Joyce Meyer - The Power of Forgiveness

The Power of Forgiveness Joyce Meyer

Jesus taught us that we are to forgive those who hurt us, to pray for those who despitefully use us, and to bless those who curse us. That is hard. But there is something harder--being full of hatred, bitterness, and resentment.

GOD'S WORD YOU

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted , to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound...

ISAIAH 61:1

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Why We Must Forgive

Have you been hurt? Misused? Abused? Treated wrongly or improperly? Rejected? Has it affected your emotional state? Do you really want to be healed? Do you really want to get well? Will you forgive?

I believe that most people are abused in one way or another during their lifetime. It may come in the form of physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual abuse. Whatever form it takes, abuse causes a root of rejection, which is a devastating problem in our day.

I know all too much about this. I was sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused from the time I can remember until I left home at the age of eighteen. I have been rejected, abandoned, betrayed, and divorced. I know what it means to hurt...and I thank God that He has shown me how to recover

.Wounded emotions can become a prison that locks us into our pain and keeps others out. Perhaps you are in the condition in life where I was, an emotional prisoner. It's a bitter, resentful, angry prison cell, and forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door that holds us there. How long have you been there? Do you want to be free of it?

Jesus came to open prison doors and to set the captives free! He wants to heal you. Jesus is willing; are you?

GOD'S WORD FOR YOU

There was a certain man there who had suffered with a deep-seated and lingering disorder for thirty-eight years.

When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing hat he had already been a long time in that condition, He aid to him, Do you want to become well? [Are you really n earnest about getting well?]

JOHN 5:5-6

A QUESTION FOR THE HEART

For many, many years, "Why me, God?" was the cry of my heart, and it filled my thoughts and affected my attitude daily. I lived in the wilderness of self-pity, and it was a problem for me, my family, and the plan of God for my life. My troubled mind caused me to have a chip on my shoulder and to expect everyone else to fix my problem. I felt as though I was due something for the way I had been treated, but I was looking to people to pay me back when I should have been looking to God.

When Jesus addressed His question to the man who had been lying by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years, He knew that self-pity would not deliver this man. "Do you want to become well?" are words of compassion to anyone who is trapped in an emotional prison and who has learned to function with their problem. They are words directed to the heart.

Gaining freedom from hurts and emotional bondages is not easy. I know. It will provoke feelings and emotions that have been "stuffed" rather than faced and dealt with. It may involve very real pain, but to be free and cleansed by the power of forgiveness is the only way to ever be fully well again.

God told me I could be pitiful or powerful, but I could not be both. I had to give up the self-pity to be free.

GOD'S WORD FOR YOU

In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor , which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence ) ...

EPHESIANS 1:7-8

PERSONAL SIN

To forgive those who have hurt us in the past is one of the ways we break the bondage of an emotional prison. But for many of us, dealing with our personal sin consciousness can also be a huge problem. The good news is that it doesn't have to be.

For a host of reasons that we will consider in this book, you may struggle with your sins in a way that you don't see in other believers' lives. When you sin or fail in any way, even when you make a mistake or display a weakness, you feel trapped there. You wonder if God is angry at you, and it's easy to doubt that He loves you. And you feel that you need to somehow atone for what you've done.

You know all the words about redemption and remission of our sins, and how God puts our sins away from Him as far as the east is from the west. But the faith to receive the gift of God's forgiveness doesn't seem to catch hold and work for you as it does for others.

I know about it. As a new believer, I would beg God's forgiveness for all my past sins every night. I wondered if I would ever find the peace I sought.

One evening as I prayed, I heard God say, "I forgave you the first time you asked, but you have not received My gift because you have not forgiven yourself."

GOD'S WORD FOR YOU

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display, Nor will people say, Look! Here [it is]! or , See, [it is] there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you].

LUKE 17:20-21

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

For years in my Christian life I walked around with the nagging thought, What's wrong with me? Is that a question that troubles you as well?

I tried to do all the right things. My husband was an elder in the church, and I was on the evangelism committee and the church board. Our children went to parochial school. We didn't miss a church service, and I did everything I was told I should do to become spiritual. I tried and tried and tried, and yet it seemed that I just could not keep myself from making mistakes. I tried to earn righteousness by being good through the works of the flesh. And I ended up worn out, burned out, frustrated, and miserable.

It never occurred to me that I was suffering from years of abuse and rejection I had gone through. I thought that was all behind me. It was true that I was no longer being sexually abused, but it was all recorded in my emotions and my mind. I still had the effects of it, and I still acted them out. I needed to be healed emotionally, and I needed to forgive. I did not know the power of the kingdom of God within me.

I lived out of my own mind, will, and emotions, which were all damaged. Jesus had paid the price for my total deliverance, but I had no idea how to receive His gracious gift.

GOD'S WORD FOR YOU

You will fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

Even so, every healthy (sound) tree bears good fruit [worthy of admiration], but the sickly (decaying, worthless) tree bears bad (worthless) fruit.

A good (healthy) tree cannot bear bad (worthless) fruit, nor can a bad (diseased) tree bear excellent fruit [worthy of admiration].Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.

Therefore, you will fully know them by their fruits.

MATTHEW 7:16-20

BY YOUR FRUIT

The first thing to realize is that the fruit in our lives (our behavior ) comes from somewhere. A person who is angry is that way for a reason. His behavior is the bad fruit of a bad tree with bad roots. It is important that we take a close and honest look at our fruit as well as our roots.

In my own life, there was a lot of bad fruit. I experienced regular bouts of depression, negativism, self-pity, quick temper, and the chip-on-the-shoulder syndrome. I had a controlling, domineering spirit. I was harsh, hard, rigid, legalistic, and judgmental. I held grudges and was fearful.