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| FORGIVENESS The power and beauty of forgiveness opens the door to a healthy relationship with the Lord By Rev. Nelson Pineda Family Living Counseling |
| In recent years we have learned the fact that emotional wellness promotes physical health. I would like to add that spiritual wellness promotes emotional health. In order to enjoy spiritual health we need a healthy relationship with God. Forgiveness is an important element in our relationship with the Lord; therefore let us consider this topic briefly. |
| a) The Rules of forgiveness: You must forgive others in order to be forgiven. In Luke 11:4, we read: "And for give our sins as we ourselves forgive our debtors". In Mark 11:26 Jesus tells us: "If you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions". Did you ask the Lord for forgiveness? Do you feel forgiven? Are you in fact forgiven? |
| b) The Principle: Forgiving others is not an option, it is a command. Colossians 3:12, 13 read: "And so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, forgive each other, just as the Lord forgave you". Ephesians 4:32: "Forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you". When we forgive others we please God and in the process we assure ourselves to be forgiven by Him. |
| c) The Process: Confession. 1 John 1:9 reads: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us". James 5:16 goes a bit further : "Confess your sins to one another, and for one another, so you may be healed". For the most part when a person visits a Psychologist or a Counselor in search of emotional health, the "sick" is the talker and the "healer" is the listener. Apply the same principle with God; go to Him, confess and you will be relieved of your burden (sins). |
| d) The Conditions, the Source: God's Grace. Hebrew 9: 22 declares: "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness". Jesus was the only one qualified to do the work of redemption because He was the only one without sin. He met the condition and through God's grace we can have it. Therefore we are called to dispense forgiveness in the same manner: by grace, with no conditions. |
| Very still we have included in our theology that: "we must ask for forgiveness to receive it". However forgiveness has been provided through Jesus Christ. We just have to accept it from God by faith, and give it to our neighbor by grace. We can experience the beauty and power of forgiveness so we can enjoy a healthy relationship with God, which in term will foster spiritual and emotionally healthy life and in some instances this could lead to physically wellness. |
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