Unlocking the Prison Door

January 7

Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realizing you were the prisoner! – Max Lucado

The reason forgiving others sets us free is because other than love--for God IS love and His love is the light that dispels darkness (I John 2:8-10)--forgiveness distinguishes the Christ in us most clearly as His own faithful ones who have been released from the power of sin and its negative baggage.

He who hung on a cruel cross in our behalf said of us, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34) and in essence, when we forgive others, we are acknowledging that when they hurt us—when they mock us, persecute us, torture us, kill us—they really don't know what they're doing or they wouldn’t lend themselves as instruments in the hands of the evil one! If they recognized who JESUS is—the Great I AM (John 10:36-38) –they wouldn’t try to stamp out the Christ they see in us, they wouldn't be blind to who He is and what He's accomplished in us and desires to do in them!

They are wounding the heart of Jesus when they are unkind, when they wrap themselves in the law and use their righteousness to pound us for our sin! That puts them further away from the Lord than anything else for it allows judgmentalism and hatred to dominate their spirit when Christ's love is supposed to reign there. A person is the slave to whatever he gives himself--if he gives himself to self-righteousness and condemnation of others he becomes prisoner to the harshest of masters.

So, we must love and forgive--and love and forgive again. Jesus will bring to fruition in His perfect time the seeds we sow when we surrender our spirit to His Holy Spirit and allow His heart to overflow ours through these two godly virtues.