The Key Of Forgiveness – Choice

Hello friends

“Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy seven”.  Matthew 18:21-22

I am a visual person and God will often show me pictures when He is sharing His Word with me. Early on in my christian journey, He gave me a picture in my mind of a set of keys. Through out the years He has been teaching me about the keys that we need in order to open up the doors of victorious living in our lives. In order to attain a key, it requires us to put some effort into learning about them. Once we have the knowledge we are then required to implement them into our lives.

Forgiveness Key

One of the keys that I have worked hard at learning about in my life is the forgiveness key. For many years I had believed that forgiveness was a feeling. It was a life changing event and an eye opener when I learned that forgiveness is not a feeling — it is a choice. If you wait until you “feel like “ forgiving — you will never forgive.

There is another facet of this forgiveness key that I want to share with you. Once you make the choice to forgive you will have to take the next step and remind yourself — and the enemy that you have indeed already forgiven.

My Offense — Harmed Me

20 plus years ago I had a close relative hurt me very deeply. This is when God first caught my attention and used the experience to teach me about the power of forgiveness. I had to see this person several times a week. It did a number on my emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. It caused me to deal with feelings of hurt, which turned into anger. The anger then turned into resentment and in the end I was dealing with bitterness in my heart. With God’s grace and His guidance I was led to make the choice to forgive.

The enemy would almost daily remind me of the offense – the hurt, the betrayal and would show me that I could justify my anger. My thoughts would try to consume me and would try to remind me of the hurt that this person caused me. Every time that I was reminded of the offense I had a choice to make. I could either listen to the enemy and my “stinking thinking” and get bitter and resentful, or I could choose forgiveness.

Power Of The Choice – Using The Forgiveness Key

I decided that I no longer wanted to be stuck in these yucky feelings. The truth is – they were not doing me any good. In fact, they were actually harming me and turning me into a bitter person. From that day forward every time the enemy or my thoughts tried to remind me of the offense, I made a choice. The choice that I made was to remind the enemy that I had already forgiven the person. I would remind the enemy that I had let go of the offence and that I put it into God’s capable hands. In addition to this, I would pray and ask God to handle it, in whatever way He chooses.  I even created a jingle (song) that I would sing about it. Doing this helped me get my thoughts refocused on what was good and not on the offense.

I wish that I could say that it was an instant success — it was more of a process —. After walking through this process (for several months) I was even able to converse with this person and even have them be back in my life — although with strict boundaries on my part.

God has taken me through this process many more times since then. It is not always easy and it is not always pleasant. However, when I use my forgiveness key it always ends with peace and without resentment and bitterness invading my heart.

Who are you needing to forgive? Are you willing to use the forgiveness key?

Prayer

Father God, please forgive me for holding back my forgiveness towards _________. I realize that it is not only harming myself, it is also going against Your will for my life.  Today I am making the choice to use the forgiveness key. I am choosing to forgive __________. I present this person to You and I trust that you will handle the situation. May You heal my hurt and deliver me from this offense that I have been clinging to.  When my thoughts try to remind me of the offense I pray that you will help me to continue pressing forward and keep on with this process of choosing to forgive.  Thank you Lord, for giving me this key that opens up the door to greater victorious living. In Jesus’ Name ~ ~ ~ Amen

Additional Resources For When Your Struggling With Forgiveness

There is so much wisdom in God’s Word when it comes to dealing with our feelings.

19 Bible Verses For When You Are Angry

Lay Your Burdens Down

Attaining Victory Over Bitterness

Be blessed 💞💞💞

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