Inner Healing Through Forgiveness (2)
Just like the law of gravitation works whether you believe it or not, the same way does the law of forgiveness. The fruits of an unforgiving spirit are painful and bitter, but the love and freedom come where forgiveness is applied.
In the previous article we saw where we stand as sinners and that only God through His Son Jesus Christ can lift us up and redeem us, also we saw the crucial role of our earthly father in our lives.
We'll continue now with the other steps that lead to inner healing.
Make a decision to forgive.
"But they don't deserve it!" might be your heart's cry. And you might have been through terrible loss, abuse and rejection. Indeed, forgiveness might not come easy especially when you suffer the consequences of that act to this day - maybe physical infirmity, a child as the result of a rape, or God knows what other wounds you might have gathered so far. The controlling parents who did not let you became what you wanted, or might have forced their authority in every little decision you had to make and now, you think that controlling others is the key...but you have many times discovered that it simply does not work that way. If anger is what you saw in your childhood as the main response to your insignificant mistakes, it is anger you'll use to deal your own issues...but sadly, that doesn't work either. This builds up mountains of pain, pain that has never been dealt with because you didn't even realize its source.
The amount of pain gathered inside can be incredibly big and it might have layers because even if you realize the wrong patterns you have been raised with, it is very difficult to step out of them.
You know, God forgives you every time you sincerely ask for it. The "rule" of forgiveness given by Christ, says that per day we should forgive 70x7...which is 490 times per day! It is just an expression used by Jesus to tell us that we shouldn't even count how many times we forgive. The consequences of choosing not to forgive are very serious and profound. They affect us not only spiritually, pulling us down but physically as well.
It has been statistically confirmed that persons suffering from arthritis (usually leading to severe forms of it) have been emotionally very hurt and simply could not forgive those who caused them that pain. Now, that doesn't mean that all patients with arthritis have the same problem but it is a significant number so that it has become statistically true. Holding pain inside simply poisons your soul and obviously, holding it long enough will poison your body as well.
The spiritual law of forgiveness.
Let's suppose you are a debtor, you owe someone 6 million dollars which you can't pay, but that person decides to simply let you have the money. Oh, great news isn't it? Yet, you have a friend who has a debt of $16 to you. Imagine you threatening that friend to pay the debt or else, you go to court!
That is not too generous of you, is it? God actually gave this example in the Bible, and He said that the first man should have forgiven his friend who owed him much less; because he didn't forgive, he is going to be thrown in the prison, and be asked to pay the whole debt, the whole amount of 6 million dollars.
Jesus said: "So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds." Matthew 18:35
Just the same way, the decision to forgive sets you free (given to the fact that God has to forgive you daily) and the decision not to forgive locks you in the terrible prison of grief, pain and bitterness, holding you back from all the joy and happiness God has in store for you.
Just as you can't book a flight to New York and expect to arrive to Paris, the same way, there is no way around the law of forgiveness. Choosing not to forgive will lead to the "Alcatraz" (prison) of growing pain and bitterness. The decision to forgive is crucial in the process of inner healing and will lead you the right way, on the highway to receiving real love and acceptance to replace all the pain and bitterness inside. It is the only way!
It can be a difficult process if the pain is old and deep, but it will bring healing, freedom and love in your heart. See the next steps in the following article.
We'll continue now with the other steps that lead to inner healing.
Make a decision to forgive.
"But they don't deserve it!" might be your heart's cry. And you might have been through terrible loss, abuse and rejection. Indeed, forgiveness might not come easy especially when you suffer the consequences of that act to this day - maybe physical infirmity, a child as the result of a rape, or God knows what other wounds you might have gathered so far. The controlling parents who did not let you became what you wanted, or might have forced their authority in every little decision you had to make and now, you think that controlling others is the key...but you have many times discovered that it simply does not work that way. If anger is what you saw in your childhood as the main response to your insignificant mistakes, it is anger you'll use to deal your own issues...but sadly, that doesn't work either. This builds up mountains of pain, pain that has never been dealt with because you didn't even realize its source.
The amount of pain gathered inside can be incredibly big and it might have layers because even if you realize the wrong patterns you have been raised with, it is very difficult to step out of them.
You know, God forgives you every time you sincerely ask for it. The "rule" of forgiveness given by Christ, says that per day we should forgive 70x7...which is 490 times per day! It is just an expression used by Jesus to tell us that we shouldn't even count how many times we forgive. The consequences of choosing not to forgive are very serious and profound. They affect us not only spiritually, pulling us down but physically as well.
It has been statistically confirmed that persons suffering from arthritis (usually leading to severe forms of it) have been emotionally very hurt and simply could not forgive those who caused them that pain. Now, that doesn't mean that all patients with arthritis have the same problem but it is a significant number so that it has become statistically true. Holding pain inside simply poisons your soul and obviously, holding it long enough will poison your body as well.
The spiritual law of forgiveness.
Let's suppose you are a debtor, you owe someone 6 million dollars which you can't pay, but that person decides to simply let you have the money. Oh, great news isn't it? Yet, you have a friend who has a debt of $16 to you. Imagine you threatening that friend to pay the debt or else, you go to court!
That is not too generous of you, is it? God actually gave this example in the Bible, and He said that the first man should have forgiven his friend who owed him much less; because he didn't forgive, he is going to be thrown in the prison, and be asked to pay the whole debt, the whole amount of 6 million dollars.
Jesus said: "So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds." Matthew 18:35
Just the same way, the decision to forgive sets you free (given to the fact that God has to forgive you daily) and the decision not to forgive locks you in the terrible prison of grief, pain and bitterness, holding you back from all the joy and happiness God has in store for you.
Just as you can't book a flight to New York and expect to arrive to Paris, the same way, there is no way around the law of forgiveness. Choosing not to forgive will lead to the "Alcatraz" (prison) of growing pain and bitterness. The decision to forgive is crucial in the process of inner healing and will lead you the right way, on the highway to receiving real love and acceptance to replace all the pain and bitterness inside. It is the only way!
It can be a difficult process if the pain is old and deep, but it will bring healing, freedom and love in your heart. See the next steps in the following article.
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