Forgive Others as Christ Forgave Us - Matthew 18 (Part 3)
Today’s blog is Part 3 in a 3 part series on Matthew 18. If you haven’t read “Part 1 – Healing My Past” and/or “Part 2 – The Struggle is REAL”, than please read those blogs before reading this one… reading those two blogs should help this blog to make a lot more sense. In today’s blog I want to focus on the next step that I took in my healing process, which is actually the name of this blog, “Forgive Others as Christ Forgave Us”. The section of scripture that I will be focusing on can be found in Matthew 18:21-22, which talks about the importance of forgiving others.
Let’s start by taking a look at that scripture: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times [some versions say 70 times 7]’” (Matthew 18:21-22 NIV). I mention this scripture because I want to let you all know that I have forgiven the person that took my virginity at the age of 10. And, in fact, my forgiving her was a huge part of my healing and recovery. Reality is, when you are holding unforgiveness toward someone, in most cases, it is actually hurting you more than it is hurting them. When you forgive them, you actually free yourself from a heavy burden that you weren’t even created to carry. For me, I not only forgave my offender, but I can now genuinely say that I have a healthy love and care for her and that I pray for her and her healing on a regular basis (I am certainly not saying that this will be the case for everyone). Reality is, I don’t believe it was fully her that did what she did to me, but rather, I believe that the enemy crept in and coerced things to happen. “The thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy. BUT GOD, comes to bring abundant life” (John 10:10). The enemy came in that situation in hopes to take both of us out and cause us both to live in guilt, shame, anxiety, and depression. BUT GOD, came to bring abundant life and heal us both… to put the puzzle that the enemy had scattered back together again.
And here I sit at my computer, typing a blog that I believe will bring healing to many, in Jesus name, because the Word says, “They triumphed over him (the accuser/Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). I believe that the words of my testimony (my Victory in Jesus) will push you into action to move forward in asking Jesus to help you to heal your past too. BE BOLD! BE COURAGEOUS! Don’t let the enemy hold the past over your head! Reach for the healing that is in Christ Jesus! Jesus loves you and it’s His privilege to leave the 99 to go after the one, which is YOU! Let go of your grip on the hurts of your past and let Jesus take them from you. Stop trying to medicate the hurts of you past through acting out in sin, but rather fall on your knees at the cross of Jesus and let Him heal you and give you the strength to walk guilt free and sin free. “YOU can do ALL THINGS through CHRIST Whom gives YOU STRENGTH” (Phil 4:13).
P.S. Be sure to come back to my blog next Wednesday (6/5/19) to read my blog posting on Matthew 19.
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