Spiritual Warfare #31

The Peace Forgiveness Brings by Charles Stanley
Often before the Lord uses us, He will take us through a time of reflection when He reveals issues within our lives that need to be addressed. Forgiveness may be a part of this process. If so, we need to be willing to forgive the person or persons who have hurt us, but we also need to forgive ourselves. Many emotional problems result from our refusal to forgive.

A Step-by-Step Plan
Lift your head and heart toward Him. Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'"

Pray for the person who has hurt you. In quiet times alone with God, He will provide the insight and strength you need to understand what has happened. He also will show you how to pray about the situation. If you will fight your battles on your knees, God will move heaven and earth on your behalf.

You Will Experience a Sense of Joy and Peace
Essentially, when we do forgive, we release the other person to the Lord, but we also step out the door of bondage and onto a pathway of freedom that leads straight to the heart of God.
More than likely as you go through a week, there will be an opportunity for you to feel neglected, overlooked, and ill-treated. Perhaps you feel angry as a result of something that happened on your job, and you want to quit.
What do you do when it seems that you have not been treated fairly? You continue to obey God, and you make a commitment to trust Him regardless of your circumstances. You wait for Him to show you how to respond, and then you act accordingly.

The Bottom Line to Forgiveness
The author of Hebrews urged us, "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb. 12:14-15). To come short of God's grace means that we are unwilling to forgive.

I've got to admit I've learned a lot about forgiveness by reading through this chapter. I hope it's helped you too. Tomorrow we'll look at the section titled At the Altar. Have a great day.