The Purpose

11/2/22

Before I tell you how I walked the pathway to forgiveness, I want to explore the purpose for such.  Even being a Christian for most of my life I had no depth of knowledge of forgiveness except that is is required of me for others and I practiced it as I knew it.   

I have learned not only does unforgiveness bind the other person (by how you treat them either in person or in your mind) but it binds us like a tetherball to them.  Tetherball is a game where two players use their hands to strike a volleyball which is suspended from stationary metal pole by a rope or tether. The players stand on opposite sides of the pole, and each tries to hit the ball away from their opponent.

I can see all kinds for analogies of unforgiveness in the game of tetherball.  In any event, what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 

Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18).

“Forgiveness has the reputation that the perpetrator has to be sorry. The biggest misconception is that [forgiveness] is for the perpetrator. It’s strictly a gift of freedom I give myself. It’s free! You don’t need an HMO. There are no side effects, and it works. It’s like a miracle drug. Instead of changing the world—that’s too big of a job—we have to repair it one place at a time.” The Forgiveness Project, (p. 190).

Moreover, unforgiveness can bind us and our target to Satan.  God described the bitterness of unforgiveness to me this way during the church prayer assignment: “Make sure no curse against them crosses your tongue, the enemy would use this to keep them in bondage, he will also use your words to accuse them before Me.  So, choose wisely the words that cross your lips and do not speak accusatory things.  Be a blessing in your speech and I will use it to free them.” 

1 Peter 3:10-12 He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.

2 Corinthians 2:10-11 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

According to my friend Wanda Rust, in her book titled “Are You One of These for God?” she lays out the case for ridding oneself of unforgiveness.  “One of the biggest sins we have is unforgiveness.  We have been taught to say we forgive and believe we have, but really, we have not because the pain is still there when we think or hear of that person…Satan has a right to afflict you because of the sin of unforgiveness.  God wants to heal and deliver, but can’t until we break Satan’s legal right over us…God taught me the only way I could forgive the person was to pray for them and bless them.  “Bless them that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you”.  (Luke 6:28).  As we do, we receive the peace of God.  If we don’t pray for them, we have bound them and put ourselves in bondage to Satan.” 

Our perfect example is Job who prayed for his friends who irked him throughout his time of affliction and the Lord rewarded His servant’s magnanimous prayer. And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10).

I have a most urgent reason for this forgiveness which is the affliction I have suffered with since the end of the prayer job.  Though you may not be afflicted physically now, that doesn’t mean it won’t come upon you in the form of your body or your mind because of unforgiveness.  So, I believe this exercise in forgiveness will pay dividends into the future for all of us. 

“Forgiveness offers emotional, spiritual, and physical healing. We might whisper to ourselves about another person, ‘You make me sick!’ but we don’t stop to think about the truth behind those words. Hating other people does make us sick…psychological experiences, such as stress and anxiety, can influence immune function, which in turn may have an effect on disease course.” The Forgiveness Project, (p. 80-81).

I will end this post with song lyrics by Art Garfunkel, "All I Know":

I bruise you; you bruise me
We both bruise too easily
Too easily to let it show
I love you, and that's all I know

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.  (1 Peter 1:22).