“Love is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it – pays no attention to a suffered wrong” (1 Cor. 13:5).
Have you ever tried to forgive someone…and found you simply couldn’t do it? You’ve cried about it and prayed about it and asked God to help you, but those old feelings of resentment just failed to go away.
Put an end to those kinds of failures in the future by basing your forgiveness on faith rather than feelings.
True forgiveness doesn’t have anything at all to do with how you feel. It’s an act of the will. It is based on obedience to God and on faith in Him.
That means once you’ve forgiven a person, you need to consider them permanently forgiven! When old feelings rise up within you and Satan tries to convince you that you haven’t really forgiven them, resist him. Say, “No, I’ve already forgiven that person by faith. I refuse to dwell on those old feelings.”
Then, according to 1 John 1:9, believe that you receive forgiveness and cleansing from the sin of unforgiveness and from all unrighteousness associated with it – including any remembrance of having been wronged!
Have you ever heard anyone say, “I may forgive, but I’ll never forget!” That’s a second-rate kind of forgiveness that you, as a believer, are never supposed to settle for. You’re to forgive supernaturally “even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
You’re to forgive as God forgives. To release that person from guilt permanently and unconditionally and to operate as if nothing bad ever happened between you. You’re to purposely forget as well as forgive.
As you do that, something supernatural will happen within you. The pain once caused by that incident will disappear. The power of God will wash away the effects of it and you’ll be able to leave it behind you once and for all.
Don’t become an emotional bookkeeper, keeping careful accounts of the wrongs you have suffered. Learn to forgive and forget. It will open a whole new world of blessing for you.
Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-37
Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka: Kenneth Copeland Ministries
For the last 50 years Kenneth and Gloria Copeland have been passionately teaching Christians all over the world how to apply the principles of faith found in God's WORD to their lives.
They have seven ministry offices around the world: United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Ukraine and Latin America. Their God-given directive is to preach and teach the uncompromised WORD of God on every available voice, which is being accomplished through a variety of channels, including our Believer's Voice of Victory TV and radio broadcasts, podcast and magazine; Believers' Conventions, Victory Campaigns and Living Victory meetings; published books, website, and social media channels, to name a few.
With the expansion of technology, they have more work to do now than ever. They are determined to let the world know Jesus is LORD, and they are not slowing down anytime soon!