244. Why Forgive Others?

Episode 244--Why Forgive Others?

An important step on our Spirit-Led Transformation is forgiving others. It’s actually a command from God. He demonstrates exactly what He wants us to do for others when He forgives us. He is teaching us by example.

Most of the time, this feels like a really hard thing to do so we sort of just put it in the back of our minds and leave it there. We have a problem with forgiving someone who has done us wrong because we want them to be brought to justice. 

However, you aren’t bringing them to justice or hurting them by not forgiving them. You are only hurting yourself. It does you no good to hang on to the wrongs someone did to you. It’s only keeping you further away from God because God clearly says we must forgive others or He won’t forgive us.

 

Forgiving Others Is A Process

Forgiving others is a process we go through to disentangle or release ourselves from others who have hurt us and let God take care of us and them. 

It’s the reason Jesus tells us in Luke 6:37 to “forgive others and you will be forgiven.” It’s the reason Paul reiterates that in Colossians 3:13, “Forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”

God wants us to demonstrate His principles of forgiveness in our personal lives and interactions with others. We want retribution, but He asks that we show them mercy and leave everything else up to Him.

 

Why Should We Forgive Others?

-Because God forgave us.

-Because God asks us to forgive others.

-So we demonstrate God’s forgiveness to the world.

-Because we understand God is the only one who can judge.

-Because it releases us from that person’s control over us.

-Because it is the only way for us to be at peace.

God wants to use His not-so-secret weapon of forgiving others to set you free to live in peace and demonstrate His forgiveness to the world at the same time.

Action steps and challenges for this lesson and others in the Spirit-Led Transformation series can be found in Overcomers Christian Weight Loss Academy: https://Teresashieldsparker.com/overcomers/