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The Blessings of Living in Daily Forgiveness

One has no true freedom in life without practicing the spiritual discipline of forgiveness. To live in unforgiveness is to carry the heaviest of spiritual and emotional loads that weigh down our lives and keep us from experiencing joy and a depth of love for others, even for those who have sinned against us. W hen we forgive others willingly, our love for God and for others greatly increases. Through forgiveness we also learn to walk in humility, understanding our imperfections and limitations and the realizing that we also have hurt others and are capable of offenses against others in the future. The individual who walks in the spirit of forgiveness recognizes that he or she also needs forgiveness from God and from others every day. As John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 8-9).

We are to forgive all those who have sinned against us, whether or not we know the person or persons who have committed the offenses. W hen we pray to forgive those who have harmed us, asking that they also begin to walk in the light of all that Jesus taught, we are truly living in the spirit of unconditional love.

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An Open Door to Healing

Forgiveness:

By The rev. Dr. mara LIeF CraBTree Part 2 of a 2 part series on Forgiveness Part 1 of 2 is in the July / August issue of Sharing

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Forgiveness should be a daily practice of allowing the Holy Spirit to examine one’s heart and reveal if there is any “wicked way ” apparent there, and then move quickly to forgive others. Forgiveness does not mean that the person who committed the wrong is no longer accountable—they remain accountable to God and to those they have harmed; but the act of forgiveness places all the issues into God’s hands and frees the forgiver the from the spiritual corrosion of unforgiveness.

Forgiveness is an Act of the Will

One way we alleviate the difficulty in forgiving others is to realize that forgiveness is for most an act of one’s will. It is not primarily a matter of the emotions. We find it hard to forgive when we allow our emotions to rule a situation. Struggling with emotions is certainly a common human response when we have been betrayed, harmed or traumatized by the actions of others. The enemy tries to tempt us away from the act of forgiveness and keep us dwelling on our emotions rather than moving for ward in volitional obedience to God’s commands. One characteristic of mature faith is the ability to yield one’s emotions to the Holy Spirit and walk in the grace of self-control. So the bottom line is that emotions take time to heal, but they cannot heal unless we first forgive as an act of our will.

The Gospels clarif y that forgiveness represents obedience to the Lord’s will; therefore, actions of forgiveness indicate that I have made the choice to honor God’s will in my life and in all my relationships. The emotional damage that results when I am hurt by others can be healed, but the need to willingly forgive as an act of obedience to the Lord has to happen first before those emotions can be healed.

Jesus’ prayer teaches that we each need to be forg iven as wel l as to forg ive others: “And forg ive us our debts, as we also have forg iven our debtors” (Matthew 5:12). In that same passage Jesus emphasizes God’s graciousness in pardoning those w ho forg ive and w ithhold s pardon f rom those w ho do not forg ive: “For if you forg ive others for their transg ressions, your heavenly Father will also forg ive you. But if you do not forg ive others, then your Father will not forg ive your transg ressions” (Matthew 5:14-15).

Forgiveness in the Ministr y of Healing

Healing is often a process, not just a moment in time. The person who can forgive is free to embrace fully the will of God and the joy of the Lord in everyday life. The

need to address unforgiveness issues as well as other unconfessed sin is essential to the ministry and process of healing prayer.

Dr. Fred Luskin, Director and Cofounder of the Stanford University forgiveness project and author of the book Forgive for Good, points to research findings confirming the issues in physical health and well-being that can possibly result over time as a person remains in a state of unforgiveness. Although not all physical illnesses and diseases are the result of unforgiveness, Luskin’s research concludes that certain conditions including heart problems, muscle tension, dizziness, upset stomach, anxiety, high blood pressure and cancer may occur from refusing to let go of unforgiveness. Dr. Luskin indicates that people often hold onto a grudge based on the content of the hurt experience, rather than moving for ward in a process to redemptively address the hurt. Often people holding onto unforgiveness will speak again and again, often with anger and bitterness, about the person or persons who have offended them. W hen people continue in this manner, unforgiveness remains as a barrier to the reception of many blessings in their lives.

Unconfessed sin deters and blocks the reception of God’s healing. We cannot withhold forgiveness from others when God completely, graciously and generously offers us forgiveness in Jesus Christ. To withhold forgiveness shows pride and arrogance, grieving the Holy Spirit.

One should be careful never to overlook the need to address any unforgiveness issues when one is praying alone, praying with another, or praying in a group for healing. W hen ministering healing prayer, one should always ask if the one prayed for is holding unforgiveness against

We cannot withhold forgiveness from others when God completely, graciously and generously offers us forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

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The rev. Dr. mara Lief Crabtree, has served as a chaplain for Tidewater OSL and currently serves as region 2 representative for virginia Chapters and as associate Professor of Christian Spirituality, regent University School of Divinity, virginia Beach, va.

others, inviting them to pray the prayer of forgiveness and thus remove the spiritual blockage to healing caused by unforgiveness. How often is this essential step in healing prayer overlooked? Holding unforgiveness not only opens one to a plethora of spiritual, mental, and physical illnesses—even diseases—but also inhibits the lifelong process of spiritual formation, conformation to God’s will, and transformation by the renewing of the mind. Resentment, bitterness and judgmental thoughts toward those who have sinned against us, all stemming from unforgiveness, do irreparable harm to a person’s life unless one confesses unforgiveness, repents, and moves for ward to live in forgiveness toward others.

W hen a person has suffered great hurt or trauma at the hands of others, one must pray for the gift of God’s grace in reaching out to forgive the offenders. This may involve much prayer over time—a healing process. One woman who had suffered sexual abuse from family members in her youth stated that when God made it clear she must forgive her abusers, she described the process of forgiveness as having many layers of healing, which were addressed prayerfully over time. Daily she would pray continuously, asking God for the grace to forgive completely those who had harmed her. During this process she began to experience freedom from the hurt, the pain, the sense of betrayal and the traumatic memories of the abuse. She did not forget that sinful events had happened; but through forgiveness the events of the trauma had no more power over her, spiritually or emotionally.

The pinnacle of forgiveness is expressed by Jesus who, when suffering the horrible torture of crucifixion, spoke to his Father with the words, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Stephen, one of the church’s first deacons, when falsely accused of wrong and attacked by an opposition group with the intent to kill him, quickly responded with the true spirit of forgiveness: “They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!’ Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (Acts 7: 59-60).

These examples indicate a perfection in the grace of forgiveness: forgiveness not withheld but given with great compassion for the humanity and weakness of the wrongdoers. Those who administer healing in Jesus’ name must live that same discipline of forgiving quickly, expressing humility by letting go of wrongs, manifesting compassion for the wrongdoers and praying for them to know the peace of repentance and the fullness of joy that is only possible when one lives in a spirit of forgiveness to all.