“Be tolerant, don’t be angry, bear with each other, and forgive one another. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
Beloved couples, this is among the many biblical admonitions given to us which should reflect the atmosphere within the home of every couple.
It’s Easter season. A time we celebrate in remembrance and thankfulness of the liberation, the freedom, peace, and life that Jesus made possible for us through His death and resurrection.
But should you celebrate with a wounded heart? Or how could you celebrate having wounded the heart of someone else? Would you call it true joy if the redemptive works of your Savior and Lord were replaced by the memories of your painful past? The resentments? The bitterness? The unforgiveness? The refusal to let go of your hurts and those who hurt you?
Does any of the above reflect freedom to you? Sincerely speaking, if you would rejoice during Easter with anything that looks like what we have just described above, it means you’ve not truly understood the reason for the season.
The words peace and joy are associated with the word freedom. Only free people know peace and joy. Only free people can be thankful to God. Easter is all about freedom. Freedom from anything that enslaves whether the devil, sin, or people. And no one brings about this freedom but Jesus Christ the Son of God. For whomever the Son sets free is indeed a free person (John 8:36). Only free people understand the reason for this season. What is it that is holding you back from experiencing this new freedom in Christ available to you now?
Beloved reader, Easter is the moment of the resurrection of Christ. It is a time of life, peace, and joy. It brings new life to people generally, and specifically, to emotionally wounded people. This new life is a fresh start made possible by the spirit of forgiveness.
Whether you’ve been hurt by someone, been through a divorce, or been abused in any way, there’s an emotional scar that comes with it and which only “Dr. Forgiveness” can heal.
Are you aware of the consequences of unforgiveness? Unforgiveness is like cancer that eats up your soul. When you don’t forgive someone, you limit your world; you live in misery; you are trapped within yourself, and so are your liberty, peace, and joy.
Unforgiveness makes you a prisoner, deprives you of God’s forgiveness, dries up the anointing of God in your life, delays answers to your prayers, makes you its victim, stresses your life, reduces your youth, accelerates aging process, causes sickness and leads to untimely death.
Unforgiveness causes bitterness and irrational anger, leads one to make bad choices in life, plagues the mind with negative thoughts, and distorts the sense of good judgment.
Unforgiveness is deceptive because it limits your ability to learn from life, blinds you from seeing your own faults, embraces self-justification, and denies you access to the gates of heaven. What a pity!
Unforgiveness ties you to your past and causes you to relive your past almost every day. With unforgiveness, you can’t move forward with your life without carrying the past along with you. The past becomes unbearable emotional garbage so heavy on you. With the spirit of unforgiveness, every time that you see the person who hurt you, the experience resurfaces as if it happened a moment ago. Oh no, child of God, you shouldn’t live that way. It is necessary to empty the trash bag and move on with your life.
Have you forgiven those who hurt you in the past? Perhaps it’s the reason for your pain, your sickness, or what you are going through now. Easter time brings a strong power that facilitates people to forgive. The Easter season provides a great demonstration of the spirit of forgiveness. Easter was the moment of human weakness but also the greatest moment that humans received God’s forgiveness and mercy.
All those people who hurt Jesus received forgiveness during Easter. Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times and that hurt Jesus but Jesus forgave Peter during the Easter period. Apostle Thomas also hurt Him as he doubted Jesus but Jesus forgave him too (John 20:25-28 ). He did not throw him out, or put an end to their relationship.
The people who crucified Jesus on the cross were forgiven too by Jesus. In fact, Jesus had no emotional trash on him before his death. What an example of forgiveness that Jesus gives us to follow. He literally asks us to forgive others. You cannot forgive others if you have not been forgiven by God. We only can forgive because we are a forgiven people.
Are you aware that you are in Christ because of the power of forgiveness? Because you’re forgiven? Yes, God has forgiven you of your sins. That’s why you stand in His grace. But by standing in His grace, you are asked to forgive one another as Christ forgave you (Colossians 3:13).
There is no Easter without the spirit of forgiveness. It would be an act of hypocrisy if you rejoice at Easter when you know you’ve not forgiven certain people you should have forgiven. For there is no Easter without the spirit of forgiveness, are you with me? Easter was possible because there was a forgiving spirit in Jesus Christ.
Before dying, the very last words of Jesus were “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). You can see clearly that Jesus was not seeking revenge but peace–how to forgive those who hurt Him. This is the spirit I’m talking about, the spirit of forgiveness. To forgive is very powerful and spiritual. The act of forgiving is pregnant with power. The act of forgiveness has the potential power to free anyone.
Forgiveness has the potential power to free yourself. To forgive someone is one thing but to forgive yourself is something else. And the easiest way to forgive yourself and release your liberty is to forgive others. Therefore, forgive others from your heart so that you too may be released. This Easter season is a time to truly forgive from the heart.
If you have difficulties to forgive, now is the time to do so. Easter is another opportunity to let go of the past. Are you willing to release yourself? Are you willing to live a new life without the memory of the painful past? Then you must forgive all those who have hurt you.
Take some time and think of all who have hurt you in the past? Are you ready to begin a new life without keeping the hurtful thoughts of the past in your mind? Are you ready to put your emotions on the Word of God and forgive them? Then pray this prayer sincerely below.
God my Father, the truth of Easter has entered my heart. I now understand why Jesus forgave all those who hurt Him, and by His death and resurrection, He still forgives people today. I ask Jesus to forgive my sins, to come into my life and be my Lord now.
Heavenly Father, You know my pains and the evil people did to me. But today, because I want to trust, to honor and rely on Your Word, I choose to forgive from the bottom of my heart, all those who hurt me, just as Jesus has forgiven me.
I refuse to think or to speak evil against them. I also refuse any form of resentment and rather choose to put my mind and emotion on Your Word. I choose to release my mind from all evil linked to my past. And I also ask you to forgive me for any mistake I might have done to others and to You Lord my God.
Heavenly Father, I also ask you to forgive those who have hurt me just as you’ve forgiven me this day. Lord, help me live better for you with no memory of my painful past, in Jesus Name, I pray. Amen. Thank You, God, for giving me a new beginning. Thank You for my new life.
If you’ve prayed this prayer, send us an email so we can help you with your new decision. You can also comment below to tell what you think about forgiving someone. Go ahead and say something!
May The Lord Richly Bless You. Happy Easter!
