Finding Forgiveness Through Giving It

Recently, I was teaching on forgiveness to a church in San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. At the end of my talk, I turned the service back to Pastor Juan, the pastor of this little church that met in his house. As Pastor Juan wrapped up our time together, he told his congregation that he believed the Holy Spirit was telling him that there were five people who had significant issues that they needed to forgive. There were exactly six people that came to the front in response to Pastor Juan’s challenge. Now I was really curious. Whether in English or Spanish, five and six are not the same.

I thought to myself, “What’s this about Lord?”

He said, “Just wait, you’ll see.”

As I walked these six people through the protocol of forgiveness, at Pastor Juan’s request, one could almost physically see the chains fall off and God’s peace fill the room. At the very moment they declared aloud their forgiveness for the wounds they had suffered, a sudden deafening burst of rain hit the metal roof. It was as if the Holy Spirit was washing all the pain and torment away. At the “amen,” the rain stopped immediately. Amazing!

As remarkable as all that was, the most significant miracle was about to take place. As the six people began to return to their seats, Pastor Juan stopped an older gentleman who “just happened” to be the last one to file out. (“Just happened” is often a code word for “God is up to something.”)   I watched from the podium as Pastor Juan shared the Gospel with this well-weathered man and led him to accept the forgiveness of Jesus and find redemption. I now understood the numerical conflict. Five needed to give forgiveness and one needed to receive forgiveness. It all added up just right.

Why do I share this story? I share it because forgiveness is so tied to the Gospel that you cannot separate them. While it is primarily true that we learn to forgive when we consider all that we have been forgiven of by God, it sometimes works in reverse. The gentleman in El Salvador found forgiveness from God when he chose to forgive someone else. There is supernatural power in the message of forgiveness.

PRAYER:  Father, help me to experience the power of forgiveness today as I choose to forgive other people.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:15 KJV.

Today’s devotional is by Bruce Hebel, Pastor of ReGen Fellowship in Tyrone, Georgia, President of ReGenerating Life Ministries, and Adjunct Professor at Carver Bible College. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and has served in ministry for over 35 years.