THE FOUNDATION STONE OF FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is defined as;
Forgiveness is, choosing to pardon, remit, or overlook the mistake, fault, offense, hurt or injury of the offender without demanding, a penalty, punishment or retribution.
It is giving up your right to take vengeance on someone else by refusing to love them.

Forgiveness is "never free," though it can and should be freely given to others.

When a person is forgiven, the one who extends the forgiveness chooses to accept the pain of the offense and foregoes the right of retribution or retaliation.

Mat 6:12 says "Forgive us the wrongs that we have done, as we forgive the wrongs others have done us.

Eph. 4:32 says and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you."

We need to be forgiven first from God and we have if we have been born again.

When we deal with forgiveness in our own lives;
1. We need to forgive ourselves, for a lot of us this is more difficult than anything else.

2. Forgive others is a miracle and is evidence of the Spirit in your life.

3. Forgive God, God doesn’t do wrong, but some times we misunderstand what he is doing and enter into unforgiveness.

Forgiveness is not avoidance
Forgiveness is not making light of something we find hurtful.
Forgiveness is not excusing
Forgiveness is not denying that the one who has caused the hurt is responsible for their actions.
Forgiveness may lead to reconciliation or it may not, but they are not the same"

Unforgiveness will hurt no one more than myself
Unforgiveness will often hurt others

Unforgiveness is readily exploited by the Evil One
One of Satan's strategies to hinder our personal growth and undermine the growth of God's kingdom is to encourage and exploit the lack of forgiveness among God's people

Forgiveness demonstrates Christ's presence
Jesus said that people would recognize us as his disciples by the way we love one another (John 13:35). One of the ways love is expressed is in forgiveness.