Matthew 6:14-15 TPT “And when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you withhold forgiveness from others, your Father withholds forgiveness from you.”
If you have a victim mentality, then you are still holding onto resentment and unforgiveness. This is why such people still live in paranoid guilt because the peace of God has yet to cascade over their lives. They are afraid they may not be forgiven, but the real center of their concern should be whether they have forgiven others. Once we forgive others, Father’s forgiveness is automatic and natural.
Maybe you think you have married wrong. Maybe you think people do not understand you. Maybe you have too many skeletons in your closet, afraid of people finding out. Maybe you think God or people owe you. Maybe you think you have been wronged and need justice. Maybe you’ve been abused or traumatized, and you continue entertaining the past. Maybe you keep looking over your shoulder, wanting someone to acknowledge you and show empathy for your self-appointed description of an unhappy past or life.
If we are in Christ, as we embrace his Word and Promises, believing in Father God who sent Him, then we become a new creation, and we are no longer victims but more than conquerors. And because through the great suffering of our Lord and spilling of His blood to forgive our sins, His Love is imparted to us and we are able to choose to forgive others through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If we are having difficulty forgiving others, then we have yet to fully embrace His word in order to surrender to His Lordship. If we truly love Him, then we will embrace and immerse ourselves in His Word and unceasingly pray in the Spirit as we grow in Christ.
If we have truly forgiven, then there will be a measure of fruit in our lives. Where is the spiritual land we have conquered and are conquering?
Pastor Steve Kim