Complete Forgiveness

Scripture: “…saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”- Jeremiah 31:34

Forgiveness is a foundational principle to Christian living, yet one of the very things that holds many in bondage today. Prayers are hindered from being answered. God doesn’t want to talk to us until we have reconciled our differences with one another (Matthew. 5:24). Forgiveness is a choice and not a feeling. We can define forgiveness as “To grant free pardon or remission of any offense or debt”. As his children, God expect us to follow his example of always forgiving us (Psalms 130:3)

There are main areas of forgiveness, if our forgiveness is to be complete:

Forgive God: As absurd as it may be sound, some people even in the church hold God responsible for event and circumstances in their lives. They blame God that He is directly or indirectly responsible for whatever is happening to them. This often creates a gap between you and your maker. You are unable to pray or seek the face of your God. The enemy likes this, because it makes such Christian an easy prey, once they lose the backing of their greatest ally (Romans 8:31).
Forgive your neighbour: forgiving our neighbour is a command because we have also received much forgiveness from God. I tell people forgiveness is light of self-interest. We often forget the lord’s prayer, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12), so if we don’t forgive we cannot expect forgiveness from God.
Forgive yourself: Sometimes we hate the reflection of the man or woman in the mirror. Consciously or unconsciously we sabotage our own personal success because of this. Have you forgiven yourself? The testimony of a couple who sort for the child for many years illustrate this point. They had an abortion before marriage to save themselves from the shame of having children outside wedlock. Unknown to the husband, his wife did not forgive herself for her action and so affected from conceiving, though she was medically able to bear a child.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. – Ephesians 4:32

[pullquote] For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. – Psalm 86:5 [/pullquote]There is no limit to forgiveness. This bible says, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22). Instead of being impressed by Peter’s willingness to forgive someone up to seven times, Jesus responds by saying, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Now, when Jesus says “seventy-seven times,” this is an expression which means that we are to forgive someone indefinitely, that there is no set number of times. In the Bible, the number “seven” is symbolic of perfection, completion, or infinity, so Jesus is actually saying that we are to forgive someone always. We cannot afford any areas of unforgiveness in our life. It is too expensive