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

Unforgiveness in the Church

As a pastor, I am deeply concerned for the church. Research tell us that pastors are being forced from their positions in increasing numbers each year, which means an increasing number of churches are going through conflict. I believe the majority of the time the conflict that leads to a pastor’s departure is a consequence of unforgiveness. Read more

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