Colossians 3:13
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (NKJV)
Forgiveness: "God’s gift to allow you to be who He made you to be in the face of real evil and real pain." -Bob Hamp
The great thing about forgiveness is that it has the power to open the door to your freedom and ultimately connect you to the work that God already performed through Jesus on the cross, but you must choose it. That means you choose to live with the consequences of other’s sin and not charge it to their account. This is never an easy choice, and in some cases, it may be the most difficult choice a human can make. In the Garden of Gesthemane, Jesus made this choice the night before His crucifixion. This choice required such intense prayer that the Son of God sweat drops of blood as He chose to take our sins upon Himself....and not charge them to our account.
Forgiveness is giving whomever offended you back to God, and when you release them, you give them over to God for Him to work justice in their lives. That means you choose to live with the consequences of other’s sin and not charge it to their account This also allows God to work out healing in your life.
We need to learn that we cannot heal ourselves. When you give up the role of being your own healer, you make room for God to do what He does best. I am convinced that the healing and restoration of our souls is the real goal of forgiveness. This allows us to be who we are created to be even when we have faced real evil or real pain.
