What is the God-kind of love like? The God-kind of love is full of kindness and is tenderhearted. Since God’s love is kind and tenderhearted, it is always ready to forgive.
Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Sometimes I think people interpret this verse by saying that we are to forgive people only when they are kind to us. But that’s not what the Bible says.
This scripture also doesn’t say, “Forgive one another when the offense doesn’t amount to much. But if people have done a lot against you, then it’s okay to not forgive them.” The verse doesn’t read that way, but too many times that is the way people practice it.
How can we forgive the way God forgives? Well, the Bible says that God is love. And the same kind of love that God is has been shed abroad in our heart, or spirit, by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5).
What kind of love is it? Is it natural, human love? No, it is divine love. It is the God-kind of love. And one characteristic of the God-kind of love is that it forgives. Another thing about divine love—when God forgives, He forgets! (Isa. 43:25; Heb. 8:12).
These scriptures tell us that once we ask forgiveness, God doesn’t remember our sins anymore. God doesn’t say, “I’m going to hold against you everything you’ve ever done, and I’m going to remind you of your sins every time I think of them.” Thank God, this verse says that when we ask forgiveness, God will remember our sins no more!
Sometimes husbands and wives can be prone to remind each other of past mistakes every time a disagreement arises. There’s no way they can develop a good relationship if they keep doing that. Also, if spouses constantly remind each other of past mistakes and failures, it will ruin their prayer lives and will make their faith inoperative (1 Peter 3:7).
If husbands and wives hold unforgiveness and ill will against each other, it can affect their health, and their prayers will be hindered. Their faith won’t work. You want your prayers to be unhindered, don’t you? Then walk in love and forgiveness. Learn to forgive and forget like God does.
You see, if you really love people and forgive them, you will not keep reminding them of their past mistakes, sins, and failures. You will not keep reminding them about the way they hurt you, let you down, or offended you.
Now the devil may bring a picture to your mind of something that happened between you and another person. But you don’t have to entertain the devil’s thoughts. You can go on your way and walk in forgiveness, knowing that the Lord has forgiven you of your sin, failures, and shortcomings, and that you have forgiven the other person.
So divine love not only forgives, it forgets! That’s the way God wants us to forgive, too. And we can forgive and forget because God has already furnished His love in our heart, enabling us to forgive. Therefore, there’s no excuse for failure in our ability to forgive.
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
(Colossians 3:13)
You see, when we walk in the light of the Word, we can enjoy all the benefits thereof. But to walk in the light of the Word, we have to walk in love and forgiveness.
Your Part to Play
There is something else we need to see about how love and forgiveness work together regarding answered prayer. Unforgiveness—the lack of forgiveness—is one hindrance to prayer that Jesus Himself mentioned.
We can pray Mark 11:25 says:
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
A lot of times, people take this verse out of context and make it say something it doesn’t say and make it work anyway. But, you see, there are some conditions involved in Mark 11:23-24. Did you ever notice that many of the promises of God are conditional?
You see, the blessings of God don’t just fall on us like ripe cherries off a tree. You have your part to play—you have some responsibility in the matter…you won’t be able to get your faith to work for you if you’re not walking in love and forgiveness. I don’t care how many biblical confessions you make or how scriptural they are—your faith won’t work without the God-kind of love.
You can make all the confessions you want, but they won’t work for you unless you forgive. You can get up every morning and go through your list, take time out at noon to make faith confessions, and even get up in the middle of the night and repeat the same confessions—and your faith still won’t work for you unless you’re walking in love.
This great truth bears repeating: Prayer and faith won’t work when there is an air of unforgiveness about you! And unforgiveness is what has so many people stymied in their faith and prayer life.
So learn to forgive so you can receive God’s best in life. Practice what Paul did. Forget those things which are behind and “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.