Are There Unresolved Issues?

Matthew 6:14-15 [TPT] “And when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you withhold forgiveness from others, your Father withholds forgiveness from you.”

Don’t wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving; you will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made and Satan has lost his place (Eph.4:16, 27). Freedom is what you will be gaining, not a feeling!

Forgiveness is not something that you say with your mouth. It is something that you do with your heart. Many people say they forgive, but they never truly forgive. They harbor a hidden bitterness in their heart. Imagine if God never truly forgave us. Where would we be?

In order to get a genuine reality check, we have to ask, what is your offender doing now? Are they bothered right now by what they did to you? Is your unforgiveness really disturbing them? Is your bitterness afflicting pain on them and causing them to suffer and paying them back because of what they did? Usually, the answer to those questions is, “No!”

The only reason that we are able to forgive others is because God forgave us first.

Forgiveness comes from God and when we forgive others that is an earthly reflection of God and His love being poured out on the cross of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is why we forgive. Jesus is why we don’t want to hold on to grudges. He is worthy of it all. The price that was paid for you is too great. Holding a grudge or being offended doesn’t make you strong, it makes you bitter, at best it creates ‘cold love’. Forgiving doesn’t make you weak, it sets you free.

Pastor Greg Volich