What Is Forgiveness?

What does it truly mean to forgive? I think a lot of us have asked ourselves this question at least once or twice. Here is what I felt the Lord dropped in my spirit to share with you:

#1: Forgive others

I am here to tell you that you have to forgive them. The moment you read that, you automatically thought of the person that hurt you. You find yourself sometimes questioning, “What did I do for them to go behind my back?” “How could they have hurt me in such a way?” “I’ll forgive but I’ll never forget.”

Forgiving someone doesn’t mean that the person who hurt you has gotten away with what they did. Nor does it mean that your feelings aren’t validated regarding the situation. God wants you to come to him regarding your hurt but he doesn’t want you to stay in your hurt. When you hold onto bitterness or resentment towards another person, it is doing more harm to you than it does to them. 

In Matthew 18:21-22, it states, “Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times? “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

When Peter questioned Jesus regarding how often should you forgive someone, Jesus replied “seventy times seven”. Now he didn’t literally mean seventy times seven. What he meant was that you should never set a number or a limit when it comes to the amount of times you forgive someone. Every time a thought comes up whether that be lie from the enemy or your feelings getting the best of you, reminding you of your past hurt, you have to automatically take that thought captive under the obedience of Christ, being quick to forgive! The scripture also encourages us to be ready in and out of season 2 Timothy 4:2. Always be on standby, prepared and ready to forgive! There are going to be people in your life who are going to offend you, make false accusations, gossip, belittle you, and so on. But God reminds us to guard our hearts in Christ Jesus and to walk in love even towards those who have offended us the most. When someone strikes us on one cheek, we are called to turn the other cheek, meaning that we are to show love instead of seeking revenge. I know these things are easier said than done, but I do encourage you to keep reading!

In my past, I was always out to seek revenge, desiring to hurt those who had hurt me. It did nothing but cause me to become even more bitter and cautious. I found myself identifying with that hurt. It got so bad to the point where when I had entered into full time ministry, I was taking a lot of my anger out on my sisters and brothers Christ. It is true when they say hurt people hurt people. This held me back from ever being able to move forward. As I watched those around me walk out the promises of God in their lives, there I was still worried about the people from my past, completely disregarding God’s promises for my own. There I realized that I hadn’t fully come to the root of my problems. 

Once I sought the Lord in the secret place, he began to confront a lot of hidden things, bringing them into the light. He brought things up from my childhood, past relationships, and even friendships! It hurt. Like A LOT. But I told myself I would rather hurt and heal than hurt and stay stagnant. The moment I made the choice to submit to God’s word was the very moment I had received direct freedom! 

Here are two pieces of advice: 

#1: Stop setting (Godly) expectations on people (Godly or not), they will ALWAYS disappoint you.

#2: Don’t allow something that God can easily free you from become the thing that kills you. 

It all comes down to a matter of learning to forgive by the one who does it best! As well as receiving his everlasting love. The more you learn to receive God’s love, the more you’ll walk in it, and the more you walk in it, the more it’ll pour out on others. 

While love is patient and love is kind, love also forgives. 

#2: Forgive yourself 

Now this is something I usually don’t see people speak upon a lot, especially Christian’s, which is having forgiveness towards self. There are a lot of you out there that haven’t fully forgave yourself. Whether that be because you’ve allowed a person to walk all over you, or maybe you yourself have hurt others. God doesn’t only teach us to forgive others, yet he teaches us to forgive ourselves as well. While others have been out to hurt us, we sometimes have become our own enemies. When you forgive yourself, you allow yourself to be fully released from shame, guilt, condemnation, and overall alleviate the burdens that weren’t meant for you to carry in the first place! In 1 John 1:9, it states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. This proves that the moment we confess our sins unto the Lord, he is faithful to forgive us, removing all of our impurities through the sanctifying work of his Holy Spirit! In Micah 7:9, it states, “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” This other promise in the Bible reminds us that when God forgives us of our sins, he will have sympathy towards us, casting all of our wrongdoings into the sea of forgetfulness. Meaning that God has already forgiven you and forgotten what you did. So why can’t you? 

You have to give yourself grace and eventually come to a place of making amends with yourself. Let this be the last day that you feel sorry for yourself. There are things that God has placed in you, places he wants to take you, and people he wants you to meet! You are meant to be used for his glory! Let this be a testimony of Lord’s goodness and not the final result of your story! 

#3: God’s forgiveness 

God’s forgiveness is a gift of grace! It is something that has been freely given to us solely out of God’s love and mercy, not because we have earned it ourselves. This gift can only be activated through and by having faith in Jesus Christ. Because of what Jesus did on that cross, we are now allowed to be in fellowship (have a relationship) with the Lord! When we sin against God, forgiveness is the thing that reconciles us with our creator. I am not at all justifying sin in any way. I am just breaking down the role that God’s forgiveness plays in our lives as believers.

I feel that a lot of you reading this have convinced yourself that once you ask God for forgiveness, it gives you a free pass to continue to sin. Or you might’ve even convinced yourself that because Jesus died for them, that also gives you the right to continue doing so. I’m here to tell you that, that isn’t the case at all. 

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14

I can truly testify when it comes to this verse! Not even three years ago was I living a life full of sin and hate, fully separated from God. I was going out to parties, concerts, drinking, smoking, and engaging in sexual relations with men. I was always gossiping and involving myself in all types of drama. It was easy for me to act confident before others while behind the scenes I was tired and burnt out. 

When you are in a constant cycle of trying to meet up to the world’s expectation, you begin to lose yourself in the midst. 

On one of those nights, in late January of 2022, I was on the verge of suicide. I had everything I wanted in life. The finances, relationship, social media gain, and friend groups. But still I wasn’t satisfied. That night I got on my knees and cried out to God, asking him to reveal himself to me. I remember feeling a presence. A presence that I had never felt before. How I usually describe it to others is that it felt like I was in a bubble that can never be bursted. A bubble full of joy, peace, security, stillness, and love. 

God had rescued me from all dominions of darkness, bringing me into the kingdom of his dear son. And because of what he did, ALL my sins have been forgiven. 

Ever since then, my life has never been the same. And yours doesn’t have to stay the same either. 

You don’t have to live life bound anymore. Come back to your first love. He doesn’t want to lose you to the very thing that has entangled you. Sin doesn’t have to have its grip on you anymore. You can be set free! All you have to do is turn away and run into the arms of the one who loves you the most. 

If you’ve finally made it to the end of this blog, I’d like to ask you a quick question. God forbid that today is your last day on earth, are you sure that you would make it to Heaven? If not, it says in the Bible that for the wages of our sin is death, but God’s free gift is eternal life through his son Jesus. If you want to receive that free gift today, I want you to say this prayer aloud and believe it in your heart!: 

“Dear Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive me of all my sins, even as I forgive those who have sinned against me. I believe you are the son of God who died for me and rose again. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, and use me for your glory. I renounce all fellowship with the world. I am free, I am loved, and I am never forsaken. In Jesus name I pray, Amen”. 

If you read that prayer aloud, I highly encourage you to get ready to experience the best love you’ll ever experience in your life! 

God bless you! Thank you so much for tuning in on my first blog post!