By Treva Susuras

Forgiveness: what exactly does that mean: to forgive- a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness.

Let me share with you the types of forgiveness;

1.The forgiveness that Jesus has for us

2.The forgiveness that we have for others

3.The forgiveness we have for ourselves

4.The forgiveness we ask of someone we have hurt

Number one

Let’s talk about the forgiveness Jesus has for us. The fact is that we don’t deserve to be forgiven for the things we have done against God. We have all sinned and fall short of God’s glory. Romans 3:23. God is a merciful God and His desire is that we all are forgiven.

Before Jesus, the people had to sacrifice animals, and the blood of those animals washed the sinner clean and freed him from sin. People would bring the animal to the priest and the priest would do the sacrifice. That blood would cleanse the sinner and the priest of any sin they might have. By offering up a blood sacrifice they would be set free from the consequences of sin.

You have heard Jesus is the Lamb of God. Now you know what that means. The lamb would be killed and its blood would cleanse the sinner. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son

(The lamb of God) that whoever believes (rely on, cling to, remain steadfast) in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 Why? Because Jesus is the Lamb.

How did God give His only begotten Son? He sent His Son as a sacrificial lamb. God sent His Son as a final sacrifice, that we might receive atonement by the blood of the Lamb. The Lamb of God. You see a sacrifice is surrendering something of value to a person for the sake of another person. Something given up. So that being said, God loved us so much that He knew we would never get it right, because we are all born into sin due to Adam and Eve and the first sin they committed. We are all lucky if we can go a day without committing sin. God knew that and that is why He Sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our sin. Jesus knew no sin Himself, but willingly suffered and died for our sin.

When we accept Jesus into our lives, He saves us from our sin and we are literally born again. A new life begins within us, our slate is wiped clean and we have do overs. 2 Corinthians 5:17. NLT says, This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and a new life has begun. So, if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are a new creation in Christ, a new person. All your sins are forgiven. Your slate is clean.

Even though we don’t deserve to be forgiven we are. God is a good God and does not look at our sin. He sees us through the blood of Jesus, pure and clean. When our sins are forgiven, they are also forgotten. God does not hold a grudge, or think about our sin. Once we have repented it’s over. We ask Him to forgive us and He does. He tosses our sin into the sea of forgetfulness. Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us and will tread our iniquities underfoot. He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Number 2

The forgiveness we have for others.

When we forgive someone, we are making a decision to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. For example, we have been hurt by someone. We think about it all the time. What they did was not fair. It changed my way of thinking. I can never be myself again because of the hurt they caused. The damaged it did to me and those I love… we tend to mull this around in our mind and hang on tight. Never let it go. Somehow, we are afraid if we forgive that person, it is like saying what they did was ok. Like we are letting them off the hook. As long as we keep it fresh in our mind they will suffer. Well,,, wrong again,,, most of the time they don’t know or could care less what they did to you. They may not even be aware of it. You think you are punishing them by keep it fresh in your mind and in reality, you are tormenting yourself. The only one that can hear your thoughts are you and Jesus. That’s it. So, when you are constantly thinking about it you are only hurting yourself. We are all responsible for ourselves. It like flying a plane. You are the pilot and the plane is your life. You are responsible for what you are thinking and doing. So, fly your own plane. The person that hurt you is flying his own plane and Jesus will be responsible for what happens to him. Don’t you worry about that. Now that being said, maybe you don’t think about it all the time. Sometimes we don’t mull it around through our thoughts. Sometimes we bury it deep in our mind and never let it show. Thing is, it well show up one way or another. By our actions, the way we think, our trust issues, and so on. When we get to one of these points it is time for some inner healing, which we will talk about in another message. Even if we enter into inner healing, we will still need to forgive those that hurt us. Remember, forgiveness does not mean forgetting or excusing the harm done to you or making up with the person who caused harm. Forgiveness brings a kind of peace that helps you go on with life.

The bible says we are to forgive Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Matthew 18:21-22, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many time shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”

Okay, so, when we forgive others, we are being obedient to the word of God. Jesus says we need to forgive and so we need to forgive. That does not mean that we will be besties with the one we forgive. It is actually setting us free. Let Jesus deal with their mess. We just fly our own plane. When you do you will find peace in forgiveness. If you hang onto the sin committed against you it will take root and cause bitterness in your life. A root of bitterness can mess up your attitude, your surroundings, the atmosphere around you. It can even cause physical illness. Three little words “I forgive you” can set you free, bring back the joy in your life and give you peace. Did I mention the person that hurt you? No, I did not. Forgiveness is not about the other person, it’s about you. Again, Jesus can handle the other person. You worry about yourself.

Say this prayer

Lord, I forgive ____________________ for ____________________________. Please take all the unforgiveness from my heart and make me new.

Now, continue on saying this over and over till you have covered all those that have hurt you. 

End with in Jesus Name I pray

Number 3

The Need to Forgive Myself

I will need to forgive myself. At one time or another we all sin. Before we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior we really sin. Sometimes not but most of the time we are big time sinners. We do things we think are unforgivable. Sometimes we are ashamed of the things we have done. Even when we know that Jesus has forgiven us and covered our sin, we are the ones that can’t get past it. It effects our lives and the lives of those around us. It’s easy for me to tell you that God has washed away all your sin, but when I think of what I have done that is a different story. I had a harder time forgiving myself than forgiving others. I hurt a lot of people in my lifetime. I couldn’t count those I hurt as they are to many. So, I used to think how could God forgive someone like me. When we don’t accept that God has forgiven us, we are saying that the Blood of Jesus was for nothing. He died for everyone else but me. My sins are too big. We feel like we need to pay the price and take our punishment.

Let’s look at it this way, if you go to the grocery store, and pay for your food and go home, do you need to keep going back to pay for the same food? Go to the cashier and say I was here a while ago and I need to pay for this food. The cashier say’s you did pay for it. Yes, but I have been thinking about the food and I need to pay again for the same food. Over and over and over. Does that make sense? No, you paid for it once. You don’t have to pay for it every time you think about it. Every time it is brought to mind. It is that way with Jesus. He paid for your sin and it’s done. You don’t have to kill him over and over every time you think about it. He died once and that paid for the sin of your past, present and any future sin you may or may not commit. Once we have repented (To repent is to feel or express remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin) and ask forgiveness, it is done. Let it go.

Number 4

Seeking Forgiveness from others 

We know what we have done and at times it may be appropriate to ask forgiveness for the sin we have committed against someone else. The other person may or may not forgive, but that is not up to us. We are responsible to make something wrong right, or at least make and effort and try. Remember we are still flying our own plane. They are flying theirs. By asking for their forgiveness, we are being obedient to the word of God.

Matthew 5:23-24, So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and suddenly remember that a friend has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar and go and apologize and be reconciled to him, and then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

I know we don’t make sacrifices anymore since Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, but we may be offering a sacrifice of praise, or maybe taking communion. The most important thing to take from this scripture is if you have a friend that has something against you, go apologize and be reconciled to him.

Now this may or may not happen on his part but you have been obedient to go to him and try. Then you can move on as you have done your part.

I hope this has helped you in some way to understand forgiveness. If you have questions or your need pray or ministry, please let us know. You can call or text 281-868-0537.

God Bless