Forgiveness is not a Feeling
“...death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21, ESV).
Forgiveness does not start with feelings. Forgiveness starts with the words, “I forgive you.” If we try and wait until we feel like forgiving the person we may never forgive anyone because of our emotions. When we speak out of our mouth, “I forgive you,” forgiveness happens. We may still have the same feelings in our heart, but as soon as we speak the words, forgiveness happens. Remember, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3). The word says that when He spoke the word “light”, light happened. Many times we are trying to feel forgiveness in our heart before we actually say the words. Scripture teaches us that we have to speak the words in order for what we want to manifest.
Our words are containers of power. The word teaches us that “...death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21, ESV). Scripture also says, “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11, ESV). Did you see how much power is inside of the spoken word? What we speak will accomplish whatever is spoken! But he answered, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).
Our words are so powerful that they affect the direction of our lives! The object of Satan is to keep us speaking how angry we feel so that we never produce the forgiveness that is inside of us. According to the dictionary, our feelings are an emotional state or reaction. Our feelings can be fickle and can cause us to respond emotionally. If we continually sulk in unforgiveness we can live on an emotional rollercoaster and never get off.
Forgiveness is so important because if we don’t forgive, we lose everything. The word says, “...but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:15, ESV). There is no discussion; we have to forgive. Even when the disciples had a disagreement, Peter went to Jesus and asked how often am I to forgive my brother. Jesus responded, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:12). Basically, Jesus was saying as many times as necessary. Jesus did not tell Peter that he would feel forgiveness, he commanded him to forgive.
How do we forgive? We first ask God for help, then speak the words out of our mouth. Jesus gave us the best example when He was on the cross and said, “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do…” (Luke 23:34).
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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