Forgiveness - "forgiveness" in the Strong's Concordance (#859) is "aphesis" which means 1. release from bondage or imprisonment, 2. forgiveness or pardon of sins.
Definition #1 - release from bondage or imprisonment - most people unwittingly allow the enemy to put THEM in bondage or imprisonment because they refuse to forgive someone who has transgressed against them. When you forgive, YOU GET RELEASED FROM BONDAGE AND IMPRISONMENT. When you don't forgive, it's not the unforgiven that get imprisoned, but the unforgiver!
In John 20:23 Jesus said, "Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted (remitted means sent far from you, removed). Whosoever sins ye retain, their sins are retained." The question is...who is carrying the load - the weight - the burden of the unforgiven sin? It is the unforgiver; because Christ ALREADY paid with His blood to take away that very sin the enemy is trying to get you offended over. Better to remit the sin (send it far from you) by forgiving the human rather than to retain the person's sin and bear the weight of the offense.
The enemy tries to weigh you down with the care, the weight, the sting of that other person's sin. The enemy tries to get you to pick up the offense and carry the burden. However, we are admonished to lay aside EVERY weight and the sin that does so easily beset us (Heb 12:1). The sin of unforgiveness is a heavier weight than the offense / transgression that the person did against you in the first place. Simply because unforgiveness is resisting / frustrating the grace of God who is The Forgiver. It flies in the face of the grace Christ extended by laying down His life to pay the penalty for that person's sin against you. Christ Himself bears the burden of that person's sin so you don't have to.
Let Christ's payment be enough and don't try to exact payment on your own. If you do, you will be the one that ends up in debt, burdened, weighted down. A wise person once said that unforgiveness and the resulting bitterness is like drinking poison yourself and expecting the other person to die.
It is a case of "give and it shall be given unto you". The verse goes on to say"pressed down, shaken together and running over"(Luke 6:38). What you give to others will come back to you like a boomerang, but multiplied as it comes back pressed down, shaken together and running over.
GIVE FORGIVENESS - that is what grace is for..."for"-giving!
You will see that as you forgive, you will be the one "released from bondage or imprisonment".
Next blog to find out how to forgive from your heart all who have offended you.
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