Unforgiveness is like a cancer to the soul. What starts out as an unwillingness to show grace to someone spreads throughout the soul to impact every relationship we have with others and even our walk with the Lord. Left unchecked, refusing to forgive can be just as deadly to our soul as physical disease is to our body.
Brieana Driskill
Day 1
Scripture: Matthew 6:14-15
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of forgiveness means to cease to feel resentment against (an offender).
Cancer is an ugly disease. What starts out as a few mutated cells becomes a dangerous disease as the cells replicate and spread throughout an organ and possibly throughout the entire body. Unforgiveness is like cancer of the soul. What starts out as an unwillingness to show grace to someone spreads throughout the soul to impact a Christian’s relationships with others and his or her walk with the Lord. Left unchecked, refusing to forgive can be just as deadly to our soul as cancer is to the body.
Matthew 5, 6, and 7 make up the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus teaches what Kingdom-living looks like. Jesus lays out the expectations for what it means to be living for God in this world. One of those expectations is that we will forgive others when they wrong us. But, just because Jesus instructs us to forgive does not mean that it is easy. Forgiveness is hard because someone has hurt us. The deeper the hurt, the more difficult it is to forgive. But, our call to forgive is not based on the severity of the wrong done to us. Jesus does not qualify our forgiveness on a scale that depends on how big the action was against us. We are called to forgive the little stuff and the big stuff, the easy to forgive and the hard to forgive.
Forgiveness can bring you peace, happiness, and emotional and spiritual healing.
Who or what situation are you NOT forgiving and why?
Prayer point: I operate in the fullness of Gods power to forgive and to forget in Jesus’ name.
Day 2
Scripture: Colossians 3:13
Forgiveness does not grow out of our ability to forgive as much as it grows out of our realization of how much God has forgiven us. When we realize the pile of sin that we have been forgiven from, our attitude should be in a better place to forgive others. When we see how much our sin breaks the heart of God, but He forgives us anyway. We are better able to forgive someone else who has hurt us and broken our hearts, because of what Christ has done for us.
Forgiveness is not given because the person deserves to be forgiven. Instead, forgiveness is extended because the person does not deserve it, but we can show grace to them. If they deserved it, it would not be grace showing forgiveness but duty showing obligation.
How can we forgive like that? Did not God extend to us that same kind of grace showing forgiveness that we did not deserve? The better question is: in light of all that God has forgiven me for, how can I not offer a similar grace of forgiveness to someone else who has sinned against me?
Do you hold grudges? Why?
Day 3
Scripture: Ephesians 4:32
God is so insistent that we forgive because He ultimately knows that when we don’t forgive, we are the only person that is hurt by that choice. Typically, the people we are refusing to forgive either don’t know or don’t care that we have not forgiven them. They are not carrying that burden around, every moment of every day. But, we are. Forgiveness frees us from anger and bitterness.
Unforgiveness has the power to do the following:
- Blocks healing (mental and spiritual).
- Hinders your offering being accepted by God.
- Blocks you from being forgiven.
- Opens doors to the enemy to oppress you.
- Hinders prayers being answered.
God showed us how to forgive. Then, Jesus called us to forgive. Now, the only option is to choose to forgive.
Who do you need to forgive? Write a letter to the person or about the situation that you haven’t forgiven, pray over it and if you’re led to do so, destroy it. This is a representation of letting go of the pain and unforgiveness in our hearts.
Create a forgiveness vision board. Add pictures and scriptures related to forgiveness. What might your life look like after truly forgiving?
Prayer:
Please help me to forgive. Take the burden of my unforgiveness and bitterness away from me. Free me from the toxic emotions that are keeping me in the painful grip of the past. I want to forgive as you have forgiven me. I may not feel like forgiving, but I know with your strength and in your power, I can forgive.
God, I trust you to deal justly with the person who has violated and wronged me. I will leave the justice up to you. I am confident in your word, which proclaims I can do all things through you, who gives me strength. I will surrender my unforgiveness to you and forgive.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.