Forgive 2B Forgiven

By Liz Cornett

Forgiving others is one of the hardest things to do. This book gives spiritual reasons to work through your process. Through examples from everyday life, bible stores and personal testimony, this book will help you understand why forgiveness is so important.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644710494

Book preview

Chapter 1

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

—1 John 1:9, KJV

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

—Lewis B. Smedes

One of the greatest gifts we can give someone who has wronged us is forgiveness. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about forgiveness. In Matthew 6:12 we read the Lord’s Prayer where he says, And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

What the Bible means is we need to forgive. We need to forgive, just as we want the Lord to forgive us. When we have done things that we need to be forgiven for we should and really must forgive people for things that they need to be forgiven for as well.

Not that the forgiveness comes easily; still, God says rather emphatically that we must do so. The parallel Bible says relating to Matthew 6:14–15 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

The concept of forgiveness is a basic principle of Christianity. The word forgive is mentioned in the Bible seventy-five times. The concept of forgiveness is mentioned many more times than the word itself. Because of the many translations the Bible can be used in, some words can be forgiveness and in other verses it is different words that are used, such as the word remission. In fact, Jesus took the blame for us. We certainly could not have done it for ourselves. The concept of forgiveness was known by most of the people in the Bible. Remember Jonah? How he got angry after God forgave the people of Nineveh and spared their lives. God had compassion for the people and animals living in Nineveh, neither of which Jonah felt compassion for. Jonah even waited outside of the city, waiting to see what would happen.

Jonah’s Anger and the Lord’s Compassion

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. (Jonah 4:1)

And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. (Jonah 4:2)

Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. (Jonah 4:3)

Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? (Jonah 4:4)

Colossians 3:13 admonishes us, Bear with each other and forgive one another.

Jesus could not have been clearer in his instructions to the disciples in Luke 17:3–4. The Parallel Bible reads as follows: So watch yourselves. If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.

In drug ministries, it is said when you forgive someone you free a captive, actually you free two captives, you and that person. A classic forgiveness story takes place in Genesis 50, about Joseph and his treacherous brothers:

After burying his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him? So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father left these instructions before he died: ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father. When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. We are your slaves, they said. But Joseph said to them, Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Joseph realized a basic principle of God’s. He says to us in his word that Vengeance is mine saith the Lord, I will repay. Remember that the hostage you free when you forgive is really you! If you spend your life seeking revenge, you have wasted a lot of valuable time that you will never get back. It is gone forever and likely the person has forgotten what offense they committed to you or perhaps they did not recognize it as an offense.

The sad truth about unforgiveness is that while you are sulking and being upset about your hurts—and, yes, I did say sulking—you open yourself up to demonic spirits who are with Satan.

New International Version (1 Peter 5:8):

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

New Living Translation:

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

English Standard Version 2:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

These demonic spirits are looking for any opening, any little chance to destroy you. Understand, my little ones, that Satan and his imps and demons are not your friends. Just as in The Screwtape Letters by that great Christian writer C. S. Lewis, the legion of demons following Satan get rank in Satan’s army when they cause you to sin. It is their job and mission to get you to slip up. Holding unforgiveness in your heart for anyone is totally not worth it. What does worrying about something that you cannot fix do for you? It is foolishness at best.

God tells us about worrying:

New International Version (Matthew 6:27):

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

New Living Translation:

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

English Standard Version:

And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Berean Study Bible:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifespan?

Berean Literal Bible:

And who of you by worrying is able to add one cubit to his stature?

New American Standard Bible:

And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

King James Bible:

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Christian Standard Bible:

Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying?

Contemporary English Version:

Can worry make you live longer?

Good News Translation:

Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

Holman Christian Standard Bible:

Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying?

International Standard Version:

Can any of you add a single hour to the length of your life by worrying?

So what, my friend, does worrying provide for you? Stress and illness. The same thing unforgiveness produces in your life. All the time you delay forgiving someone, God will not forgive you. Unlike you, who are perfect and may not need forgiveness from God I know that I am imperfect and may need it at any given time and day. I know very well what he says in the First New International Version: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Nobody but our awesome God can promise this. He has told us that he has thrown our sins into the sea of forgetfulness and posted a no fishing sign there. It is never God who reminds us of our sins, but our enemy Satan. The Holy Spirit will remind you gently that you need to forgive someone for something you are holding against someone. He does this because he loves you and only wants the best for you. God knows that if you do not forgive, you are only hurting yourself. Have you ever wondered why Christians whose loved ones have been killed or murdered by a person who is caught almost immediately will come out and say that they forgive the killer?

Case in point, remember the young man who killed a lot of Christians when he attended their Bible study? Nine people killed in Charleston, South Carolina’s historic black church. Almost immediately members of the church made public statements saying that they forgave the shooter and said he would not destroy them or the church by causing them pain. They, being Christians, knew that God expects us to forgive our enemies and love them instead. Not the act, but love them as people, realizing that everyone has a soul and is worthy of forgiveness. I am sure that they are praying for his salvation. Everyone has a soul and can still be saved and forgiven by God for whatever offense they have committed.

Being from the Chicago area, I remember the notorious serial killer Jeffery Dahmer. This young man was definitely filled with demons. This is witnessed by the horrible acts that he committed to young men. He was guilty of murdering them, dismembering some and performing cannibalism with others. While Jeffery was incarcerated, he received a gospel tract offering salvation. Jeffery stated in an interview that he gave shortly before he was killed in prison, I know you won’t care or even believe me, but I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. When Jeffery said that, he confirmed that he like the thief, on the cross with Jesus would spend eternity with God!. He would pay for his crime with his own life being taken by someone in the prison bathroom. But God is not like us; he gave Jeffery eternal life. Amazed? That is just like our amazing, marvelous, and magnificent God!

When I first relocated to Arizona, the Holy Spirit told me to look at the Arizona death row inmates and send each and every one a gospel tract offering salvation. A few wrote back thanking me and telling me that they were saved and were living a saved life in prison. Too bad they were not doing that on this side of the bars. In other words, God reminded me that everyone has a soul and is worthy of salvation.

Now did I say that forgiveness is hard? Believe me, my friends, I know how hard it is. My former husband was guilty of so many offenses against my daughters and I. Some things are too horrible to even mention. When I first got free from him, my former pastor told me, Liz, you have got to forgive him so that you can move on. He then said something that caused me to wonder if he had lost his mind! Liz, you have got to start to pray for him! I said to him, Pastor, you must be crazy! He said, No, I am not! As you pray for him, God will begin to cleanse you heart and work on helping you to truly forgive him. You must do this. I promise, it will work. Despite being unconvinced, I did listen and started to pray and ask God to bless him and cleanse him of all unrighteousness.

Guess what, saints, it worked! God showed me that when he said Vengeance is mine, I will repay. He meant it! I was able to tolerate being around him and being in the same room as he was without being filled with hatred. Which was good, because he returned to our former church with the intention to get me back. He would sit behind me in church, enter into my conversations with other people, he even started to working in a ministry where I was working. But when you are done, you are done. God gave me detachment and allowed me to forget all of the horrible things that he had done to us.

When he started to get sick, I could even feel sorry for him and I watched the Lord take his vengeance on him. Toward the end, I even asked God to have mercy on him. Saints, I forgave and let go all the wrongs that he had done during our twenty-one-year marriage. I let go of all the times he cheated, the children that he had with other women, children who were not illegal but had illegal parents. I let go of the time he beat me into looking like someone with a pumpkin head, let go of the time he tried to kill me, let go of the psychological abuse and mental gaslighting. Let go of the time he chose to shoot at me with a shotgun. Yes, I let it all go in order to get the forgiveness of God for myself, when I needed it and believe me I needed it. I needed forgiveness for the times I had thought impure thoughts about him. Times I had wished he were dead—yes, I went there.

When he did not get well, we knew that he had gone to heaven to be with the Lord. He had asked for forgiveness from God first and then my girls and myself. This man who used to say he wanted to go to hell, because the party would be there! I told him many times, yes, it will be a hot time but not a party! The wife he had married after me was not a Christian. She took vengeance on him to the grave, had an insurance policy on him but probably spent very little on him. She had the funeral in a funeral home with no frills at all, no music playing, but a boom box playing a song that the daughter jumped up to attempt to sing with a CD. No flowers, no minister, not even the funeral home minister. We had just fought a battle with her when she asserted her rights and had him moved to a funeral home so far away that his friends could hardly come.

A bunch of us, about ten including our pastor, my daughters and myself, his remaining brothers and sisters attended. His children he had with various women, went to the service. After about ten minutes of the foolishness that they had going on, there was no obituary but a flyer filled with lies and inaccuracies. My pastor stood up and said, Enough of this. You should have allowed us to do the service in our church where he was a member. But I will take over now. And he proceeded to give a decent service. When we went around to view the remains, I looked at him and thought, What is missing? I shook my head as I realized that they had cut off his mustache that he had worn since he was in his twenties. He was in his forties when he went home to be with the Lord. My friend, when I was describing it, said, When you live a messy life, you have a messy death. The vengeance of the Lord is real, saints. So don’t despair and waste your time in unforgiveness. Acts 3:19 says, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Jesus says to us in Hebrews 10:17, And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Forgiveness is blessing for the forgiven. Forgive as you have been forgiven.

Remember three Christian principles that we should live by:

Do not retaliate,

Do more than required, and

Be kind and gentle.

If we live by these three principles, we will live a more peaceful life, which is what God desires for us and tells us so in Psalm 34:14: Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. Proverbs 16:7 says, When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. God is pleased with us when we have peace with our enemies.

A good example of this is the story of Jonah, who actually hated the people of Nineveh. In the book of Jonah, God clearly tells Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and preach to the people against the wickedness of the city. Jonah refuses and decides to get aboard a ship going in the complete opposite direction to a city called Tarshish. God understands Jonah’s feelings and being a heart reader, knows why Jonah feels this way.

He allows Jonah to get on the ship and immediately puts Jonah and all aboard through an ordeal. He sends a violent wind and storm that begins to threaten the ship. This causes everyone to fear it will sink. All would be lost and everyone would drown. How scared they must have been.

The fear among the sailors was very real and in those superstitious times, they tried to protect the boat. After this, they started to pray to their gods, then to lighten the load on the boat by throwing things overboard. The sailors started to blame the storm on each other. Being a superstitious bunch, they started to cast lots, trying to figure out whose fault the storm was. It seems that in that day and time it was a common practice to cast lots to make decisions. Casting lots, as used in the Bible, means making a chance decision by using lots (straws or pebbles, etc.) that are thrown or drawn. Drawing lots, sorting, decision, determination, conclusion—the act of making up your mind about something: the burden of decision was his; he drew his conclusions quickly.

By chance the lot fell on Jonah. Accident? Definitely not. God pointed Jonah out. The soldiers began to confront Jonah about that revelation. They began to question Jonah. Who are you? Where are you from? What have you done?

Jonah, knowing he was, where he was from, and what he had done, made his confession to the sailors. He told them who he was, where he was from, and what he had done. Jonah sang like the proverbial songbird and gave it all up to them. Guilt-ridden Jonah confessed that he was running from God and his specific