Topic:UNFORGIVENESS & ITS RESTITUTION
Memorise: Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and
ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1st John
3:15
Bible Text: 1st John 2:9-11, Bible in one year:
2nd Chronicles 30-31, John 2
As
children of God, we must always be watchful of pitfalls capable of nullifying
all our efforts towards making Heaven. For example, God expects you to make
restitution when you have told a lie incriminating an innocent person. In the
same vain, if you have injured someone, you need to restitute. An example of
this can be found in Acts 16:33-34, where the jailor who had contributed to the
predicament of Paul and Silas took them to his house, treated their injuries
and gave them decent food. Have you injured someone physically, emotionally or
psychologically? Restitute your ways. In
addition, if someone offends you so
hard that you promised never to forgive the fellow, there is a need to forgive
and release that individual so that you can make Heaven at last. Anyone who
hates his brother has stepped out of God’s light into darkness and is seen as a
murderer in the sight of God (1st John 3:15). If you are in hatred,
you are out of eternal life. Has anyone offended you to the extent that you
resolved not to forgive? You must change that decision now if you do not want
it to hinder your trip to Heaven. I once hated a particular man very much,
because of the way he maltreated my family and I. But after I gave my life to
Christ, I did not only forgive him, I also went to tell him he was forgiven. It
was not an easy thing for me to do, but by the grace of God, I did it.
Is there
un-forgiveness in your heart over some hurt or offence done to you? If you love
yourself, forgive today. Forgiveness must be communicated to the one you have
forgiven except it is done without sincerity. Some people say, “I have forgiven
my offender but I will not tell him so.” How will the fellow you forgave know
that he or she is forgiven? When a person is offended, it is like being owed
some kind of debt. It is when forgiveness is released that the debt is paid.
Refusing to forgive your offender sustains the debt, and we are commanded not
to owe any man anything but love (Romans 13:8). The irony of un-forgiveness is
that the one who refuses to forgive hurts himself or herself the most. The
offender may be going about with a free mind, but the offended carries a heavy
heart. Also, by begrudging the offender, the offended cannot move beyond where
he or she is. Un-forgiveness ties the offended to the same spot. I hope you are
not the one pegging your rise by not releasing your offender?
Action Point:List the names of
people you hold a grudge against or who hold a grudge against you, and
prayerfully reconcile with them immediately.
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