Picture this.  You see before you a courtroom.  We all know a courtroom is where decisions are made regarding legal matters.  Spiritually speaking it’s the way the accuser of the brethren, Satan, works like a prosecutor, makes his accusations against us before God (Revelation 12:10).  This is where our Advocate, Jesus, makes His defense for us (1 John 2:1).

Maybe you have never seen a courtroom except for a movie.  Others of you might have served on a jury.  Still others, like me, because of a speeding ticket, had to go to go court and appear before a judge.  I know there are a lot worse reasons than a speeding ticket that might require a person to appear before a judge, but it was a new experience for me.  This was years ago and just for the record, has never been repeated!  The worse thing about getting that speeding ticket was the fact that I wasn’t even in a hurry!  I was looking for a friend’s house and had never been in that particular neighborhood before and was looking for the street sign and just didn’t see the school sign. If it hadn’t been for the school zone it would not have been considered as speeding.  But that didn’t matter.  What mattered was the “fact” that I was speeding.  What mattered was the fact that I was guilty. The answer to the question of whether or not I was speeding was either “yes or no”.  Ugh!

Sometime after that incident I was studying about forgiveness.  Now I’d already learned that we were to forgive others but was struggling to walk in forgiveness toward this particular person and dealing with some very deep hurts.  I wanted to forgive them but just didn’t think I could.  What the Lord was teaching me was that forgiveness is a choice and not a feeling.  I was learning that forgiveness is a decision to obey the Word of God and that our emotions will eventually line up with the Word of God and be healed.  I learned that the time frame on the manifestation of healing for hurts varies from person to person and may even somewhat have to do with the nature of the hurt.  BUT ONE THING I KNOW IS THAT GOD’S WORD IS TRUE AND HE HEALS THE BROKEN HEARTED (Psalm 147:3).

Some may have trouble even wanting to forgive others because they have misunderstood the purpose of forgiveness.  Forgiving another doesn’t release them from the responsibility of their behavior.  The purpose of forgiving others is to keep us from becoming bitter about an incident. Forgiving others heals our heart and keeps us in fellowship with the Lord.

Forgiveness not based on our feelings.  We might still want to defend ourselves and retaliate with words or actions but forgiving others is for our good; perhaps more than theirs. The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:15, “if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”.  Luke 6:37 states it this way, “Do not judge and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven”.  The Bible teaches us in Luke 11:4, known as the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us”.  Some translations say “as we forgive others”.  Pretty simply, isn’t it?  There is no mention in these references where it says, “If you feel like it”.  It just says to do it.

Now to get back to the courtroom; both of us were standing before the Judge.  It was made clear to me that if I didn’t forgive him, I was guilty of disobeying the command to forgive.  It falls in line with being in “contempt of court”.  Contempt means the act of despising, being disobedient to, or in open disrespect of a court or legislature. Do you see how that works?   Holding un-forgiveness in our heart is trying to judge others for a sin, but in reality convicts us of sin. 

We need to realized that if the other person has already asked God to forgive them, then there is no sin to be judged and our Heavenly Father can’t see or remember that sin (Isaiah 43:25).  To say it another way, “that” forgiven sin doesn’t exist.

The purpose of this devotional is to help us see that walking in forgiveness frees us from the bondage of wanting to judge others, and sets us free to receive forgiveness from our Heavenly Father.

“Heavenly Father I pray that if anyone is dealing with a broken heart or un-forgiveness in their heart You will help them to forgive others and to receive their forgiveness and healing from You”.