I often hear people share their testimonies of how they received their breakthroughs after they had forgiven their enemies or family members who caused them pain. At first I thought it’s really not fair that your blessings might be hindered because you are still hurting from the pain you endured from someone. In fact, I thought it should be the other way around, I mean the victim deserves all the blessings right?
What are the spiritual effects of forgiveness?
As a result, I started meditating about the spiritual effects of forgiveness and why it carries so much power. The Holy Spirit took me back to a parable in Matthew 18: 23-35, of a servant who owed millions of pounds to a king and the king took pity on him and cancelled his debt. But the same servant who was forgiven could not extend the same grace to his fellow servant who owed him a few pounds. So the king was angry and took him back to jail to be punished until he should also pay back what he owed.
Then I realized that when you forgive someone it is a form of gratitude towards God, and you are actually extending the same grace that God gave you to others. However, I still could not find any correlation between forgiveness and blessings. Then the Holy Spirit elaborated further, because the bible says in John 14:26 NKJV the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring the word of God to our remembrance.
What is the Correlation between Forgiveness and Love?
Forgiveness goes hand in hand with love, as Jesus said in Luke 7:47 “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” We also learn from Proverbs 10:12 “Hate stirs up trouble, but love overlooks all offences.”
We know that love is the theme of the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:37- 38 “Jesus answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
What is the Correlation between Forgiveness and Blessings?
Every command that God gives comes with a blessing, and every blessing is attached to obedience. For most believers, it is an honor to love God and it is not difficult either to love your neighbor. But it’s not easy to love your neighbor if they hate you or if they constantly and intentionally hurt you (especially when you are blameless) because it implies that you are practically enemies.
However, you must remember that loving your enemy is a form of a sacrifice to God, because you kill your pride for the sake of honoring the word of God. Also remember that “We were God’s enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life!” Romans 5:10 GNB.
Subsequently, it makes sense that in all the love commandments there is only one in particular that mentions a blessing attached to it. “But love your enemies and do good to them, lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the most high God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked.” Luke 6:35 GNB. Take note also in Luke 6:32, Jesus explains why it comes with a blessing “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them!”
Forgiveness is Love in Action, and Love in Action is Obedience to the Whole Law of Moses
The blessings come from obeying the law, as the bible says “Jesus Answered, ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’this is the greatest and the most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ The whole law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 GNB.
In essence, the spiritual effects of forgiveness is that forgiveness is Love in action, and love in action is obedience to the whole law of Moses, which activates the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. When you love God with all your heart, you have enough love for others too, because you have an overflow of his love first. “We love because God first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 GNB.
Forgiving others means that you are extending love to the people who don’t deserve it, which is the same sacrifice that God did for you. But most importantly love in action covers a multitude of sins that could potentially take place as a result of hatred and revenge. Meaning you’ve managed to guard your heart and positioned yourself to receive all the Deuteronomy 28 blessings.
In conclusion
Remember that forgiveness is intentional, it is not spontaneous because God intentionally made a plan of redemption in order to forgive us once and for all. So if you are sitting and waiting for a certain feeling that will prompt you to forgive someone, chances are you will wait forever.
Do you think you can make that sacrifice and forgive your enemies? Please share with us in the comments below. You can also learn more about love on our guided meditations ALL ABOUT LOVE and All about repentance and forgiveness according to the bible.
Awesome blog you have here but I was curious if you knew of any forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really love to be a part of community where I can get feed-back from other knowledgeable individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Bless you!
Thank you so much Gralion Torile for your feedback. I’ll be looking with you for the forums that cover the same topics, and if i find any i’ll put their links below. Bless you!