TRULY forgiving people that have wronged us is one of the hardest things we are called to do. Why is this? Why is it so important as a Christian to be sure we are not harboring the fruits of UN-FORGIVENESS; anger, hatred, bitterness etc… God never gives us a justification for “unforgiveness” so even when we are faced with extreme betrayal, loss and pain, Jesus tells us that He can give us the ability to forgive, not by our own nature, but by His forgiving nature through His Holy Spirit.
Pastor Bob spoke on “Forgiveness” last weekend and he explained forgiveness as being both vertical and horizontal.
What is Vertical Forgiveness vs. Horizontal Forgiveness?
Vertical Forgiveness is when we give our hurt and anger "up" to the Lord and ask the Lord to forgive our transgressor.
Horizontal Forgiveness is reaching out "across" to our transgressor and showing that we have forgiven their sin against us.
Most of us are familiar with The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6: 6-9).
Matthew 6:9-13- The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
After we ask God to forgive
“us of our debts”
We pray
“as we forgive our debtors.”
God makes His point clear about how He feels about forgiveness in the verse immediately following His Prayer for our lives. WOW, so powerful!
Matthew 6: 14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Forgiveness is so huge that God gives us a startling warning about forgiveness. If we refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive us. Jesus encourages us to persistently pray but he condemns a shallow repetition of words that are not offered with a sincere heart. Last Sunday, I sat convicted of anything that I might not have completely, both Vertically and Horizontally, forgiven in my life. Matthew 6:14 warns us that “having an unforgiving heart denies our common ground as sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. It is easy for us to ask God for forgiveness more difficult to grant to others” (NKJV notes)
This is what Pastor Bob calls “Horizontal” forgiveness.
9 keys points to know about forgiveness:
1 It isn’t Easy
2 It isn’t Forgetting
3 It isn’t Overlooking Evil
4 It isn’t Destructive
5 It isn’t Approval
6 It is Believing
7 It is Grace
8 It is Surrender
9 It is God’s best
Pastor Bob left us with 4 principles of Forgiveness…
1 Give God the chance to forgive YOU
2 Forgive YOURSELF
3 Ask God to forgive THEM
And the hardest one of all…
4 YOU forgive THEM
“Vertically He forgives us but, horizontally He waits until we forgive others.”
“God knows our heart, He continues to convict our hearts, through His Word, to understand His ways.”
Blessings,
Sian
I stumbled upon your blog through the "wonders" of the Internet. I am in my early days of accepting Christ. I feel as though every place I turn these days there is a message aimed at me from Him. I'm struggling with no longer turning away and giving over myself, letting go of selfishness. But it's hard. Harder than I could have ever imagined. I'm inspired by your writings and am curious how you knew it was time to fully give to Him and belief. How to turn those questions into acceptance and faith. Is it simply forgiveness of ourselves? How long will he forgive me for not fully trusting? Is there anything you can recommend to read to help me learn and understand better?
ReplyDeleteDear Erica,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you have accepted Christ as your Lord and savior. This is just the beginning of your relationship with Christ and there is nothing better in life than making this commitment. If you are seeking to know Jesus intimately he will reveal himself in your life and you will continue to see the Lord speaking to you in every place you turn, it is never coincidence, this is how He works. The best way to turn away from sin and let go of selfishness is to pray for this and read the Bible, God's Holy & living Word. If you haven't found a church that teaches from the Bible you should seek to find one in your area, (I attend Horizon Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational, Calvary scripture based church). God tells us that we need to go to church so we can worship and fellowship with other believers. This is how we increase our faith by reading and hearing God's desires for our lives and church gives us an opportunity to fellowship with like minded people. When you decide to live for the Lord by faith He will bless you and show you each step of the way in your life. I guess for me its been 9 years of experiencing His amazing glory in my life that I am wanting more and more of Him and less of myself. Jesus loves each and every one of us individually and He had the plan for our lives before we were born. It is ONLY when we are "reborn" spiritually and turn over our lives and surrender to His will that we can fully enjoy the blessings that God has for our lives. This blog entry tells us that we must forgive ourselves and others first before He can forgive us of our trespasses. I feel my life is so blessed and I am no more deserving of those blessings than anyone else. I know that all the good things in my life have come from Him and all the hard and painful things have come from Him also. To fully understand God's grace you need to trust and have faith that He uses all things for His glory. My life is an example of that. My lessons all make sense now and painful things in my life have served to draw me closer to God. This is why I write a Blog, this is His glory to have your comment and to be able to lead you closer to Him. Decide to fully trust Him and read His Word starting with Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. As far as intellectual reasons for having faith Lee Strobel, "A case For Christ" and "A Case For Faith" are great books to read. Use Biblegate.com for online reference for scripture and most all PRAY. When we ask Him to change us and our heart is sincere He listens. His amazing ways is not just for the other people that you think are better than you, they are waiting for you because in His eyes you are perfect He is just waiting for you to allow Him to live in and through you by His Holy Spirit. It's the BEST thing ever and one day at a time until your last breath on this earth you will continue to experience His everlasting mercy, love and peace. God bless you Erica and thank you for your comment.
Blessings,
Sian