I Forgive You,
What I am about to process with you may set you free and open new doors for Papa to operate in your life. It all boils down to one word that manifests the heart and wisdom of God for you. It is a word that we often hear but do not receive, a word often said but rarely practiced. Forgiveness
I think forgiveness is one of the core issues that can uplift a community in so many ways. In order for me to walk in freedom, I must walk with the forgiveness that Christ has given me already. Something I’m learning and operating through is that in order to operate in the way that God intended me, I must be free from the trespasses and actions of others. I must be free from my own expectations of them and free to love out of the heart of God.
I heard a story recently that touched my heart very deeply and I think gives a glimpse into the forgiving heart of God in us. I’ll try to regale it to the best of my ability. A Mother had a daughter who was kidnapped, raped and then murdered. Two or three days later, the police found the murderer. He was convicted and sentenced to live the rest of his days in prison. Somehow the mother was able to set up a glass meeting with the man who raped and murdered her daughter. You can imagine the dread and the thoughts the man had when he saw the mother of his victim. At first he refused to see her or talk to her but the mother insisted. Normally we would expect a mother to tear into the man and to speak death over him quickly and abundantly.
“I’m not here for why you probably think, so don’t be ashamed. I cry for you.” Is the first thing she said. “What you did to my daughter reveals you are very lost and have no idea of the value of human life. The thing is you can’t destroy my daughter because of the blood of Jesus and she is forever with the Lord and I’ve really lost nothing but the ability to hold her and hug her and talk to her but she’s alive forever but you sir are totally lost and I cry for you.”
The mother kept coming back and through a series of meetings the man who killed a daughter completely changed direction and was born again because of this mother’s transformed heart and disposition. His nature and his own demeanor were so changed, that no one could deny it. During this time the mother and this man become best friends through prison visitation and while he was in prison, she began to petition for his release as the mother of the victim. The courts honored her request and he was released. Now they are ministry partners going all around the country ministering to churches on the power of forgiveness.
This story illustrates the power of forgiveness. The mother did not let the action of one man against her family, lose her sight of the value of her transgressor in the eyes of Jesus. That is the truth contained in the gospel. It’s a gospel that reveals your value and when put into action will reveal the Father’s heart. “Forgiveness is so incredible because it renders the assault and the action over and powerless.”-Pastor Dan Mohler. Out of the identity in Jesus there is freedom to have joy again. There is freedom to love abundantly and freely. There is freedom to forgive.
We were invited to speak at a local churches Wednesday night service. We had just arrived in India 3 or 4 days before. One of my team mates named Katie, shared on forgiveness and spoke so eloquently and truthfully. At the end of the sermon, we performed an activity. All of us stood in a circle with her in the middle. She told us to imagine someone in our minds that we would like to forgive. Each of us took a second to imagine who we wanted to forgive and afterwards she would walk around, shake our hands and we were to say to her “I forgive you” as she became a physical representation of our person to forgive. I had a lot of trouble because I felt free from almost every person I could think of. Family, friends and even team mates. Then, when it was time for me to shake her hand to forgive the person that I still held trespasses against, I could only see myself. Papa revealed that the one person that I needed to forgive is the one I see in the mirror every morning. I had to be free from my past mistakes, my past pride, my past deceit, my past misunderstanding and everything I did that didn’t line up with Papa’s heart. I did not fully understand my true value in Him until that moment. As a result, my past died that night.
I’m in a new place where I am free. The reality that is in me is Jesus and I must become what God created me to be in first place. That is to become like Him and to not hold trespasses against anyone, but to love others as He continuously loves me. Our past experiences have no bearing on what Jesus has for us now. Even if that past experience was from earlier today, it is no longer part of the greater things that are laid out before you. May we have freedom to love authentically and freedom to forgive because we have already been forgiven so much.
