There is a plague that has been ravishing the earth since before time. It destroys families, friendships, marriages, and destinies. It gives the enemy permission to torment us. It soaks up every drop of a person’s energy and uses it for hatred. It can turn a soft and supple heart to a hard and bitter rock. It has the power to rob you in broad daylight by keeping you thinking you are right and everyone else is wrong. If not that, it causes you to build walls preventing all forms of love from reaching you. It strains the heart and kills the soul making you apart of the walking dead. This thing is unforgiveness and unforgiveness kills.
It is wayy easier to be the victim, blame and stay mad, but with that, you are choosing a slow and painful death. Physically our bodies cannot bear the effect of unforgiveness. Over time unforgiving turns into bitterness, bitterness then has the opportunity to turn into crippling disease. When we are not quick to forgive, the emotions of that pain get stored in our muscles and organs. Memories are stored in the brain, why we overthink, in heart, why transplant organs remember the person they came from, GI tract, why our stomach drops and lose our appetite when someone says the person’s name. This is why holding a grudge, being revengeful, or not letting things go makes you more susceptible to pain. It increases the sensitivity of the limbic system which will multiply negativity in your life and increase how often you take offenses. Living in offense is the devils playground. Unforgiveness overly actives the sympathetic system, which implements high blood pressure, weakens immune systems, causes insomnia, chronic pain, and cardiovascular problems. Which is why it is not wise to live in unforgiveness.
Mentally, unforgiveness keeps you broken and stuck where & when the hurt happened. The egoic mind plays tricks with our thoughts by creating a fib that by us holding on to the hurt, is the best revenge. In actuality, the one getting hurt is you. Your thought life is what ignites the unforgiveness. Reliving that moment brings your body back to the very time and place it happened. This makes it hard for you to move on because in your mind the moment just happened. You have matured in age yet you are still stuck at the hurt that happened to you when you were 12. You stay at whatever mental level you did not forgive at. These moments of hurt are the very things that push us to grow and develop. Living life stuck in your hurt is hell on earth. Which is why it is not wise to keep the hurt on your mind.
Spiritually, unforgiveness stops prayers from being heard. Anyone with unforgiveness in their heart during prayer will not see answers come to pass. Those prayers will not even make it past the ceiling. On top of that unforgiveness can keep you from entering Heaven. These two things show how important forgiveness is to God. We are also subjected to sin, meaning our choices will or have hurt someone at some point in our life. However, staying in the spirit of unforgiveness steals the chance of you being forgiven. If you want to be forgiven you must first forgive. Not forgiving our brothers and sisters on earth, show our Creator He should not forgive us in Heaven. He intended for forgiveness to be given freely. An unforgiving spirit will always fail to solve the issues, and will always be a prison to the spirit.
It is clear you need to forgive when you feel that your life lacks meaning or purpose, or that you are at odds with your spiritual beliefs. You feel spiritually cold or stuck because you have built a wall separating you and God. This is how unforgiving prevents you from reaching your destiny. It stunts the longevity of the spirit, body, and mind. Being quick to forgive frees your body and spirit from years of hurt. It is the chance to let go of those chains of lethal emotions. Another sign you need to forgive, is how your body physically respond to the person or the situation; heart palpitations, stomach drops, sweating, or change in breath. Forgiving does not mean a person will not have to reap the consequences of their actions. It means you free yourself from the control the hurt had you under. Jesus is the perfect example of forgiving because He shows us it is possible. He forgave the people that mocked Him, lied on Him, spit on Him, whipped Him, chained Him, and crucified Him. Sometimes it feels unbearable, unrealistic, and impossible. He did it , we can too. Forgiving isn’t a feeling. It is a commitment you will continually make any time the hurt comes to mind. Forgiving can be a long drawn out process or, if you want it to be, it can be supernatural. Shockingly, the past no longer exists! Right now, is all we have. Do not let the hurt, past or bitterness take you from the present moment. The present moment has everything you need. True freedom is reached when there is nothing but love and acceptance for that person/moment.
God forgave us so that we could extend His forgiveness to someone else. Being able to quickly forgive is a fruit of The Spirit. We can only forgive with the help of Holy Spirit. It is not done on our own strength. Forgiving ourselves or asking for forgiveness takes maturity and strength to walk out. Mastering the art of forgiveness comes with great rewards like lowering levels of depression, anxiety, and hostility; reduced substance abuse; higher self-esteem; and greater life satisfaction. The limit of intimacy in our relationships with God, friends, family, and spouses’ doubles. The ability to forgive forces us to grow out of the mold we’re in. The things that we go through should always make us stronger and wiser. Every unfortunate thing always works out for good if you allow it to. Allow the miracles of forgiving change your life.
“I forgive (name) by faith for (what they did). I now release them into the freedom of my forgiveness!”-Tiphani Montgomery
