Unforgiving Servant - Why Would You Hurt Yourself Like This?

Everybody knows that if you stick your hand in a fireyou're going to be burned. This is a fact that wasbranded in our minds since childhood, therefore weusually take special precautions when dealing withfire. You wouldn't intentionally burn yourself becauseyou are aware of the pain and discomfort it will causeyou.

But what if I told you that you could be causingyourself and even more painful and deeper discomfort?

What I'm referring to is the pain and suffering causedby holding on to a unforgiving spirit.

A common misconception that people believe is theyhave a right to be unforgiving based on the amount ofpain that was caused to them. Also since they feelalot of pain every time they think about what happenedit's only logical to hold on to that resentment.

It seems right not to accept the guilty partiesapology and sometimes they never apologize, but I'mhere to tell you today that forgiveness is for you notthem! It's so you can move on with your life and notdwell in the past on things that are not praiseworthy.

Holding on to unforgiveness is very painful to theunforgiving person and alot of times causes you toexperience sleeplessness and stress which in turncould make you sick.

In addition it makes you meditate on angry thoughtstoward the person who did you wrong which could leadto hatred.

Hebrew 12:14 "Make every effort to live in peace withall men and to be holy; without holiness no one willsee the Lord."

Beyond a shadow of doubt, our spiritual enemy, thedevil, will try to get us into a state ofunforgiveness so that he can have an advantage in ourlife.

He will remind us of past hurts that occurred months,weeks or even years ago, if that will work for him.What he is trying to do is to get us to ponder themlong enough so that we will act out on them. To"resist" these thoughts is to resist the devil.

I know first hand from my own personal experiencesthat the above statements are true and terrible, butthe worst part of all is that unforgiveness keeps theall mighty, all knowing, all powerful, most high Godfrom forgiving you!

In Matthew 18:21-35 The man who received personalforgiveness but refused to forgive the man who owedhim a mere "hundred denarii's," was labeled a "wickedservant" because he was forgiven his debt which wasfar more than the debt he refused to forgive.

The power of forgiveness is immeasurable. It is apower that Jesus used often and even delegated to hisfollowers.

Luke 17:3-4 "Take heed to yourselves. If your brothersins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents,forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times ina day, and seven times in a day returns to you, sayingI repent, you shall forgive him".

God loves us very much and is very forgiving, evenwhen we make mistakes. God gives us chances to work onour behavior and be the best we can be. When you pray,if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, sothat your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Matthew 6.14-15 "For if you forgive men when they sinagainst you, your heavenly Father will also forgiveyou. But if you do not forgive men their sins, yourFather will not forgive your sins."

In conclusion, to be unforgiving is to: anger God (Mt.18:34), to give the devil an advantage in your life (2Cor. 2:10,11), to conform to this wicked generation (2Tim. 3:3), not to walk in love (1 Cor. 13:5), to stopGod from forgiving you (Mt. 6:14,15) and to negateyour own salvation (Mt. 18:32,34,35;).

David Hopkins is a "Christian Article Writer" whospecializes in helping people remember to glorifyGod in everything that they do, so they don't missout on any of His wonderful blessings.

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