Friday, 27 August 2021
“‘And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment]” – Matthew 6:12 AMP
In the world of football, many great players have come and gone. Players like Van Basten, Gullit, Zidane, Eto, Ronaldo (the proper one), Ronaldinho, and many others. Once in every generation comes a player that is so talented and his abilities make the former greats look average, in our generation that player is Messi. Being in a church of JC(Jesus Christ) I’ve heard many profound and powerful teachings that have changed my life, once in a while there is a teaching that shakes you to the core. This past Sunday’s teaching was on the level of Messi, as it addressed a concern I’ve had in Christianity that didn’t make sense to me. Many believers are living in poverty yet the Bible promises prosperity and riches, why?
On Sunday a Word came out that all the people who haven’t forgiven people in their Iives must come and receive prayer. Being in a JC-centered church you would assume that only a few people would get up. Matthew 5:43-48 teaches us the opposite of hate and holding grudges and as Christians, you would assume we love all our enemies. So imagine my surprise when almost the whole church stood up for prayer. The shock wasn’t that many people haven’t forgiven but that the enemy dribbles all of us with things that we believe we have overcome. We all believe that we have moved past the issue of unforgiveness yet teachings like this reveal what’s hidden in our hearts, and how only the Word will expose such (Hebrews 4:12).
In the above Scripture (Matthew 6:12) we ask GOD to forgive us of our sins and something I hadn’t noticed until recently is that we (not GOD but us) give the condition of God’s forgiveness for our sins. “Forgive us as WE forgive those that sin against us”. GOD forgives us because we forgive others, which then means we can’t expect forgiveness from GOD if we ourselves haven’t forgiven others. So everything depends on us and our refusal /unwillingness (knowingly or unknowingly) to forgive others has tied God’s hands and is circumventing our blessings. The parable of the unmerciful servant addresses this problem as well. Matthew 6:15 is very clear about the consequences of unforgiveness. This is one of the reasons why as Christians we aren’t enjoying the prosperity the Bible promises. We blame everyone (eg. satan) but ourselves for our situation and our countless fasting, rebuking, binding, and casting aren’t changing our situation because our handicap is unforgiveness.
“Jesus replied: “‘Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” Matthew 22:37-40 NIV. Love forgives a multitude of sins and unforgiveness means you have no love for the perpetrator and according to JC, every single thing hinges on these two commandments. Breaking these two commandments is equivalent to breaking all of them. So as you reflect on this teaching then ask yourself this, have you truly forgiven as this determines where you stand with GOD.
So everything depends on us and our refusal /unwillingness (knowingly or unknowingly) to forgive others has tied God’s hands and is circumventing our blessings
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