I yes, I alone am the one who blots out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. (Isaiah 43:25 NLT)

GOD CHOOSES NOT TO REMEMBER MY SINS . CAN I DO THE SAME WITH OTHERS?

God chooses not to remember your sins.  Can you do the same with others?

I have a hard time with the part “NEVER THINK OF THEM AGAIN”. I want to hold onto them; that’s a grudge.  A grudge is when we harness our hurt to hurt others.  Hurt people, hurt people.  Resentment means to re-think. We are thinking of this hurt over and over again. When GOD FORGIVES HE TRULY FREES US AND HE DOESN’T THINK OF IT AGAIN – INSTEAD HE GIVES US GRACE, or ROOM TO CHANGE.

GOD DOESN’T ACCIDENTALLY FORGET – HE CHOOSES NOT TO REMEMBER – THAT’S INTENTIONAL; that’s a CHOICE!

Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling.  If you wait till you feel like forgiving it will never happen.  Nobody wakes up one morning thinking, “GEE, I JUST CAN’T WAIT UNTIL SOMEBODY BACK-STABS ME, SO I CAN TURN AROUND AND JUST RELEASE THEM.”  Nobody feels like forgiving.

The MIRACLE is not FORGETTING THE OFFENSE – the miracle is OPTING TO FORGIVE!  When we opt to forgive, healing starts to happen!  We want God to heal us in order to forgive, but God says healing happens when we choose to forgive!

You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (Colossians 3:13 NLT)

FORGIVENESS IS A GIFT. When we offer somebody forgiveness we are offering them room to change; we are giving people some margin to change.  Isn’t that what we all need?  Don’t we all need a little more room to change, a little more space for transformation?

God is challenging us to ALLOW ROOM FOR ONE ANOTHER TO CHANGE.  FORGIVENESS OFFERS SPACE TO CHANGE – IT SAYS “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT TO BE LOVED BY ME”.

Forgiveness says, “You can be imperfect and I will still love you and accept you.”  Wow, what relationship wouldn’t thrive in that kind of environment!

There are only two kinds of people in this world: those who like STAR TREK and those who like STAR WARS. You know you can’t like both and you have to like one. I am sorry, I am letting my INNER GEEK COME OUT – I AM A CLOSET GEEK NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. I like Star Wars. One of the fascinations I think we all have with these kinds of stories is that they are so FUTURISTIC.

The same is true with forgiveness. FORGIVENESS IS FUTURISTIC.

FOR OUR FUTURE TO FLOURISH WE MUST MAKE PEACE WITH OUR PAST!

YOU CAN’T STRIVE FOR THE FUTURE IF YOU ARE STUCK IN THE PAST.

YOU CAN’T CHANGE YOUR PAST, BUT CHRIST CAN CHANGE YOUR FUTURE!

UNWRAPPING UNFORGIVENESS IS UNENDING.

FORGIVENESS IS A LIFESTYLE, NOT A ONE TIME CHOICE!

THERE WILL NEVER BE A TIME OR A RELATIONSHIP WHERE WE DON’T NEED TO UNWRAP UNFORGIVENESS!