Forgiveness

Matthew 18:35 (KJV) So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.

This is a story that Jesus is telling about a man who was forgiven of his debt from the person he owed it to, and then the same man turns around and puts another man in prison because someone couldn’t pay a debt they owed him. The story is about forgiveness but the keyword’s in the above scripture is, “from your hearts”.

Yesterday as I was praying, I asked God to give me everything that I needed to keep growing and maturing in Him. The thing about asking God questions like that is that He will give you exactly what you ask for and it may not feel so loving when you get it. We all know that God is love and He can only give you love, even though sometimes it may sting a little.

So as the night progressed Tracy and I were talking and there was something that I was struggling with that I didn’t know how to fix on my own. As we continued the discussion God began to reveal the source of the issue that has been causing the problem. It was from many years ago, even before I was truly following Christ. This person that the issue was stemming from hurt me internally and emotionally and as a result it was in my heart all of these years and had been hindering me. Sure I told myself I forgave this person in my mind a long time ago but not in my heart.

As God was bringing this back to remembrance I began to weep like never before, then God told me to tell Tracy what was going on in my head and as I began to do that I began to weep even more as she was holding me. (Husbands, it is ok to cry in front of your wives. Crying is healthy; no need to act tough at home.) As we were sitting there, God told me to say out-loud that I forgive this person and I said it. As soon as I cried everything out and spoke the words of forgiveness I immediately felt a release. I felt so light and free.

For all of those years I was carrying around that unnecessary burden. If I would have only forgiven totally with my whole heart, it wouldn’t have been an issue. So I urge everyone to do a heart check today to see if there is any unnecessary burdens you are carrying around and if so let’s release them today, once and for all.

When there are things like that in your heart it is hard for us to mature and grow completely in God as He intends. When Jesus was being beaten and crucified, He asked God to forgive them because they didn’t understand what they were doing. If he would have never said that there is no telling what would have happened.

Even if you don’t have any un-forgiveness in your heart, I still urge you to ask God to reveal anything that may be hindering your growth. This is the time for perfection (full grown, mature) in the body of Christ.

I pray that this has been a blessing on your life.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org