There were many times in my life that I was easily
offended and hurt by other people, especially by those in leadership or positions
of authority, even those I looked up to and admired would occasionally offend
me. I always managed to forgive them but
many hurts remained unhealed. I discovered that the people who caused my pain were not always
the true source of the pain, some just happened to bump into an unhealed wound that
had been festering for years in my soul.
I misinterpreted most of these painful confrontations, thinking they were just very rude or
inconsiderate toward me, but in reality they were bumping into preexisting wounds in my soul.
The wounds originated in my life from abusive people that
were often authority figures like a parent, teacher, pastor or an
employer. Some wounds were even handed
down to me from wounded parents. We can even be wounded while in our mother's womb. Hurting
people often hurt other people unintentionally, but the enemy uses these things to keep
us off the playing field, sitting on the bench so to speak.
In my heart I would forgive those who hurt me, but it seemed
to be inadequate, I didn’t experience healing as a result of forgiving. I usually felt better for a while but couldn’t
understand why it didn’t last or bring final closure to these issues. In my search for answers, God revealed some
things to me. Even though I was a
believer in Christ and agreed with His finished work of the cross, I had not
been taking up the cross daily and applying it properly in my life. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is where
all our offences and debts were canceled.
Our debts were not only canceled but Christ included a deposit of grace
so that we were not left with zero in our spiritual bank account. He gave us grace so that we never need to relive the pain of past or experiences.
Though forgiveness is good and required, forgiveness alone isn’t the full
application of the cross of Christ.
I had not been properly applying the cross of Christ to the offences
that I experienced. Yes, there is
forgiveness in the cross, but there is much more than that. There is healing and a clear conscience
toward God and men. When Jesus died upon
the cross, He not only forgave us, but He released grace to us. Grace is defined as unmerited favor, God’s divine ability to do what we can not do in our
own strength. My application of the
cross did not include releasing favor or divine ability to those who offended
me.
Now when someone does something that could offend me, at
that point I have to make a choice. Will
I respond by just blowing it off or sucking it up like a good forgiving
Christian, or will I respond with grace?
My grace response is to forgive and release that person from all
judgment and condemnation, then I pray
that God would bless them with mercy and grace, that He would empower them to
be a blessing to everyone they come in contact with. In addition to that, if I have opportunity, I will do
something tangible to bless them with a gift.
That kind of prayer and blessing for others will result in me receiving the same
blessing returned back to me.
The cross not only provided forgiveness for everyone, but includes grace, the power to
walk in a higher dimension. Grace
empowers us to live and walk in righteousness and freedom from the guilt and
condemnation of the law. The enemy then
has no legal access to agitate those wounded areas and prevent the healing
process.
Luke 6:37—38
“Judge not and you
shall not be judged.
Condemn not and you
shall not be condemned.
Forgive and you shall
be forgiven.
Give and it shall be
given unto you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over
will be put into your bosom.
For with the same
measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
There are four steps mentioned in the above verses.
#1 I released my offender from judgment, #2 I released them
from condemnation. #3 I forgave their
debt of sin against me. But God showed
me that I had not been doing #4. I
didn’t empower my offenders with the overflowing measure of grace. As a
result it didn’t come back to me as an overflowing blessing to empower me toward healing.
The measure I used toward my offender was filled with
forgiveness, but not overflowing with grace.
I let them go free, but I didn’t empower my offender to rise to a
greater dimension through grace filled prayer. Jesus not only forgave the woman who was caught in adultery, but He empowered her with grace filled words. "Go and sin no more." Jesus' grace filled words contained the power within them to perform what was spoken. God never expects us to do anything that He doesn't empower us to do.
We are only saved, healed and delivered by God’s
grace. Once we begin to grow in God we
will receive according to the measure we use in giving to others. If our measure is filled to the rim with
forgiveness, we will receive forgiveness.
If our measure overflows with abundant grace toward our offender, we
will receive abundant grace overflowing back to us.
