by Pastor Luke
Many times, I wonder, as a Christian, God has given everything to us yet why do we struggle?
Why are Christians still in bondage and can’t live a victorious life? Why do they struggle? Is it an external or internal issue?
The primary reason is UNFORGIVENESS which comes out of two major reasons;
1. Bitterness towards people
2. Bitterness towards God
80% of our thinking is always negative and only 20% is positive. Discernment of the voice that is in our head is very important. Understand that if it’s positive it’s from God (Holy Spirit) while the negative voice is always from the accuser or the enemy, the devil. We need to learn to differentiate between conviction and condemnation.
Our faith is always questioned when we face crisis after crisis. Negative emotions, feelings and thoughts can lead us to identity crisis, hatred, fears, anger, sadness, guilt and depression.
We always need to check where our identity lies. A tree of bitterness grows in our heart whenever we entertain the negative thoughts. But remember that God allows certain things in our lives to build us up and not to make us bitter.
Let me explain why we have a natural inclination towards unforgiveness or bitterness.
Imagine if a snake bites us, our first response is to kill the snake and not to take medical attention and in the say way whenever we have an issue with any person, our natural response is to kill the relationship rather than work towards healing or forgiveness. Unforgiveness is like drinking the poison and waiting for the other person to die.
When we become independent of God, we tend to judge any situation from our own eyes than from God’s perspective, just like what happened with Adam and Eve. When Satan controls your thoughts, you are actually eating from the tree of knowledge of good n evil.
God wants us to demolish every argument and opinion that is against God. Every day when we make a choice, we are either choosing to eat from the Tree of life (Spirit of God) or from the Tree of knowledge of good and evil (Spirit of Satan)
Question we always need to ask ourselves is who is our boss? God or Devil.
There are two laws that works in each one of our lives;
1. The Law of judgement
Justice is good but mercy is better. On the cross God acted in mercy towards us. (Matthew 7:1)
Always learn to act in grace even if the person is absolutely hopeless.
Before you make any judgement, try to examine your own life. (Matthew 7:3-5)
When you understand how much God note and forgave our own sins, we’ll be filled with mercy.
2. The Law of sowing and reaping
Forgive and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37-38)
God cannot be joked. A man reaps what he sows. (Galatians 6:7-8)
Unforgiveness can create havoc in our lives. Bitterness is very poisonous and has the capability to destroy us completely.
How can we uproot bitterness from our heart?
– We need to first forgive others to receive forgiveness from God. (Matthew 6:14-15)
– We forgive because God forgave us. (Colossians 3:13)
– Pray for those who have done wrong against you. Jesus and Stephen prayed to God to forgive the people who were killing them. (Hebrews 12:15)
– Repent our sins to God. (1 John 1:9)
“Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God, and as our knowledge grows at these three points so our practice of repentance has to be enlarged” J J Packer.
Grace is not the licence to do whatever you want. We are not perfect people but we need to practice our faith in such a way that it’s a living faith.
Repentance means:
Colossians 3:5-11 “Turning from the idols of your heart”
Colossians 3:1-4 “Getting your identity in Christ”
Colossians 3:12-17 “Through the pathways of God’s grace.”
We cannot afford to go back to our old ways.
– Own your sin. (Know your sin, understand your heart, confess and mourn your sin)
– Disown your sin. (live in hope, preach the gospel, meditate on the gospel)
“Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realising you were the prisoner!” – Max Lucado
Remember that “You can’t walk with God holding hands with the devil.”
