There is a part in all of us that can relate to the woman at the Mount of Olives. Or maybe I am the only one so lets just talk about me! There have been times in my life that I have done unmentionable things. Things I could have went to jail for, things I could have been beaten for or worse. Things I was caught in the act of doing But God...
When the scribes & Pharisees brought the woman who had been caught in adultery, they made her stand in the middle of the court & put the case Him, Teacher, they said, this very act of adultery. Now Moses in the Law commanded us that such (women-offenders) shall be stoned to death. But what do You say (to do with her-what is Your sentence)? This they said to try (test) Him. But Jesus stooped down & wrote on the ground with His finger. However, when they persisted with their question, He raised Himself up & said, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. Then He bent down & went on writing on the ground with His finger. They listented to Him, & then they began going out, consience-stricken, one by one, from the oldest down to the last one of them, till Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing there before Him in the center of the court.
John 8:3-9
Has He been that good to you? Did He allow your pesecutors to persecute you? Did He allow your enemy to overtake you? God is our greatest defender, protector, vindicator.
When Jesus raised Himself up, He said to her, Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you? She answered, No one, Lord! And Jesus said, I do not condemn you either. Go on your way and from now on sin no more. John 8:10-11
My God... Even after all of her accusers left, she stood there still expecting to be punished & not even God Himself condemned her. He set her FREE! And who He sets free is free INDEED!
No matter what I've done, what I've said, even what I've thought that was contrary to the Word of God everytime I've asked Him for forgiveness He's forgiven me every single time. We are all capable of forgiving because He has given us the ability to forgive. What if God was like us? What if after He sent His Son who had the ability to forgive through His death & when it was His time to be nailed on the cross He stood before us & said, "do you know how you made me feel? I will never forgive you," then never died on that cross...?
If God can forgive us for every big & little thing we have done wrong in His sight then who are we that we can't forgive? Who are we that we judge what & who is right or wrong? Are we greater than God? To hold some one hostage? Ask yourself this, are we holding them hostage or ourseves hostage? You might say, "you don't know what they did..." no sin is greater than the other. Some of us just cover our stuff up better than others but if all you did was take a cookie out of the cookie jar & I robbed a bank, if we asked for His forgiveness He'd give it to us all the same.
Forgiveness is not for the other person. Your unforgiveness is not going to stop the other person from going on with their lives. Forgiveness is for YOU! You can refuse to forgive but if the offender has asked you for your forgiveness & goes before God & ask His forgiveness they will recieve it. They would've moved on & your unforgiveness keeps you & only you stuck. So who are you really punishing? Just because you forgive that person for that thing doesn't mean they're off the hook, (what you sow is what you reap), but it gets you off the hook. Forgiveness is an act of obedience & obedience is better than sacrifice so what then have you lost? Have you but all to gain? The blessings of our Father?
Unforgiveness is a sin. We can chose the sin but not the consequence & we will most definitely at some point in time suffer the consequence of our sinful behavior but it's all in God's timing, not our own.
He told her to go & sin no more. So you say, " this isn't the first time..." Then Peter came up to Him & said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me & I forgive him and let it go? (As many as) up to seven times? Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven! Matthew 18: 21-22 AMP
As many times as you need to forgive the same person for the same thing just do it. Don't just say it. Forgiveness does not mean that there has to be a relationship between you & the offender. It does not mean reconciliation but if we don't forgive others, our Father in heaven can't forgive us.
Let me leave you with this... In our hurt, in our pain all we think about is what the other person did but do we take responsibility for our part? Have we asked for forgiveness? Even if we don't think we've done anything wrong, does the other person need you to hear you say I'm sorry? How important is it for you to be right?
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