A FORGIVING SPIRIT • “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, cloth yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the lord forgave you”- Colossians 3: 12, 13 Every Christian is a leader, and when you are a leader, people will cross your line and you may hold grudge upon them. Many families live in bitterness with memories of the past, people in organizations and offices never sit together because of what happened in the past and many more… (Name them). Learning to forgive is so hard but necessary for a bona fide Christian .Difficult people will come in many stripes. Some reject any idea and anything new put forth by the leader. Others are constant critics; they will search for mistakes in everything you do and say, making mountains out of anthills. Others show arrogant talks and behaviors, still others gossip behind your back. Hard work maybe unappreciated and even criticized, “we don’t do it like this”. People wanting to be more important cause majority of world’s troubles. Every Christian leader must know that troublemakers are ever there and should be handled with care because some are rough oceans that are sharpening us to be skillful sailors in the lords vineyard. Sometimes we do respond to mistakes by frustrating others, impatiently, in anger and even in bitterness and hold grudges. With that spirit, we will never serve God effectively. Every believer should learn and pray to receive the spirit of forgiving. Forgiveness is not only with our lips but also from the heart. It cannot do away with painful memories caused on us by some fellows in our social network but it provides for a continual refusal to dwell on those thoughts (sins committed to us). What is forgiveness? 1. From the Old Testament vocabulary, the word forgiveness is NASA IN HEBREWS. This means to carry away or lift away from the heart. The offence is carried away so there is no longer any grudge between the offended and the offender. 2. According to the New Testament vocabulary, the word forgiveness is APHESIS IN GREEK. This means to send away, to let go the offending memory and release the offender of any debt owed to him/her or grudge .(releasing the offender from the kingdom of darkness, bad will and destruction where you wished him/her). Forgiveness by God blots out sin so that God remembers it no more; it deals more with our memories. It neither does away with the temporal consequences nor offences, nor kills the babies born out of wedlock, nor heals the people infected by deadly diseases, nor returns the stolen funds, nor raises the murdered persons and souls to life..... Then peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy seven times” “Therefore the kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle the accounts with his servants. As he begun the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he, his wife, his children, and all that he had be sold to pay the debt. The servant fell on his knee before him. ‘Be patient with me’, he begged, and I will pay back everything. The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debts and let him go. However, when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denary. He grabbed him and begun to chock him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knee and begged him, ‘be patient with me I will pay you back.’ However, he refused instead; he went on having the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly disappointed, went, and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. ‘you wicked servant’, he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow- servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart”- Mathew 18:21-35 This servant owed 10,000 talents, the largest measure of all. One denarius was a fair wage for one day of work, and 6,000 denary-equaled one talent; hence, 10,000 talents represented 60,000,000 days of work! Utterly hopeless! When he pleaded for mercy, he was forgiven all his debts graciously. But then that servant held grudge and mistreated his fellow servant who owed him just 100 denary (100 days of work), in anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. God will employ harsh measures when necessary to discipline unforgiving believers – As a father disciplines his children God will discipline us until we learn to forgive from the heart. Moses taught that the punishment in the court should be an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. The Jews however twisted this for their selfish gain and vengeance for wrongs done against them. Based on Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13, The Rabbis thought that the most one should forgive is 3 times. However, Jesus’ disciples tried generosity and suggested forgiving seven times but Jesus suggested that the number is unlimited -7 X 70 (or 490 times) an incredible number! This can only be understood with the background of extra-ordinary mercy that God has shown us through Jesus Christ. An unforgiving spirit leads to merciless self-destruction. In several occasions, I have witnessed students making bitter comments about teachers, ‘we hate him/her.’ In addition, teachers do the same against students they hate. I can still remember a madam teacher who made unbearable remarks against me fourteen years ago. I found it not easy to forgive until the Holy Spirit convicted my soul to learn how to forgive in respect to God’s forgiveness. I have also prayed for those who are led and compressed by the Holy Spirit to commit suicide in several occasions. With bitter attitude, someone shouted to his wife in my presence, ‘you gave me AIDS because of unfaithfulness’. In such families, children are brought up in a hostile environment without love. Children are suffering because one parent has refused to forgive the other. Unbearable scene of heckles and fights are witnessed. God is no longer living in the hearts of many. I have witnessed several cases. Before his death, a high school teacher confessed of many innocent girls he has infected with AIDS; many people have left their former love for God because a partner cheated them out of marriage; many churches are divided along political rifts. Church elections are no longer spiritual. Campaigns and bribes are never left behind. God’s followers are now following those who are thirsty to lead the church, and they hold grudges against one another in respect to their choice. James 2:13 teaches that, ‘For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. An unforgiving spirit leads to troubling thoughts that takes away peace of mind. Since failure to forgive is sin, the mind will feel troubled and guilt will weigh heavily on the person. Unforgiving person is captive to the past as he dwells on the past wrongs and that habit will make him/her to wonder and even commit suicide or murder. Forgiving others is costly and not easy. True forgiveness is the hardest thing on earth – Thomas Merton, a therapist monk and scholar said, ‘we do not know how to forgive until we know what is to be forgiven’. There are so many blessings when we humble ourselves and forgive others. Harboring bitterness and anger solves nothing. The only way to get rid of the problem is to forgive. In the face of troublesome people, God’s servants need more than a forgiving spirit.. When David committed murder of killing Uriah the Israelis army officer, Uriah could not come back to life and hear broken spirit from David’s speech but God who knows the heart of everyone heard his confession and repentance…….. • “Have mercy on me, o God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity and cleansed me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge, surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. • Cleans me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sin and blot out all my iniquity. • Create in me a pure heart, o God, and renew a steadfast spirit from within me. • Do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me. • Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me…… • Psalms 51:1-12 • AMEN,,,,, For weekly biblical devotion, study & sermons, forward addresses of friends, colleagues, family members and any other person for heavenly joy. ERIC KANYAORO, SERVANT OF GOD – + 254728759765 ericwambogo@yahoo
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 05:23:38 +0000