Vol. 6, No. 30 – July 25, 2021
What has no Foresight?
Matthew 5:25
Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. –Matthew 5:25
Unforgiveness is a guaranteed formula for choking our representation to other believers and the world. One of the best things we can get after being wronged is a poor memory. Never carry a grudge. While we stew in the grasp of unforgiveness, the other person is going on with their life.
Nothing annoys our enemy as much as forgiveness. Now, we do not forgive to annoy; we forgive because it is the right thing to do. How does your enemy gain revenge forgiveness? The only people we should try to get even with are those who have given their aid to you.
Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note—torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. –Henry Ward Beecher. It seems that God does much effective work in our lives when we attempt to forego forgiveness. He who cannot forgive, destroys the bridge over which he may one day need to pass. –Larry Bielat. Never cut what can be untied. –Joseph Joubert. Luxuries none of us can afford are hate, bitterness, revenge, and unforgiveness.
One thing I have discovered: People need loving most when they deserve it least. Forgiveness offers healing; unforgiveness continues to wound. The best time to forgive is “quick time.”
When one struggles to forgive or get even, what is it about your life that you accomplish well. I once had a Pet Rock (a fad back in the day). It came with its own box. You could carry the pet rock in your pocket, put it on your desk, display it on your bookshelf, or you could just get it out of your pocket and talk to it now and then.
Then I discovered that a pet rock was like a grudge. You could in fact talk to it, so you could get it out of your pocket and say anything you wanted. That pet rock kept your grudges so it could remind you of them. What a waste of life for not doing what a believer is expected to do.
You cannot move forward with God while carrying grudges or unforgiveness. Staying offended is Satan’s strategy for making us ineffective.
Life Application
When a believer does not forgive, they ignore the impact of unforgiveness on their future. Even the dream life of the believer is affected. Unforgiveness causes the believer more grief than the causes of that unforgiveness. If you want to remain miserable, do not forgive someone. Just be reminded that there is a high cost.
Life is an adventure in forgiveness –Norman Cousins.
Every person should have a special cemetery lot in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you –Unknown.
Unforgiveness is the poison we drink hoping the other person will die –Unknown
