FORGIVENESS IS KEY TO LIFE

DO YOUR THING DIFFERENTLY AND VOTE FOR THE RIGHT CANDIDATES

December 16, 2022

YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE!

December 19, 2022

18th DECEMBER 2022

“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you” (Mt 6:14). Peter asked Jesus how often it is necessary to forgive, and Jesus replied, “Seventy-seven times” (Mt 18:22

Has anyone ever injured your feelings badly or bruised your ego? Have you also hurt anyone for whom you are yet to be forgiven? Do you currently hold yourself accountable for a lapse? Don’t worry about these situations. First, forgive others; next seek forgiveness; finally, forgive yourself. Resentment and anger bottled up in the heart injure the spirit and destroy the body. Anger dries up the blood while resentment eats up the cells of the body.

Forgiveness allows you to let go of the burden, the “silent tax” that is weighing
you down and eating away at your chance for happiness. If you do not release the pain and anger and move past dwelling on old hurts and betrayals, you will be allowing the ones who hurt you to live, rent-free, in your mind, reliving forever the persecution that the original incident started. Therefore, you must yourself free from that double jeopardy.

What about those who don’t apologize for their wrongdoing? This is a commandment; We must forgive those who offend us. What’s more, if you don’t forgive, then God cannot forgive you if you sin, even if you repent. The Bible says, “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:15. Your inability to forgive renders your offering unacceptable to God and also deprives you of God’s grace. Just as Jesus healed the sick by first forgiving them, so also you must forgive others in order to receive healing – Healing for your body, business, job etc.

Forgiveness is a gradual process. Therefore, anytime you feel resentment or anger rising up in you due to unforgiveness, arise and rebuke the devil and renounce the spirit of unforgiveness. God opens the doors to healing each time you actually forgive anyone, including yourself.

Jesus says we must forgive all the time. After Peter asked Jesus how often he should forgive someone who sins against him, Jesus told the story of a servant whose massive debt is forgiven by the king, but who refused to forgive a smaller debt owed to him and was tortured for it. The theological implication is that God will forgive most of our sins, and you should too. (Ref: Matthew 18:21-35)

Prayer

Father in the name of Jesus Christ, I rebuke the spirit of unforgiveness in my life today. I reclaim thy Grace by faith, and I am healed right now by the blood of Jesus Christ, and His righteousness. Amen

Further Reading: Ephesians 1:7; Matthew 12:31; Matthew 6:12; Luke 12:10; Ephesians 4: 31-32

Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi

Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi was born in Nigeria to Patrick Abuda Obeakemhe and Juliana Fatimatu Obeakemhe, both from Ogbona Town. With a master’s degree in law, she was called to the bar at the age of twenty-two, and she is currently the principle partner of the law firm Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi & Associates. She is also the founder of two philanthropic organizations: the Living Waters Mission and the Rose Croix Foundation. In addition to law, Lawrence-Dokpesi was drawn to spiritual pursuits at an early age, having begun studying philosophy, theology, chaplaincy, and spirit therapy by the age of eighteen. Inspired by her spiritual calling, she has produced ten intensively researched manuscripts on spiritual matters. Although Understanding the Spiritual was the last to be written, it is the first to be published. Lawrence-Dokpesi is a mother and a wife living in the city of Abuja, Nigeria.