Seventy Seven part 5
Forgiveness is important. Because if you need it, you're in jail cell. And if you don't give it... you're in a jail cell. Unforgiviness is a prison. Now watch this: "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37 NLT). And while this IS Jesus speaking (the red letters), this is Jesus telling us how things were in the Old Covenant. In the Old Covenant it was performance based. What you get depends on what you do. You earn your bread by the sweat of your brow. But that's not the more excellent way that Jesus came for us to have. Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane and sweated great drops of blood to redeem us from that curse. His blood is what really matters. His blood flowing through our veins. It's not what you do, it's who you are. That's what matters. It's not being forgiven because we forgive. Listen--you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. Look at Ephesians 4:32 (NLT), "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." Old Covenant--forgive and you will be forgiven. New Covenant--forgive BECAUSE you have been forgiven. When Jesus talked about forgiving seventy times seven times... He wasn't saying, "this is what you have to do, or else." He was, as always, showing us our heavenly Father. He was showing us just how forgiven we are. I'm convinced that you learn how to love by learning how you are loved. You learn how to forgive by learning how you are forgiven. Again, you can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. You can't love unless you know and believe that you are loved. And, to bring it back to what I said in the beginning of this Rant, when you are forgiven... the cell door is unlocked. When you forgive... the cell door unlocks. And once the cell door is unlocked... you can exit the cell. You don't have to be in prison anymore. Unforgiveness is so deadly because it keeps us focused on all of the wrong things. Sure, someone hurt you. That happens. And it might have been intentional, or it might not have. It doesn't really matter. Forgiveness isn't about them. It's about you. If you're holding on to bitterness, or resentment, or anger... you're hurting yourself. Think about it--if what you're mad about that someone did wasn't intentional, they might not even know you're mad. Or understand why you're mad. So you're hurting yourself, and them too. You're not enjoying a healthy relationship with them. And if it WAS intentional, you can choose to move past it in one of two ways: With them in your life or without them in your life. You don't have to let people who abuse you stay in your life. Boundaries are healthy and important. But either way, YOU need to move one from what happened. You need to forgive. You need to stop letting whatever happened control you in any way, shape, or form. Let go of it. Stop letting it have power over you. They say the best revenge is moving on. Living your best life. Forgiving people, so that YOU don't have to struggle with that resentment or that bitterness. So that YOU can have peace of mind!