When!

Matthew 6:^14-15 “If you forgive people when they sin against you, then your Father will forgive you when you sin against Him and when you sin against your neighbour. But if you do not forgive your neighbours’ sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (The Voice)

The tenth and final bait you should not bite is the I Hurt The Person I Don’t Forgive Bait. When you forgive, you are not doing anybody a favour. You are actually doing yourself a favour. As it is said, forgiveness is setting a prisoner free only to discover that the prisoner is you. The truth remains that it is a bait that has worked so effectively, and that is why we are talking about it. As long as we are in this flesh, none of us is beyond overcoming this bait. The enemy will still bring it to us. Recently, the Lord brought to my attention someone I was convinced I had forgiven. My first response was, “I have forgiven this person since.”

He showed me why, and I said, “Okay, Lord, I release, I forgive.” When we refuse to bite this bait, we are so empowered. The forgiveness of our sins by God is actually connected to our forgiveness of the sins committed against us. Matthew 6:^14-15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (NIV, emphasis added). He is still your Heavenly Father, but those sins will be held against you. However, let’s back up a little bit and look at that scripture again. Matthew 6:¹⁴ “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (NIV, emphasis added).

We pride ourselves on forgiving people when they ask for forgiveness, but that is not what the Bible says here. The Bible says forgive people when they sin against you. So, even before people ask for forgiveness, forgive them. Sometimes, people don’t even know they have sinned against you, and in such situations, they may never come back to ask for forgiveness. In some cases, people believe that they are God’s advocate. So, they will sin against you in the Name of God, thinking they are doing God a favour. But they are just ignorant. They were actually nailing Jesus to the Cross, but as far as they were concerned, they were doing God a favour.

So, what did Jesus do? He asked God to forgive them. Unfortunately, even when people ask for forgiveness, some still don’t forgive. But God is calling you to a higher level, which is that you should forgive people when they sin against you, not when they ask for forgiveness. This is so big. We are masters of forgiving people when they ask for forgiveness, but God wants us to be masters of forgiving people when they sin against us. Your forgiving people is not based on them apologizing, it is based on your obedience to God. And God says, Forgive them.

Prayer: Father, I receive the grace to forgive when people sin against me, in Jesus Name. Amen!