Hello. So today I want to talk to you about one of the most important relationships that you may have today, and it’s with that person that hurt you. I want to talk about forgiveness. It’s one of the most difficult conversations. And you may be thinking, Pat, you have no idea what this person did to me. And you’re right, I have no idea. But one thing I know for sure is that it hurts so bad. It hurts inside. It hurts right here. It hurts the bones, it hurts everything, I know. And God knows your pain. And He already made provision for your pain. And He gave us scripture, He gave us the Holy Spirit, He gave us everything that we need to take care of that pain. It’s not easy, it’s a process. But He knows our pain. He knows our pain.
And sometimes when it’s hurting, we want that person to feel our pain. We are fighting flesh and blood. We are fighting the person. We are no longer trying to solve the problem. We are trying to fight the person. We want them to feel the pain, we are fighting flesh and blood, because my flesh and blood hurt, so I want their flesh and blood to feel what they did to my flesh and blood. But the word of God says, we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness. But you know, we fight flesh and blood. That’s what we do. But the Bible says, don’t do that. The word of God says, do not fight against flesh and blood. Forgive. We need to forgive.
So let’s go into the word of God about forgiveness. So in the Book of Colossians, chapter 3 verse 13, it says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you.” Anyone includes everyone; the people you love, the people you didn’t expect to do this. Every person. Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you. And remember, the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others.” And then Matthew chapter 6 verse 14, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive you.” So if you refuse to forgive others, I’m sorry, but your sins are not forgiven, because you are refusing to forgive others. The person that you’re refusing to forgive, guess what? God loves them so much, and that is why He instructs you to forgive them.
Your unforgiveness is holding you back. It’s not holding the other person back, it’s holding you back. Let it go. Give your pain to Jesus. He can do something about it. He can heal it.
Can I pray for you? Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for every man and every woman, every boy, every girl that is watching today. God, I thank you because you see their heart. You see where it hurts, you see where it’s bleeding. It hurts so bad. And I thank you that, God, you already made provision. Thank you that, God, you heal the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds. I pray that, God, you help them to forgive that person that hurt them, not to forget about it, not to use the I don’t care attitude, but forgiveness. Letting it go, letting the pain go and be able to love again. Restore relationships, restore families, restore friendships, God, in Jesus’ name. Let the devil of division be defeated today, now in this moment. Set your people free, God. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.