Matthew 5:44�But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;�
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.�
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?�
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?�
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Luke 6:26�Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,�
28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.�
29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.�
30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.�
31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.�
32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.�
33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.�
34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.�
35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.�
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.�
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Seeking after God with all my heart trying to forgive people who had done things so bad that there was absolutely no reason for me to even want to forgive them resulted in one of the greatest gifts I have ever received from our Father in heaven.
Before I could forgive others I first had to know myself as God knew me, because the only reason why I have not committed worse sins then I have committed (and for the sake of others I hope my sins are the worse here) was because of Him and not of my own free will.
Consequently, it was only the grace of God that kept me from wreaking havoc and vengeance on those who wronged me. In the process of my journet into Christ I not only overcame my thirst for vengeance, I overcame myself.
Here is a cut-and-paste out of my testimony for what God gave me when I was seeking Him for help with forgiving others.
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.......... The same neighbor invited me to a weekday evening service that was just a couple of days after 9/11 so as you can imagine the place was packed. I wasn�t there because I was afraid the world was coming to the end because all I knew was that if I could not get past my problem with forgiveness I wasn�t going to find the peace that I needed to find. The service was interesting and the Pastor�s personality drew affection from the people that were gathered together and when the service was over an altar call was announced for those who felt inclined to come forward. There was no way that I was going to walk to the front of a large gathering and openly pray however since everybody else was praying it seemed like a good time to ask God for help with my problem. So with my head in my hands and sitting in a church I began to pray to God asking Him for help in becoming able to forgive those people who had wronged me.
While praying a shiny area appeared in front of my eyes with a mound of earth, blue sky, clouds, and a cross with Jesus Christ. This surprised me so I opened my eyes and while I could then see the pastor and the congregation the Cross of Jesus Christ still remained completely visible. When I would shut my eyes or open them again Jesus and His Cross were always there in front of me, about ten inches away. I suppose you can imagine how completely shocked I was but since it wasn�t going away I decided to study it in detail for as long as it remained.
The first thing that stood out to me was the color of His skin. It was nothing like the pictures I had seen. His skin was quite dark in color sort of an olive-brown about the same color as the wood that he was nailed to. The other thing was that I could only see His Cross and not the ones to either side of Him. This continued to last for several minutes and then it gradually faded away. Shortly after that the pastor finished praying and everybody started to lift their heads, I told the couple whom I was with what had just happened. She smiled but he had a rather skeptical look, as it was definitely something that had never happened to him. When we went out for dinner afterwards I tried to take part in the conversation but my mind was fixed upon what had just taken place.
By the time I went to bed that evening I realized that what had happened to me was a vision and while I was both grateful and happy I really did not grasp the significance until I woke up in the middle of the night. During that time period I had been reading the Gospel of John and what I now understood was that God was showing me that I as a person I never would be able to forgive. It is not the nature of a human being to forgive. People make compromises such as, for this reason I forgive you or we are sometimes willing to overlook events just to obtain some sort of goal. The fact is that people do not forgive and I was probably the least forgiving person of all. So what God did show me was that even though I myself (the �old Doug�) never would forgive, the Spirit of Christ Jesus through the blessing of Pentecost existed in me as a �new Doug� and He had already done all the forgiving that has ever needed to be done.
However He was also telling me that somehow I had to allow him to become me? That was much easier said than done and to explain that to people back then as I have just explained it to you brought a lot of blank looks from people who were supposed to be able to help me in things relating to the Bible and �Spirit�. At that time there was no one anywhere around me that really grasped the total meaning of the Bible let alone things like the difference between spirit and soul. So while at that time I already had an elementary understanding of �Him in Us� my understanding was unfortunately far short of comprehending the difference of �Us in Him" when His work is completed in us when we appear in His image and likeness.
"The fact is that people do not forgive and I was probably the least forgiving person of all. So what God did show me was that even though I myself(the "old Doug") never would forgive, the Spirit of Christ Jesus through the blessing of Pentecost existed in me as a "new Doug" and He had already done all the forgiving that has ever needed to be done".
Restassured/Doug......I can't say or add anything more to that statement! Most importantly because this is a part of your testimony......your personal spiritual experience. But what it says in truth of just how The God we serve is so merciful and full of grace, that we, in our human limitedness, could never do anything to assist with what has already been done and completed on the Cross! Praise be to God!
It is easy to tell others we are new persons in Christ but for someone who must become a new person in Christ, or all is lost because the same old person with no respect for God or man still wants to be in charge, it takes more than just being told you are a new person in Christ.
For whatever time I have left it is my hope to reach others who like me have realized there is no improving the old person, and only through becoming a new person can we have peace with God and our fellow man.
I like your post.Its good when we read other's testimonies.God reveals Himself to us in different ways.
Forgiveness as you say can only be from Jesus Christ.Only He can help us forgive.
When I separated from my ex I was in a lot of pain and my heart was heavy about my ex and the other woman.
I knew I had to forgive them for me to be able to go on in God's word,and it wasn't easy.I started fasting and praying three days every week.I would earnestly cry to God to help me forgive.I did that for a long time and God revealed Himself to me in a dream.
From there I fasted for two weeks,just praying for His grace,and this is when He took away the burden from me.I had a very clear vision about it which I won't explain here.From then on its been very easy for me to forgive those who wrong me and even forget.
But I know its not easy like people put it.
I am blessed by your post.
God bless you and all christians as we desire to do God's will,knowing that the bible says unless we forgive we shall not be forgiven.
