Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this honestly. It is encouraging to hear that God is setting you free in this area, and it is not surprising that the pressure to hold onto bitterness would feel stronger in this season. That increased attack does not mean you are failing. It often means you are moving in the right direction.
Temptation is common to everyone, and God can use even that testing to build patience and steadiness as you learn to wait on Him. At the same time, the solicitation to do evil never comes from God. He does not entice anyone toward sin. That pull toward anger, bitterness, and an unforgiving response comes from the enemy, and it usually carries the promise that you will feel better right away if you just give in and hold the grudge. The temptation itself is not sin. Even Jesus was tempted, yet without sin. Sin comes when desire is allowed to conceive and we choose to follow the flesh instead of the Spirit. In every temptation there is a choice to be made whether to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.
Forgiveness in the way Jesus teaches it is not a matter of mathematics or keeping count. When Peter asked about forgiving seven times, Jesus answered with a number so large that anyone trying to count would lose track long before reaching it. His point was that forgiveness is a matter of the heart and of the spirit. He illustrated it with a king who forgave his servant an immeasurable debt, showing how much we have been forgiven. God commands a forgiveness that comes from the heart, and if you are willing, He will give you the capacity for it. That willingness matters. It is right to pray plainly, Lord, take this bitterness from me, take this unforgiving spirit, and give me a heart that forgives. He will help you when you are willing to receive that help.
It helps to understand what real forgiveness looks like. Often we say we forgive but we keep the memory ready to bring up again, as if we bury the hatchet but leave the handle showing. That is not true forgiveness. When God forgives, His forgiveness is complete. He blots out the record, He does not bring the charge up again, and He justifies us so that we stand before Him as though we had never sinned. That is the pattern we are called to follow. Scripture calls us to be followers of God in this, to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us, and to walk in love as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us. Having been forgiven so much, it becomes our calling and our joy to extend that same mercy to others. Jesus even ties our own experience of forgiveness to our willingness to forgive, teaching us to pray, forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us, and saying that if we forgive others, our Father will also forgive us.
You do not have to be mastered by this old response any longer. The temptation may still come, but you do not have to yield to it. In Christ you have been crucified with Him and raised to new life. You can reckon yourself dead to that old way and alive to God, and choose by His Spirit not to walk after the flesh.
I am praying for you, that God will fill your heart with His Spirit of forgiveness, wash away bitterness, and give you strength in each moment of temptation to choose His way. May you know more and more the freedom of His complete pardon toward you, and may that same pardon flow through you toward others, bringing peace to your heart and glory to Jesus.
Temptation is common to everyone, and God can use even that testing to build patience and steadiness as you learn to wait on Him. At the same time, the solicitation to do evil never comes from God. He does not entice anyone toward sin. That pull toward anger, bitterness, and an unforgiving response comes from the enemy, and it usually carries the promise that you will feel better right away if you just give in and hold the grudge. The temptation itself is not sin. Even Jesus was tempted, yet without sin. Sin comes when desire is allowed to conceive and we choose to follow the flesh instead of the Spirit. In every temptation there is a choice to be made whether to walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.
Forgiveness in the way Jesus teaches it is not a matter of mathematics or keeping count. When Peter asked about forgiving seven times, Jesus answered with a number so large that anyone trying to count would lose track long before reaching it. His point was that forgiveness is a matter of the heart and of the spirit. He illustrated it with a king who forgave his servant an immeasurable debt, showing how much we have been forgiven. God commands a forgiveness that comes from the heart, and if you are willing, He will give you the capacity for it. That willingness matters. It is right to pray plainly, Lord, take this bitterness from me, take this unforgiving spirit, and give me a heart that forgives. He will help you when you are willing to receive that help.
It helps to understand what real forgiveness looks like. Often we say we forgive but we keep the memory ready to bring up again, as if we bury the hatchet but leave the handle showing. That is not true forgiveness. When God forgives, His forgiveness is complete. He blots out the record, He does not bring the charge up again, and He justifies us so that we stand before Him as though we had never sinned. That is the pattern we are called to follow. Scripture calls us to be followers of God in this, to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven us, and to walk in love as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us. Having been forgiven so much, it becomes our calling and our joy to extend that same mercy to others. Jesus even ties our own experience of forgiveness to our willingness to forgive, teaching us to pray, forgive us as we forgive those who have sinned against us, and saying that if we forgive others, our Father will also forgive us.
You do not have to be mastered by this old response any longer. The temptation may still come, but you do not have to yield to it. In Christ you have been crucified with Him and raised to new life. You can reckon yourself dead to that old way and alive to God, and choose by His Spirit not to walk after the flesh.
I am praying for you, that God will fill your heart with His Spirit of forgiveness, wash away bitterness, and give you strength in each moment of temptation to choose His way. May you know more and more the freedom of His complete pardon toward you, and may that same pardon flow through you toward others, bringing peace to your heart and glory to Jesus.
