UNFORGIVENESS KEEPS US IN BONDAGE

Matthew 6:14-15 (New Living Translation)

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins”.

Colossians 3:13 (New Living Translation)

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Matthew 18:21-22 (New Living Translation) – ^“ Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone^[a] who sins against me? Seven times?”   ²² “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”

Luke 23:34a. (New Living Translation)

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

The lack of forgiveness leaves us bitter and our hearts hardened.  When we don’t forgive it causes us to be under the oppression of Satan.  Unforgiveness is allowing Satan to have a stronghold on your life. 

Illustration: Not forgiving is like Satan wrapping you in a cord with your arms down and you cannot surrender to the will of God. You are not free to pray, blessing cannot flow in your life, you cannot worship, you cannot love, and you’re just hindered by the bondage of not forgiving.  Freedom can only come when we release the offender by saying and meaning in our hearts “I forgive you.”  When we do that, we can pray and expect our prayers to be heard.  We can worship and it be a sweet aroma to God.  We can expect to have and receive blessings in our lives.  We can love and receive love.  We can expect our relationships to thrive.  Most importantly when we offend God, which we do daily by the things we do and the things we fail to do we can receive His forgiveness. 

Example: Mary (offender) + Martha (offended)= Angry Martha

(When you harbor unforgiveness it's like tying you and your offender up in a rope and you are in bondage holding your offender hostage.  Within you the following take root: anger, bitterness, distrust, pain, torment, etc.  )

Since Martha has not forgiven she’s bitter and pulls in others to be angry with her about not only the present situation but other situations she can remember that have caused her pain . Once Martha chooses to forgive she is free to worship, free to love, free to be blessed, & free to be forgiven by God.