As a Christian one of our most distinguishing characteristics is our ability to forgive other people who have wronged us. Pastor Greg Laurie said it well: “A forgiven person will be a forgiving person. A true disciple will harbor no grudge toward another. The disciple knows it will hinder his or her prayer life and walk with God.”1
Sadly, many Christians don’t act this way when others wrong them, and as a result not only miss out on the incredible freeing power that forgiving others brings, but suffer some very serious consequences in their walk with the Lord. And the longer I walk with Jesus, the more I have discovered that forgiving others is one of the greatest investments we can make in our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
For you see when we choose to forgive, we show that we understand one of the central parts of the gospel, as well as following in the footsteps of Jesus, who made forgiveness of sins an essential elements of a true disciple of Christ. In addition, practicing forgiveness is one of the best ways I know of to lead a healthy physical, emotional, and spiritual life.
Forgiving others who have offended and hurt us is not always easy but the negative costs that an unforgiving spirit brings with it are truly harmful.
First, when we don’t forgive we inevitably harbor thoughts of bitterness and getting even with those who have hurt us. And bitterness, in my opinion, will rob you of the peace and joy of the Lord, destroy your physical health over time, and make you a slave to the person who has offended you.
Second, our prayer life will often become very ineffective, since an unforgiving heart is iniquity in the eyes of the Lord. And (Psalm 66:18) tells us: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.”
And third, right after we read the Lord’s Prayer in (Matthew 6), we read these stunning verses: “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.” (Matthew 6:14-15). Now this doesn’t mean you will lose your salvation but what I believe these verses are telling us is that Scripture teaches that God chastens His children who disobey – and having an unforgiving heart is disobedience to the Lord. For we read in (Hebrews 12:5-7): “And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”
Summing up, when we choose not to forgive those who have offended and hurt us we show God that we have forgotten just how much He has forgiven us. We also will find out the hard way that an unforgiving spirit will rob us of all peace and joy, hurt us physically, greatly harm our prayer life, and basically make our journey with Jesus one of bondage and misery instead of freedom and joy. Yes, forgiveness is not always easy, but it is the wisest decision we can ever make!