Forgiveness is a most powerful weapon in God’s arsenal.

We all have had collisions with negative forces around us, the  impact of which have left many of us battered, bruised and broken. It is easy to slip into a prison of negative thoughts both about ourselves and others and to remain in that prison for years. It is easy for us to nurse our wounds and continually pick at scars over and over again. It is easy to rehearse pain and sorrow in our minds and to pierce ourselves daily with negative thinking.

When Jesus walked on the earth, there is a story of a man from the Gadarenes who lived among the tombs. Many times he could be heard screaming and cutting himself. It is a reflection of what happens to our souls when we allow ourselves to be poisoned by pain, hate and remorse- most of all unforgiveness both for ourselves and others.

But the first step in healing is to release- let it go.

Literally say to it out loud.

Let it go-

They owe you money- let it go- they will not pay you back

They owe you an apology- let it go- they will not apologize

They used both your talent and your resources without so much as a thank you- let it go- they will not thank you.

They gossiped about you and spread lies about you- let it go- you cannot stop the wind from blowing

They continue to spread lies- let it go and let GOD in- HE IS YOUR SHIELD

They cast you out- let it go- They cannot cast out what God has cast in.

And the list goes on.

The Lord gave us the key in the Lord’s prayer Matt 6:9-13

“Forgive my sins as I forgive those who sin against me”

Similarly in Matt 18:21-35, The Lord tells us a parable about the unforgiving steward. The truth in the parable being that God has forgiven our sins which is a great debt- likened to the first servant who owes 10,000 talents.

The second servant who owes 100 pence or denarii is like those men and women who daily sin against us, do us wrong and hurt us.

So now the servant with the larger debt, having been forgiven so much, should have been more merciful to the servant who owed less. But sometimes, we forget how much God has forgiven in us- that we fail to forgive ourselves and others.

The second step in this battle for forgiveness is to know who you are.

The poison of unforgiveness steals from you, locks you up in a joyless existence and a perpetual prisoner of the past.

It keeps you from being who you were meant to be. It is a destiny killer.

If you are locked up in a prison of pain and hurt you cannot grab hold of the things God has in store for you.

The key to your destiny lies in the Lord’s prayer. He has prayed for you and has shown you the way to escape from the prison.

Break the shackles and rise up. As the psalmist David spoke to himself in times of trouble- so too we need to speak to ourselves and shake off the oppression of unforgiveness and be released into the goodness of God’s love.

Lord- forgive my sins as I forgive those who sin against me- Let’s make it our daily prayer.

The Lord is my SHIELD AND MY BUCKLER.

He protects and helps me to stand.

He restores my soul if only I will be led to the still waters.

The still waters symbolizes the submission and release.

Wash me Lord and I shall be clean. Amen

Please note- I still adhere to the conviction that our society uses “forgiveness” in the wake of violence inflicted by mentally unstable people erroneously and firmly believe that we should instead seek out ways to prevent and minimize such acts. ALSO- there is a difference between forgiving someone and placing yourself in danger if someone threatens your life continually for the sake of forgiveness. If you are in a domestic abuse situation, or in a situation that habitually threatens your life, you will need to escape that first in order to heal. The world is filled with evil and there are those who intend to cause harm to to others physically, emotionally and every other way daily.  Let us be wise as serpents…..