THE NEED FOR FORGIVENESS

Matthew 22:37-40, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."


Anything that violates those two key commandments is a sin.
The Need for Forgiveness

When we commit sin, we put up a wall between ourselves and God. God loves us deeply, but He hates sin so much that it causes separation between man and God. Our sins are so great, that we cannot possibly repay them. The good news is that His love for us is so great, that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross as payment for our sins. The only way our sins can be forgiven, is when we receive the gift that His Son has given us on the cross.

Forgiveness and reconciliation is the most important part of the gospel. Without forgiveness of our sins, we face eternal separation from God. Anybody who dies who is separated from God, goes to a place of eternal punishment called hell; a place where there is no relief from the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15).
Forgiving Others

When a person sins against us, the enemy loves to place within us a wall against that person; a roadblock in our way of loving that person as Christ loved us. Forgiveness is basically a choice that we make to destroy that roadblock that is in our way of loving them as Christ loved us.

Jesus died to tear down the roadblocks caused by our sin between us and God, and we are required to do the same to those who wrong us (Matthew 6:15).
Seeking to restore a relationship

There may be times when we need to attempt to restore a broken relationship with another person. Jesus told us to love one another as Christ has loved us, and sometimes this may involve going to the person and telling them that you regret what you've done, and attempt to restore the relationship.

Matthew 5:23-24, "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

If you have wronged somebody and it has caused them to have something against you, then doesn't it seem right to go to that person and try make things right? Remember, your goal isn't to rush into the room, yell, "I'm sorry!" and run away... your goal is to be reconciled with that person.

Matthew 7:12, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."


It's a lot easier to forgive somebody when they come to us and confess their sin. When you go to somebody and ask for their forgiveness, what you are doing is helping them to break down the roadblock that the enemy may have put in their way of loving you as Christ loved them. You are aiding them in removing an obstacle in their life that may be preventing them from living the life that Jesus wants them to live. What your doing is helping to break down a wall that the enemy has tried to setup between you and them.

Now don't take me wrongly... I'm NOT saying that we must go back to everybody we've wronged and apologize for everything we've ever done wrong. That is legalism, and puts an impossible burden on many of us! What I am saying is that there may be times when you may have damaged a relationship with somebody, and it is important to restore it.

Please use common sense and direction of the Holy Spirit, as sometimes it can worse to go to somebody than to just leave it alone. If you wronged a prostitute 5 years ago, and are now happily married to the woman that God's given you... it might do more harm than good to go back to that person and try to be reconciled.
Forgiving Ourselves

It is often harder to forgive ourselves then to forgive others. But what we must focus on, is that when God has forgiven us, we are CLEAN (Psalms 103:12). We need to stop blaming ourselves for not being good enough, and accept the fact that our sins have been forgiven (1 John 1:9). God Himself doesn't even want to remember our sins (Isaiah 43:25), so why should we? Are we smarter then God to remember something He chooses to forget? -->