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Forgiveness is the pivotal idea between the Father´s love and our sinful nature, the most important thing offered us by Abba Father, resulting in our salvation as we accept Jesus as our Saviour!!

Volumes have been written about forgiveness by various authors over many decades, but the book which was of immense help to me years ago is FORGIVE, FORGET, and BE FREE by Jeanette Lockerbie, which is now out of publication. However, many good Christian books deal with this subject. Did you know that even psychologists now know and teach that many physical ailments, mental ailments, and emotional ailments with which people are plagued, are caused by unforgiveness?

A story Corrie ten Boom shared in one of her books really impacted my life toward living in INSTANT forgiveness. Here is a short paraphrase:

Corrie ten Boom was taken prisoner during Nazi Germany, along with her father, and her frail sister, Betsy, and suffered many atrocities at the hands of her enemies. Her precious Papa died in the concentration camp to which they were assigned, and Betsy was forced to work at hard physical labor in those camps until she died. Corrie was understandably bitter over both their deaths. Through Betsy´s compassionate eyes Corrie was often able to see the need for forgiveness in her life, and to be thankful for everything....even lice!! (Some of you know that story.)

Corrie went on a speaking circuit after the war... churches, ladies´ groups, etc... and spoke about forgiving her captors. After one such speech a gentleman approached her and told her that he was glad to have heard her speak about forgiving her captors after the horrible things she and her family had suffered, then proceeded to ask her to forgive him all the pain and suffering he had caused her, as tears coursed down his cheeks.

Corrie stared in unbelief, for then she recognized that this was the Commandant of the concentration camp in which her father and sister had died. (Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!!)

In her mind, Corrie was horrified! Immediately her heart´s prayer was to ask the Lord for help, and her inner struggle to pray went something like this: FATHER God, in my natural man, I don´t WANT to forgive this Commandant, he hurt my family so. However, I am willing TO BE MADE WILLING to forgive him in OBEDIENCE to your Word and your command.

She reached out her hands and clasped his in her own and said she forgave him. SHE felt such a release come with those words it surprised her! He was genuinely grateful, and he wept!

Forgiveness Boosts Health; Effect Varies with Age

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters Health) - To err is human and to forgive divine, according to the old adage, but humans who forgive are known to experience significant physical and mental health benefits from doing so. Now researchers report that these beneficial health effects appear to vary by age, along with the willingness to forgive others, the willingness to forgive oneself and the feeling of being forgiven by God.

"Taken together, our findings emphasize that forgiveness is a multidimensional phenomenon," write study lead author Dr. Loren L. Toussaint of the University of Michigan and colleagues. "There are age differences in some forms of forgiveness and in their relationship to health."

Their conclusions are based on survey responses from more than 1,400 adults during a 5-month study period. In general, young adults (18-44 years) reported that they were less likely to forgive others than middle-aged (45-64) and older adults (65 and older). They were also less likely than older adults to believe that they had been forgiven by God, the investigators report in the Journal of Adult Development.

Among survey participants of all ages, however, reports of forgiveness of themselves and others were associated with decreased psychological distress, including feelings of restlessness, hopelessness and nervousness.

Further, young adults who reported high levels of self-forgiveness were more likely to be satisfied with their lives, whereas middle-aged and older adults who reported high levels of forgiveness of others were more likely to report increased life satisfaction.

But not all forgiving is immediately beneficial, the findings suggest. Proactive forgiveness--asking for forgiveness, rather than granting it--was associated with increased psychological distress among all study participants. Other acts of proactive forgiveness would include asking God's forgiveness for hurting someone or praying for someone who has hurt them. The researchers speculate that this may be because such proactive individuals are "'taking the first step' in the process of forgiveness," which may lead to heightened stress.

In other findings, attendance at religious services was associated with decreased psychological distress, particularly among young and middle-aged adults, and increased life satisfaction among young and old adults. Service attendance was also associated with higher self-rated health among all age groups.

The study was partly supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
SOURCE: Journal of Adult Development 2001;8:249-257

Jesus always set us a pattern by His life, an example of how we should treat others in EVERY circumstance, and He has not failed to give us a pattern to follow in this issue either. As He hung from the cross, dying for each one of our sins....the Bible says... “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. ...” (Luke 23:34)

Thus Jesus gave us the pattern to follow regarding forgiveness. However, before that ACTION, He gave us His WORDS.....

He gave us His words in the prayer pattern He gave us in the Lord´s prayer..... "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (Matthew 6:12) In this prayer, we ask Father God to forgive us our sins in the same manner that we forgive others when they hurt us. If we don´t forgive others, how then will the Father forgive us?

Indeed, Jesus said, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14, 15) We put ourselves in danger of not having our own sins forgiven when we do not forgive others.

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the story of the king with a servant who owed him around $10 million and he pulled him into court and demanded the servant pay up. The servant begged for mercy and said he would pay it in full if he just had a little more time. The king had compassion on the servant and FORGAVE him his debt.

That same servant went out and happened across a man who owed him $12 and demanded that he pay him. The man pleaded with him to give him time and he´d repay him. The servant would not, and put the man and his family in prison until his debt could be paid.

Servants of the king witnessed this event and ran and told the king what had happened. The king ordered the servant to be brought back into court. He demanded of the servant why he did such a thing, saying: “You wicked servant!! I forgave you all that debt, simply because you asked me: Shouldn´t you also have had compassion on your fellowservant, even as I had pity on you?” And he threw him into prison and he was tormented until he could pay his debt.

Jesus went on to say: “So LIKEWISE shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” (Matthew 18:35)

At another time, Jesus instructed, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have AUGHT against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25, 26)

Because of His great mercy, Jesus taught another time, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” (Luke 6:37)

Jesus told Peter, when Peter asked how many times in a day he must forgive, “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; THOU SHALT FORGIVE HIM.” (Luke 17:4)

Peter later taught that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Therefore, God - in the Bible - makes it crystal clear what our attitude toward forgiveness should be.

Many people get the idea that by forgiving another person, we are actually saying it´s okay what they did to hurt us. This is not the case.

The dictionary defines FORGIVE as: to give up resentment against, or the desire to punish; pardon.

When we forgive, we give up our resentment against the person who hurt us. We give up the desire to punish them. We pardon them of their offence against us.

To give up, is to release. To give up something to another is to release it. We give up our candy bar to another. We have released the candy into the hands of another. To give up a person who has hurt us, is to give them up to God, to release that person to God. THEN, and ONLY THEN can God work on their heart regarding the situation. He cannot go to work on someone we hold tightly in the bonds of unforgiveness, any more than another can wrench away the candy bar from our hand if we´re not releasing it. So, it is to OUR OWN benefit to give someone up to the Lord in forgiveness!

What is LIVING IN INSTANT FORGIVENESS? Living in instant forgiveness is merely that we recognize INSTANTLY when someone has wounded our heart, and make a conscious decision to INSTANTLY forgive them. We may not “much feel like it”, however we can actually say to the Lord, FATHER, I WILL to forgive them this instant! Deal with their heart Lord, God, I release them to You right now.”

It´s that simple.

It frees us to go on with our life and leave that person in God´s hands, and MY Bible tells me that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God! It also tells me that “Vengeance is MINE, I shall repay, saith the Lord.”

We have no RIGHT to hold unforgiveness in our hearts.

DO WE FEEL LIKE IT?

Do we actually feel like forgiving another when they wound us deeply? NO!! Of course not. Yet, in all the Scriptures listed above, where is there any mention of feeling like it?

 I “don´t much feel like it”!!

However, being obedient to Jesus commands regarding forgiveness does not require us to feel like it.

As Corrie ten Boom was WILLING to be made willing to be obedient to the command of God, and forgive the commandant, we, too, must be willing to be made willing to be obedient to forgive.

At first, it isn´t easy. In fact, it may be the hardest thing we´ve ever done. However, the rewards of forgiveness much outweigh the burden of carrying around unforgiveness in our hearts!

Are Your Potatoes Heavy?

A teacher once assigned each of her students to bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to school. For every person they refuse to forgive in their life's experience, they chose one potato, wrote on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of their bags were quite heavy.

They were then told to carry this bag with them everywhere for one month, putting it beside their bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to their desk at work.

The hassle of lugging this around with them made it clear what a weight they were carrying spiritually, and how they had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget and keep leaving it in embarrassing places. Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated to a nasty smelly slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for keeping our pain and heavy negativity!

Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, and it clearly is a gift to ourselves!

Author Unknown

The 10 Keys To Forgiveness

Forgiveness, when empowered by God's Spirit, is a process of detaching painful events from our emotional response to them, thus facilitating the process of healing. In contrast, the refusal to forgive has far-reaching results spiritually, emotionally and even physically. Lack of forgiveness (bitterness, grudges, vengeful motives, repressed anger) is the primary cause of most depressions.

Forgiveness means:

1. Handing back our rights to God (the rights we usurped from Him) and inviting Him to be in charge.

2. Asking for forgiveness and making restitution for the damage we have done.

3. Not energizing ourselves with rage or hatred.

4. Not trying to change other people but asking God to do it if He wants to and if they cooperate with God.

5. Stepping out of the past and into the present.

6. Accepting the pardon of the Cross for others as well as ourselves.

7. Obeying Jesus' instructions to forgive so that we can be forgiven.

8. Beginning a process of forgiveness which may continue for a lifetime.

9. Living in the light of God's forgiveness.

10. Sifting through our lives and discarding the resentments and hurts of the past.