went to my father and asked his forgiveness for what I harboured against him that my dad came to the Lord and asked forgiveness of me. I did the same thing with one of my brothers with whom I also held much un-forgiveness and he also came to the Lord. No one deserves hell. It doesn’t matter what they have done. Who am I to withhold God’s love and mercy from another because I begrudge them for something they did. If that forgiveness is rejected then it is out of my hands and I have done my part. My heart is clean before the Lord. I have seen it so many times where a believer was unable to forgive another and it would eat away at their soul and their relationship with God. My own ex-wife could never forgive her father and it was one of the root causes of her mental illness. It’s funny because her father has never suffered at all for what he did to his family and may only pay for it in eternity. She still refuses to forgive and it is she that is suffering and has lost her relationship with God. I look at the many believers who have been persecuted for their faith many who have looked in the eyes of their tormentors and told them of God’s love and forgiveness towards them. Many of those who persecuted came to a saving knowledge of Christ because of this forgiveness they had been shown. We need to be careful that we handle the word correctly, I agree, but in everything I have seen and heard confirms the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15
CoolGirlJadeThese things happen when you take a stand for Christ. Persecution for Christians is a fact of life. I know it\’s not easy, but God will see you through it. He always has others. You are not an exception. The best thing to do is just delete the offending comments or ask others for help in answering them. I continue to pray for you. Keep your eyes on Jesus Erika. Don\’t let go or allow discouragement to come in.
Erika,I saw the post from the "devil". The truth is, even though the person is trying to intimidate, they\’re a coward hiding behind a fake name, because they didn\’t have the guts to use their real one.Don\’t give them the satisfaction of thinking they can manipulate you.From my experience with you, you\’re a tough person, in the sweetest, most femenine sense of the word.Haters come with the territory. Just know who you are in Him, and that they can\’t change or even touch that no matter what they say.That\’s what I love about Gerry. No matter what is thrown at him, there is always gladness, tenderness, and fearlessness in his heart. He\’s got the hugest heart.Take care,Jason
ContentDoug,Wow. My brothers pretty much have it covered, but this is a pretty vindictive interpretation of his word. To wait in silence for the vindication of God. It\’s pious bitterness.What happens if God blesses your enemy? Prospers your enemy? Delivers your enemy from the sin that caused them to hurt you?Could you find it in your heart to forgive them then? Even bless them? Even become the closest of friends with them? Serve God with them? Trust them with your life?I understand where you\’re coming from. And can\’t say I haven\’t been guilty of the same mindset in the past. But the truth is, bitterness is poison… and the only way to get it out is through forgiveness."NOTICE: we are NOT told that it is wrong for us to WANT vengeance!"There is nothing wrong to cry for justice. But He is the Lord. Our Master. He will have mercy on whoever He wishes, and destroy whatever He wishes. He gives, and He takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.Justice is His and His alone.Food for thought:Proverbs 24:17-18Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown,Lest the Lord see it and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him [to expend it upon you, the worse offender].Ouch.Jason
Gerry,This message is the exact same vein we\’re moving in of purification. This is an awesome message from Scott Holtz released this week.He takes you through the prayer of forgiveness. Hallelujah.http://flashfloods.com/media/7704702.wmvBlessings and may the fragrance of forgiveness be all over you!Jason
One good thing about persecution on MSN Spaces is that every time your site gets hit with nastiness it updates your space… every time you delete it… the same thing happens. So you get more exposure, which means that more people get to see your Christian postsGod turns all things to his glory!
Greetings Gerry,Thank you for your thoughtful message on anger and forgiveness. Almost all books dealing with the Christians role in the communion of saints will address Christ\’s wish that we place upon Him all our petty differences and legitimate causes of anger."Be angry but do not sin" is the motto in our household after we became honest to the fact that we were allowing anger to degrade important relationship in our lives.God bless you as you continue to share God\’s Word with us.
My dear brothers and sisters,How haughty it is of any of you to think that your own forgiveness by our holy God is in your power to control, as if you could force God to forgive you! What is your thinking, then, that if you forgive enough people you could be right with God without the atoning blood of Jesus? How many people would you have to forgive in order to ransom yourself from the devil\’s grip?Would you then compete with one another over who forgave the greater injustices or the more despicable fiends?And would not such a situation actually encourage you to look for people to forgive, cruely forgetting about, as you have done in your postings below, the plight of the victims of injustice, like Gerry\’s Mother! Where is your righteous indignation? It is easy to sit back, avoid the confrontation, try to forget, and call it "forgiveness", all of the evils done to the victims of injustice, hoping that the victimizers will cease from their cruelty. But more often than not, that which we label "forgiveness" is really "cowardice" in the face of the offenders.You who stand in agreement with Gerry when he speaks in judgment of his ex-WIFE\’s mental illness should wonder about your own! Because IT IS a mental illness that prompts one to seek forgiveness from one\’s torturer for feeling anger at him (when one is not commanded by one\’s God to do so)! In fact, it\’s called "masochism"! My guess is that Gerry does not see that he is being heartless toward his mother\’s plight when he\’d rather "forgive" his father than have no attention from him at all.I think that the "Christian" thing to do, would be for Gerry to break off all fellowship with his father until his mother and all of his siblings have confronted the old bum and are satisfied that the appropriate retribution has been exacted from him.
* Note: Am I the only one that sees the irony in arguing over forgiveness? ;-)Anyways… "How haughty it is of any of you to think that your own forgiveness by our holy God is in your power to control, as if you could force God to forgive you!" Huh? Who said anything about God forgiving us? It\’s about forgiving others.Freely we have been given, freely we should give.Luke 7:47But he who is forgiven little loves little. ** WAIT ** Read it again, a little slower my friend. Try and process why Jesus said that."What is your thinking, then, that if you forgive enough people you could be right with God without the atoning blood of Jesus?"If we do not forgive people we cancel the effects of the blood of Jesus on our lives. By our own words we will be judged. How can we expect the Father to forgive us, if we do not forgive others? It\’s a slap in God\’s face for how much He has forgiven us. To say that we can be right with God without having forgiven our brother, is to say we have permission to take God\’s forgiveness towards us for granted. Matthew 18:21-35 21Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and [h]let it go? [As many as] up to seven times? 22Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven! 23Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants. 24When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [probably about $10,000,000], 25And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made. 26So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything. 27And his master\’s heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [cancelling] the debt. 28But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe! 29So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all ! 30But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt. 31When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master. 32Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me to. 33And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you? 34And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed. 35So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.Pretty clear to me."How many people would you have to forgive in order to ransom yourself from the devil\’s grip?""Would you then compete with one another over who forgave the greater injustices or the more despicable fiends?"Sorry, that\’s just stupid and irrelevant. Keep context buddy."And would not such a situation actually encourage you to look for people to forgive, cruely forgetting about, as you have done in your postings below, the plight of the victims of injustice, like Gerry\’s Mother! Where is your righteous indignation?"Did you happen to read that scripture I left before? Righteous indignation is awesome, but as my brother said, we must be angry, but sin not. What say you to the base fundamentals of the *actual gospel of Jesus*:Matthew 5:38-48 38You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 39But I say to you, Do not resist the evil man [who injures you]; but if anyone strikes you on the right jaw or cheek, turn to him the other one too. 40And if anyone wants to sue you and take your undershirt (tunic), let him have your coat also. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two [miles]. 42Give to him who keeps on begging from you, and do not turn away from him who would borrow [at interest] from you. 43You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy; 44But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike]. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward can you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? 47And if you greet only your brethren, what more than others are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles (the heathen) do that? 48You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete [ak]maturity of godliness in mind and character, [al] having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect."It is easy to sit back, avoid the confrontation, try to forget, and call it "forgiveness", all of the evils done to the victims of injustice, hoping that the victimizers will cease from their cruelty. But more often than not, that which we label "forgiveness" is really "cowardice" in the face of the offenders."Forgiveness and confrontation are two separate issues. But at the same time, you can\’t have one without the other. You must forgive someone in your heart before you confront them. If you attempt to confront them with the bitterness of your heart, nothing will satisfy you. We must forgive first. Confront after. Otherwise we are being used of the enemy.I also strongly agree with confrontation. But confrontation is to speak His truth in love. Judgement is God\’s. If someone has infracted against the laws of the land they are accountable and responsible to the law, as it has been ordained by God. But beyond that, judgement is his. Beyond speaking the truth and warning somone about their wrongs, what more can we do? The rest is between them and God."You who stand in agreement with Gerry when he speaks in judgment of his ex-WIFE\’s mental illness" Umm… Hello? It\’s a diagnosed medical condition. You call that judgement? I hope to God your doctor doesn\’t have to diagnose you with anything."I think that the "Christian" thing to do, would be for Gerry to break off all fellowship with his father until his mother and all of his siblings have confronted the old bum and are satisfied that the appropriate retribution has been exacted from him."And what exactly is appropriate retribution? No really, I\’m curious about this doctrine of yours. Did you read the scripture I left you from Proverbs? James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.Hallelujah.Jason
As I was reading what Doug has written, I became very annoyed, why? because you have done what you accuse Gerry of doing, taking scripture out of context to fit your own way of thinking, and that my friend is a very dangerous way to do things. you used Romans 12:19, but you left out the beginning part stating right there that we should never take matters into our own hands, but you left the part that says God wants the wrath open to him, that he wants to do the bad and get back at those who have hurt us and him. No, what is being said is that it is not our place here to judge and make a punishment and carry it out onto those who have hurt us, that will be His job when they come to judgement day. Just take a look into Jonah, he ran because he knew that God would forgive all of the Ninivites if they repented and they did. Jonah was mad because God forgave them, and he should have too, God even asks him "Have you any right to be angry?" (Jonah 4:4) you also used Hebrews 9:22, which is totally out of context to what the subject is. If you read the whole of Hebrews 9, the section that your verse falls into is talking about Jesus\’s sacrifice for us, Him forgiving us, nothing to do with us forgiving others. In the OT yes, blood had to be shed for everything that we needed to be forgiven about, but since Jesus was THE perfect sacrifice it is His blood that makes us perfect in God\’s sight, it is His blood that has made it even possible for us to be forgiven. That is the only way that this would even relate to the topic at hand.Eph. 4:32, did you even read what vs 31 says?"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice." then it says in vs 32 " Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgive each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Now, yes, this section is under the title in my Bible – Living as Children of Light – which to me would then be telling us how to act towards each other. so you are somewhat on point with this one, but still, way off. Go back a little further now to verses 25 -27. "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." I don\’t know about you, but that to me means that no matter who it is that we are angry with, we have to ask for forgiveness before the day is done.1 John 1:9 in this one you said that it is only if we confess our sins to God that we will gain forgiveness, and that it says nothing about giving forgiveness or asking it of others. true,it doesnt. However, go now to Matthew 6:9-15, this is the Lords prayer that most of us can receit off by heart. I want you to look at verses 14 and 15 though intently, they say this " For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also fogive you. BUT if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." now, putting all of that together and yes, God forgives us our sins when we confess them to him, however, if we can not find it in our hearts to forgive others, and in these verses it just says men, not brothers or sisters in Christ, it says all men, then God will show us the same mercy we have shown others, or he will not show us mercy at all, just as we have done.Using Jasons point from Luke 6:31, "Do to others as you would have them do to you" I certainly would want forgiveness from anyone that I have wronged, and I hope that they would come and talk to me about it, because I may unintentionally do it again to someone else, and in that way I would keep sinning and not know that I had wronged anyone. I would want their forgiveness, so why wouldn\’t I give them the same thing back?Also it just happens that my favourite verse fits into all of this, 1 John 4:20 "If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." If i carried around the hatred that I had for my actual brother, then, yeah, I would be fooling myself that i could even begin to love God, I had to forgive him, and start to love him even though the things that I have gone through with him by his hand were so wrong, I can\’t live with hating him IF i ever want to see God\’s face.I pray that whatever hate is in your heart for who ever it is that has wronged you God will melt and show you His love and forgiveness and that you need to reconcile that with that person. God is so merciful and loving that it this is the way we should be in our strive to be more and more like Jesus.Bethany.
DougFirst of all Doug, I quite resent the fact that you have slandered my parents whom I love and respect very much. My mother did confront him as well as me and my brothers. Believe me that when I say my father suffered a lot, he did. My mother, because she is a Christian, has now forgiven him and is happily remarried to a wonderful man. My Father repented of all he did to his family and he is not the same man thanks to the love and compassion of our Lord. Who are you to judge them after the Lord has washed them and cleansed them? Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor. 6:9-11I was an adulterer, a womanizer, a thief, a liar, I also beat up one of my girlfriends before I came to Christ. Does that make me un-worthy of Christ’s forgiveness? Am I any better than my father was? And yet Jesus washed me and cleansed me the same way He did my father. How dare you judge another’s salvation without ever knowing them or meeting them. My ex-wife is not mentally ill because I say so but because the doctors say so. Even they say it is because of bitterness she holds. I can’t believe how ludicrous you are to suggest that a person that forgives someone who hurts them has mental illness. Who hurt you Doug, That you are so set against others forgiving those that hurt them. Who has set you up in the place of God that you say who should be forgiven and who shouldn’t? You are in a very dangerous place. To even suggest that what was given to us freely can’t be given freely to another is completely unbiblical.You are no longer welcome on my space. You need to take a very good look at your self-righteousness. The pharisees would be very proud of you.
First of all, everybody needs to calm down. We may take issue with what one another say about this issue… but lets not make this personal and become consumed with anger towards one another.Doug I take issue with what you have said with regard to "controlling God\’s forgiveness". Nobody is saying that we control God\’s grace… nobody. What I said, myself, was that if you look at the parable of the Unmerciful Servant… the reason thatr servant is thrown into jail at the end, (despite being let off by the Master), is because he didn\’t forgive his own debtor, himself. This isn\’t about the action itself… it is about character. Paul urges us to be imitators of Christ. If we are forgiven… yet do not demonstrate the Spirit of Forgiveness in our own nature when relating to others, we can\’t really claim to have fellowship with God… because we are still living according to the World\’s standards. The simple fact is that Gerry\’s testimony indicates that God answered him according to his action. By the act of forgiving, he was physically restored. If God honoured his action in this way… and we don\’t recognise this, we grieve the Holy Spirit. This isn\’t about what forgiveness/unforgiveness do to the person who sinned against us. It is about what forgiveness/unforgiveness do to us… the men/women of God. From Ephesians:"Living as Children of Light 17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. 25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin"[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. 29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger. As Christ said. First clean the inside of the cup… then the outside will also be clean.It may be, that you forgive someone in your heart… but they do not feel they did anything wrong and are not convicted in their heart and they continue in their sin. If this is the case they are to be pitied, not hated… because they will still face judgement. Just don\’t get caught up on the same path. Live according to Christ\’s righteousness instead.
this space is really nice! i\’m a Christian too and i\’m so glad to have seen this space! you just made my day! here\’s my space! leave a comment on it and stuff…well i better go have a good day and God bless i\’ll be praying for you!
Gerry,Thank you so much for the prayer request. It means a lot. I am praying for you. You are a front-line soldier, so you take the brunt of the fight. I\’m the same way, and I understand totally how you feel. Gerry, not only are you in prayers. I am going to wreak havoc on Hell today.They have no place near any brother of mine in Him.They messed with the wrong brother.By the blood of the Lamb,Jason
Gerry,Wow, I am so excited that God is working in your life in such a powerful way!!! Only the grace of God could give you the kind of power that you need to forgive your father. I am proud of you and thrilled at what wonderful things God will do through you in the future. The more areas of your life that you place under His control, the more powerful, and happy, you will become. Thank you for letting go of your anger and letting God have full control. Your blog is very encouraging to me. GBU my brother!
Gerry, thank you for sharing the truth about forgiveness! You are a blessing to me and to many others! May God bless you for your stand for Him!