Tag: offender

70 times 7

Published on by amylinneaLeave a comment

Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! Matthew 18:21-22

This is one of the greatest difficulties we face as Christians.

Forgiveness. Releasing the offender from you.

Freeing them from their offense.

Even when they don’t ask.

Especially when they don’t ask.

How many times?

Seventy times seven.

Four hundred ninety times. Unlimited.

What if the person has offended you that many times?

Then for you, it’s four hundred ninety. And counting.

Doesn’t mean you allow abuse to continue. Or offense to keep knocking you down again and again.

But normal daily interactions often yield conflict.

And aside from Jesus asking us to do this, we do have a choice.

We can forgive or not.

If we forgive, we release ourselves from bitterness. From the prison of unjustly behavior revenge.

Is it funner to stay in the prison, stuck and alone? I’ll be the first to admit yes.

It’s where we nurse our wounds unprovoked by others. It’s where we feel justified in making others pay for their deeds. Hard time is what we want.

But the prison of bitterness is also where we stay stuck. Miserable. And you know who is too pleased when we do? The enemy. The father of lies, who tells us our prison is better accommodations than freedom’s path.

The good news is this: God. Not only does God know forgiveness is superior for our relationships, and our physical or emotional health, He helps us through the process.

We don’t have to feel like forgiving. We simply need to choose and obey God.

Ask God to help you forgive the offender. Release them back into the arms of Jesus. Ask God to fill your sense of injustice with peace, replacing the bitterness with joy.

God has promised to right every wrong. He’s the ultimate judge and your defender.

Practice this today as God unlocks your prison of bitterness.

It’s incredibly difficult. But you must trust God more than you trust your bitterness.

We don’t want the enemy happy with our location, do we?

Change your address today. God’s waiting to walk you to freedom.

Oh, and if your well worn path takes your feet right back to the prison out of habit?

Stop and turn. God will help you every single time.

Photos by Lili Popper, Jametlene Reskp, Cody Otto, & Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash

Living From Forgiveness

Published on by amylinneaLeave a comment

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13

Are you living from God’s forgiveness for you?

If you’ve surrendered your heart to Jesus, He’s forgiven you all your sins.

Often we don’t realize just how sinful we are.

And when we do, God’s forgiveness means that much more.

Feels so great, doesn’t it? To feel forgiven?

I can remember lying to my grandfather when I was about six years old.

I had gotten the Little Professor calculator for Christmas.

Basically, it was a small light up math game and I couldn’t wait to sneak it into my bed.

What six year old wouldn’t want to see it lit up in the dark?

After I went to bed, my grandfather, who had been injured in WW2, slowly climbed the stairs, which were very hard for him.

Coming into my room, he asked me if he could see my new Little Professor calculator.

Not wanting him to have it, I actually climbed out of bed and pretended to look for it with him in my room.

Giving up, he said it was just fine. He’d look at it in the morning.

Back in bed, the calculator no longer held any interest. None.

My tummy felt awful lying to my grandfather.

How long did I hold in this lie?

An entire year. I literally thought about it almost every day.

It ate at me. How could I have lied to him?

One day I could no longer take it.

Climbing onto my father’s lap, I confessed.

I waited for my huge punishment.

As an adult looking back at this scene, I’m guessing my parents were trying to stifle a giggle.

They forgave me instantly.

I climbed down and felt like I could fly.

Ran to my brother’s room and played cars with him, even though that was my least favorite activity.

But I didn’t care. I was free. I was so happy. My smile was frozen to my face.

My six-year-old self began to live from forgiveness. It was pure freedom.

Ask for forgiveness if you’ve wronged someone. You’ll feel so much better, owning your behavior.

And if your offender fails to ask you for forgiveness? Forgive them anyway.

You’ll fling off the burden of offense and smile in spite of the situation.

Don’t let others block you from living from forgiveness.

Seventy-times seven.

Ask for forgiveness. Forgive others.

Choose today to live from the freedom of forgiveness.

Photos by Laura Pocho, Mary Blackwey , &  Ben White on Unsplash

Let Go and Live

Published on by amylinnea1 Comment

And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins. Mark 11:25

How many offenses do you carry?

How many follow you while you go about your day?

Dozens?

Hundreds?

Thousands?

Even one is too many.

Why?

Because offenses discolor our moods.

They cloud the lens we view life.

Not only do offenses keep us in moods not worthy of companionship, they cause us to stink.

Ever been around someone easily offended?

You tend to step back, because you don’t want to get near their odor.

Those people are obvious.

But there’s another type of offense.

It’s the subtle hurt you carry because of unforgiveness.

Yes, it’s probably justified as you were wronged, but you still have a choice.

You can choose to let go and forgive, or keep the hurt and the offense.

Choosing to keep it close, bitterness enters your heart and mind as you begin to dwell on the pain.

And that causes you to stink.

When you don’t forgive, you allow the offender to continue hurting you.

You let them win again and again.

And there’s no winning.

Unfortunately, you’re the big loser with unforgiveness.

When you choose to forgive, you simply release it back to God.

You are asking God to cover the offense with His peace and forgiveness.

As you ask God to help you forgive, He rushes in with His peace to cover the wrong done to you.

Doesn’t mean you reconcile with the person, justify the hurt, or anything of the sort.

You simply let it go, so it does not control you anymore.

We talk a lot about control, because as humans we want control.

But you know as well as I, that we cannot control other people.

We cannot make them humbly apologize.

We cannot make them change for the better.

And we cannot make them be nice to us in the future.

But you can change yourself.

You can release it to God, asking Him to help you forgive that person.

You can choose freedom.

But it’s all up to you.

I know it’s hard to forgive when the other person seems to get away with any and all things.

But don’t allow the real prisoner to be you.

With God’s strength, you can forgive, freeing the prisoner. You.

Photos by Annie Spratt  and  Kiwihug on Unsplas