What Our Unforgiveness Says To God

By Bruce Hebel –

Are you aware that whether or not we forgive others is a real big deal to God? It is. If you take the time to study scripture, you’ll be hard pressed to find any subject that is more important to Father God than forgiveness. Think about it. In the Lord’s Prayer, forgiveness is the only part of the prayer that has a condition attached to it; forgive us as we forgive others. In addition, forgiveness is the only issue in the prayer that Jesus gives immediate commentary on. In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus connected the Father’s forgiveness of us with our forgiveness of others. He repeats the connection in Mark 11:25-26.

Have you ever asked yourself why our forgiveness of others is so important to God? Believe me, He really does take it seriously when we don’t forgive. Why? The answer is found at the center of the redemption story. It basically goes like this: God created man for the purpose of enjoying Him forever. Man sinned against God, which required judgment and created a debt owed to God. Man could not pay the price required. Jesus, God’s son, came to earth for the purpose of paying man’s sin debt. When Jesus died on the cross He proclaimed, “It is finished!” thus declaring that, through the shedding of His own blood, He had paid for the sin debt of everyone in the entire world. Three days later, by raising His Son from the dead, the Father declared, “I agree. It is finished. I accept my Son’s blood as payment for the sins of the world.”

When we say, “I know God forgives them, but I can’t,” we are telling God the Father that, although we recognize that He values the blood of His Son enough to pay for the sins of the world, which includes the sins against us, we need something more than that. The blood of Jesus is enough to satisfy God but is not valuable enough to satisfy me.

Can you imagine looking at Father God and saying, “Your Son’s crowning achievement is not good enough. Jesus really didn’t finish His work because the sin against me requires a higher payment then He paid?” Really? Is there any father who would not be angered by that?

Now do you understand why unforgiveness is such a big deal to God?

AUTHOR QUOTE: The blood of Jesus covers all sins, including the ones committed against me!

“For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15 NET).

Today’s devotional is by Bruce Hebel, Forgiving Forward Seminar Speaker, 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.

The Connection Between Praise and Forgiveness

By Bruce Hebel –

Helping someone find freedom through forgiveness involves helping them to give praise. The connection between praise and forgiveness may be the classic question, “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” Does forgiveness bring praise or does praise bring forgiveness? I found that when people reflect on how much God has forgiven them, they are much more eager to forgive others. God’s forgiveness brings praise from us and motivates us to forgive others.

When someone violates us or wounds us, in pride we often say, “I would never do that.” Yet the truth remains that we are all capable of sin at any level. A good buddy of mine says that he has broken all of the 10 Commandments, either in thought or in action. According to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, that is true of all of us. Let’s face it—we have all messed up. We all blow it from time to time. The great news is that God loves us anyway and has forgiven us.

If you can help someone redirect their focus from the offense against them to God’s graciousness toward them, you will see a dramatic reduction in their emotions against the person who has offended them. I have found an effective tool in helping move people from complaint to praise. When someone shares with me a complaint against someone else, I ask a series of simple questions. The conversation goes something like this:

“What did he do?”
“He lied to me.”
“That must really hurt. I hate it when someone lies to me.”
““It makes me so angry.”
“I can see that. Have you ever lied to someone?”
“Whaaat?”
“Have you ever lied?”
“Well, … yes … I have.”
“How did you want to be treated when you lied? We all make mistakes, don’t we? Aren’t you glad that God is gracious to us when we do things like this? Why don’t we praise  Him for His grace toward us?”

It is amazing how transformational that type of conversation can be for someone who is hurting. Praise puts everything in proper perspective and produces a humility that opens the door for forgiveness. God expects forgiven people to forgive others. It helps when we remember how much we have been forgiven!

AUTHOR QUOTE: “God expects forgiven people to forgive others.”

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; but the one who is forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47 NET).

Today’s devotional is by Bruce Hebel, Forgiving Forward Seminar Speaker, 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.

Learning to Pre-Forgive

By Bruce Hebel –

The forgiveness model Jesus left for us to follow involves the mindset of pre-forgiveness. He made the decision to forgive us long before we admitted we needed it. He knew what we were going to do. “[Judas] What you are about to do, do quickly” (John 13:27). Later in the garden, “Friend, do what you came to do” (Matthew 26:50). Shocking isn’t it? Read more

Choosing to Pre-Forgive

By Bruce Hebel –

Jonathan, like many young men, had struggled with his faith and had “played the game” spiritually for a long time­—looking good when he needed to, while covering up a lot of secret junk in his life. Read more

Unforgiveness is Sin!

There—I said it! I feel better now. Unforgiveness is a sin. It really is. I know I know it doesn’t feel like a sin. It would be easy to say, “Come on. They hurt me. It wasn’t my fault. So it’s my choice whether I forgive or not. I have a right to be upset because they owe me.” All of that may be true, but unforgiveness is still a sin. And it’s a sin that keeps us in torment. Read more

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