Jesus Christ teaches us to forgive all others—those who owe us, those who wronged us, those who failed us—if we want to be forgiven by our Heavenly Father. And He tells us that forgiveness must take place in our heart, so we won’t be turned over to the torturers. Yet many of us find it difficult to do what Jesus…
We need to understand the pernicious nature of unforgiveness. It is a luxury that you dare not indulge in, because it leads to far greater evils. Here is a brief description of the downward spiral unforgiveness will take you on: 1. Create a record of wrongs Unforgiveness starts with the feeling we’ve been injured, hurt, or wronged by someone or…
According to Jesus, forgiving others is a necessary condition to receiving answers to our prayers. In his parable about the unforgiving servant, he warns that failure to forgive from the heart carries a high price tag: we’ll be turned over to torturers. We experience great loss when we do not realize how our unforgiveness affects us on every level of…
Former Catholic priest, Francis MacNutt, found that many sins do not block God’s healing power to the same extent as does a lack of forgiveness. In his book, Healing, he said, “I understand better than I used to why Jesus laid such a heavy stress on forgiving enemies when he talked about prayer … He often seems to connect forgiving…
According to the Bible, we can experience failures simply because of ignorance. The prophet Isaiah writes, “My people go into exile (captivity) for their lack of knowledge (Is 5:13).” The Apostle Paul tells the church at Ephesus to “walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from…
In the Gospels, Jesus Christ links forgiving others to answered prayers and well-being. And he warns that if we do not forgive from the heart, we will open ourselves to torturers—the domain of Satan. Recognizing the danger of unforgiveness, we need to consider the relationship of anger, resentment, and bitterness to our very real and practical life problems. Unforgiveness leads…