unforgiveness

Entrapped By Offense
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Entrapped By Offense

Matthew 24:3
“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

How many believe we are living in the last days? We see wars, bad economy, natural disasters, people turning away from each other, so much hatred everywhere you go.

Matthew 24:6 – 8
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Dropping down to verse 10…

Matthew 24:10 (NKJV)
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.”

Have you ever been betrayed? Have you ever betrayed someone?
Have you hated someone for something they did to you?
Have you been mistreated?
Are you holding onto a grudge and have become bitter over an event and the people surrounding it?

You may be offended and don’t even know it.

Again…
Matthew 24:10 (NKJV)
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.”

Many = much, largely, abundant, great, plenteous, majority, at least 51% will take offense. Over 51% will betray one another and hate one another.

There is a progression:
Offended, wounded, hurt person will eventually put up walls and betray.

Being offended is a trap from the enemy to put you in bondage and bring division. We can be entrapped by an offense and not even know it. That is the reality of be offended. We don’t see how it is affecting us, our family, our church, and everything that is connected with us.

Proverbs 18:19
“An offended brother is harder to reach than a fortified [strong] city, and quarrels [contentions] are like the bars of a fortress [castle].”

A strong city has walls for protection. They were built to keep out those people that you believed were against you.

This is exactly what an offended person does, they begin to build walls to protect themselves.
The New Testament calls these walls Strongholds.”

2 Cor. 10:3 – 5
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments (Imaginations or reasonings) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

They are thought processes or reasonings developed deep within our soul and are contrary to the will or Word of God.

The Word of God is always congruent to the nature of God. The nature of God is love.

The word of God is always to give, to give, to give.

An offended person builds up walls to protect, protect, protect.

They think, “I’ve been hurt and I don’t want to get hurt again!” This sets them up for betrayal.

A lot of us really don’t understand what betrayal means as we look at the extreme cases of it like Benedict Arnold or Judas.

Betrayal is when a person seeks his own benefit or protection at the expense of one he has a relationship with.

Betrayal is the ultimate abandonment of a relationship.

Betrayal, if not dealt with will ultimately lead to hatred.

Hatred is the absence of love or they are “loveless.”

Then Deception. The offended heart is the breeding ground of Deception.

Deception is deceiving – a person who thinks they are really right, turns out to be really wrong. (The devil makes the wrong look right and the right look wrong.) He knows how to present false information looking like the truth.

Matthew 24:11 (NKJV)
“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.”

When we become deceived we are like a false prophet. False prophets are
wolves in sheep’s clothing – notice wolves in sheep’s clothing not shepherds clothing. Many times they are sitting in the pews.

Wolves travel in packs to isolate a sheep from the herd. There is protection for sheep staying in a herd.

Proverbs 18:1 (HCSB)
“One who isolates himself pursues [selfish] desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.”

Where does the isolation occur? In the thinking process – you can still be a member of a church but the isolation happens in our hearts and makes you a perfect candidate for deception……

Matthew 24:12 (NKJV)
“And because of lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”

The word Lawlessness in the Greek is “anomia” which is translated, “Law unto yourself”. It is what you want to do. King James Version uses the word “Inequity,” which is sin. It is action that is against God’s Word and law. It is being selfish and doing things your own way. You make the rules. You decide what is right or wrong. This thinking will lead you astray always!

Looking at Matthew 24:12 again, “And because of lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”
Again, the word “Many” means over 51%. The love here is translated in the Greek “Agape.” The love that is placed in a Christian’s heart. 51% or more will be offended in the last days. We need to beware of this. We need to guard against this.

The person who can offend you the deepest is the person closest to you. Why is that? Our expectations are higher on them.

We set ourselves up by having expectations. Not expectations of God, as that is good to have, but of man, which is always bad to have.

When we put our expectations in man we will be disappointed every time.

2 Categories of Offense:

  1. Those who have genuinely been mistreated.
  2. Those who think they’ve been mistreated (Often the case).

If you have been mistreated do you have the right to be offended?

A person who is offended is a person who’s forgotten what they’ve been forgiven of!

Holding unto an offense is un-forgiveness.

If you want to walk with God you don’t have a right to be offended.

Matthew 18:21 – 35 (NKJV)
“Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

70 x 7 = 490 (All in one day – Luke 17:4). We would have to sin once every three minutes as long as we don’t go to sleep in that 24 hour period.

10,000 talents = $5 Billion (Un-payable debt)
100 Denari = $10,000 (possibly a 1/3 of a year’s salary today)

Who are we to decide we won’t forgive some little offense compared to God forgiving us of all the wrong we have done. It doesn’t compare.

A person who doesn’t forgive is a person who forgot what they were forgiven of. What have you been forgiven of?
Christians think of “sin” as: Murder, adultery, stealing
Christians say they have “weaknesses”: un-forgiveness, slander, gossip, strife

Proverbs 6:16- 19 (NKJV)
“These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.“

Some translations state: “a person that stirs up conflict or trouble in the community or among the brothers.”

These are things the Lord hates! The last is an abomination – one who sows discord among brethren… this is a Christian who sows seeds of discord, not an outsider.
Discord means: “Lack of concord or harmony between persons. Disagreement, difference of opinion, strife; dispute; war.”

Abomination means: anything greatly disliked or abhorred, Loathing, a vile, shameful, or detestable action.

This is what we do when we stir up strife in church. When we go and talk to others in a negative tone about someone else at work. This is gossip. This is a lying tongue! This is judging one another.

Have you done this?
Have you heard other people do this lately?
What do you do when you hear it?
We should STOP it right away! Don’t allow the sin to manifest even bigger by staying silent while someone talks bad about another person. Do you know by just listening to it you have committed the sin as well. Remember with the same judgement you give it will be measured back to you.

Matthew 7:1 – 2
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

We categorize sin, God doesn’t.
Sin is sin.
If it doesn’t please God, don’t do it!!!

If we treat gossip like we treat murder we will be free. Treat it as a “weakness” and you will be bound to it.

We deserve to burn in the same hell as Hitler is burning in. That is our just punishment.

Were you a nice person and got saved? That’s why it is hard for you to give mercy.

Going back to the wicked servant:

Matthew 18:35 (HCSB)
“So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”

-Are you too proud to admit you are offended?
-Is your fire dying?
-Are you going to church because it is the thing to do?
-Has your love for God and man grown cold?
-Have you lost your desire to worship?

You might say, “I have forgiven them! I have prayed over this.”

Yet when you see the other person you get critical and you feel a twinge in your heart. You start rehashing all the wrong this person has done in your mind. This is not a person who is over an offense. Stop trying to deny the obvious. You are still OFFENDED!

Acts 24:16 (ASB)
“Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense toward God and men always.”

And in the Amplified Bible it reads:

Acts 24:16 (Amplified Bible)
“Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men.”

We need to EXERCISE and DISCIPLINE ourselves not to get offended.

-Are you out of shape spiritually?
-Are you reading God’s word? (not just for school or a ritual – but is it feeding your spirit?)
-Are you spending time with God?
-Are you pushing into God?

If you are not doing these things then spiritually you are weak.

How do we exercise or overcome an offense?

Matthew 5:44 (NKJV)
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you”

Pray for those who mistreats, abuses, and misuses you.

DAVID knew what it was like to be mistreated…

Psalm 35:11 – 12 (GNT)
“Evil people testify against me and accuse me of crimes I know nothing about. They pay me back evil for good, and I sink in despair.”

Do you ever feel like that? Treated unjustly and falsely accused?
Are People speaking lies about you and spreading gossip?

Just wait and God will get them, RIGHT?! Read on…

Psalm 35:13 – 14 (GNT)
“But when they were sick, I dressed in mourning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low, as I would pray for a friend or a brother. I went around bent over in mourning, as one who mourns for his mother.”

Pray for that person who offended you like what you want God to do in you, your friends, or a family member’s life.

Pray what is truth, not what feels good to the flesh.

Go to the one who hurt you, not pointing out what they did wrong, but with words of reconciliation and kindness.

What if the person doesn’t want to forgive you or they don’t admit their part or what they did wrong? What if they are offended by you and don’t want to forgive? We can, through prayer and intercession (standing in the gap), accomplish the same healing without them.

Parent passed away – you can’t go to them and reconcile.
Someone who is unreachable – you can’t go to them and reconcile.

Allow God to heal your wounds and the wounds you have caused knowing He sees and has the healing power to overcome anything in our lives if we just yield it to Him.

The Holy Spirit can be your best counselor!

But when we can, we need to go to our brother or sister and create an atmosphere of goodness that’s going to help him say, “I am sorry!” Kind, reconciling words! Maybe even give them a nice gift with no strings attached. It is a true jester that you really care about this person and want to forgive.

The love of God He has given us can flow from us, as we receive it, to the one who has offended us.

Love covers a multitude of sins.

Choose to love instead of hate. Hatred turns into bitterness and bitterness is revenge unfulfilled!

Luke 17:1 (NKJV)
“Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!”

In other words, if you breath air you will have the opportunity to be offended.

What you do with the offense will determine your future. Either you will become stronger or bitter.

2 Tim. 2:25 – 26 (NKJV)
“In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

God has so much blessings ready to pour out to us. Sin separates us from His blessings. Being offended turns off God’s goodness in our lives.

You have to remember 2 wrongs don’t make a right. If someone has hurt you and you put up walls, have un-forgiveness in your heart, and hatred it doesn’t make the wrong situation right. It makes it even worse.

The sin of offense doesn’t justify how badly you’ve been treated.

Wounds will happen. “Offenses will come…” (Luke 14:30). People will hurt us. What will be our reaction?

Don’t let pride keep you from being set free.

Are you ready to run to God with this offense and ask forgiveness?

Are you tired of carrying around this burden/bondage as long as you have been?

Prayer, repeat after me:
Father in Heaven, thank you for speaking to me through your servant. I’ve realized I’ve sinned against you by holding onto un-forgiveness. 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Yes, what was done to me was wrong. But, that doesn’t justify my sin of offense. So today I repent of my sin of offense. I ask you to cleanse me with the blood of Jesus. Father from my heart I forgive _____ (whisper their names – Dad, mom, friend, brother, sister, co-worker) Say this, “I completely release you. You owe me nothing. Nothing! I release and forgive you in the presence of God. In Jesus Name.

Ok, now I want to pray for you:

Lord God, I ask you to draw near to these people. I break the chains. I pull up the roots of bitterness now. I uproot resentment. I uproot un-forgiveness from their life, from their home. And now Lord, in it’s place poor in your love I pray, and your Holy presence. I speak freedom to your life and to your household my brother and my sister in Jesus name, Amen.

Now, let’s give Him praise!
Your Sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.krisbelfils.com
http://www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness

KindnessGal. 5:22 NKJV

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

“Kind” in the Dictionary means: “Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature, showing sympathy or understanding; charitable, humane; considerate, forbearing; tolerant, generous; liberal, agreeable; beneficial.”

Kindness is the quality of being kind. Kindness is being friendly and warm-hearted. It is truly caring about others. It is treating fellow human beings with respect and being beneficial or an asset in someone’s life.

~Pastor Kris Belfils

Kindness goes a long way! People respond positively to kindness. You will win people over with kindness. Love and kindness always go together. Love and Kindness is the opposite of selfishness.

Jesus was motivated by love and kindness. He had compassion on people and moved to heal them. Jesus always receives us and he never rejects us. This character trait is something we need to have in our life. When we show kindness people see we are real and approachable.

Kindness builds the Kingdom of God. Our job is not to be in the demolition business. Our job is encouraging and building up others. What good is there in knocking others down with our words or actions? Absolutely nothing! Knocking someone down, even if they truly did something wrong to us, shows how possibly unstable, selfish, and immature we are as Christians. Showing love and kindness brings healing and reconciliation. Showing love and kindness is doing what Jesus did.

What takes away our kindness

1.  Being mean, grouchy, and uncaring. 

Maybe you are a nice kind person with a gentle sweet personality and being kind comes natural. But most of the world is not that way. We can change.

Proverbs 12:10 CEV

“Good people are kind to their animals, but a mean person is cruel.”

Proverbs 14:14 Message

“A mean person gets paid back in meanness, a gracious person in grace.”

Proverbs 11:17 NIRV

“A kind man benefits himself. But a mean person brings trouble on himself.”

Just being too tired can make you mean, grouchy, and uncaring. Take the time to take care of yourself. Make sure you get the right amount of sleep each night. Don’t stay up late the night before something important, especially if it is a Saturday night and you have church the next day. Be kind to your pastor and go to bed at a decent hour so you are ready for church in the morning.

Sometimes it is someone’s demeanor to always be mean. If you are a mean person, you can change.

We can change because God has equipped us in our inner man to change.

Every time you walk in one of the fruit of the Spirit and you do it, you become stronger in that area and it becomes easier to do the next time.

We don’t have to stay angry and mean. Choose to be kind. Allow God to help change you from the inside out.

2.  Being too busy.

Philippians 2:21 (NET) New English Translation

“For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”

Seeking our own is being too busy for others and only caring about yourself. This is not how Jesus acted. What if Jesus was too busy to be kind to you?

When we are too busy we don’t have time to be kind to others. We need to tell ourselves to relax and enjoy the journey. Far too often people are in a hurry to be or get somewhere in life. More so I am talking about a career or advancement. Striving for more can exclude others. What good is it to advance if you have no one there to share it with? Your job, career, ministry, and life are not as important as being kind to others.

People are God’s priority. What is yours? We can put things or opportunity above being kind and good to others and it only makes you look selfish and mean.

Check your priorities, and check them often. If you are too busy to help others you have your priorities in the wrong place. When we put God first, all other priorities fall into place.

If you focus on getting what you want, it will just make you more selfish. But if you focus on God and the fruit of the spirit, then that is what will be developed in your life.

3.  Being unforgiving

Holding onto a grudge or not forgiving others immediately takes away your kindness. It is hard to be kind to someone who has hurt you. Interestingly this is what the Bible calls us to do.

Matthew 5:44 NIRV

“But here is what I tell you. Love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you.”

Pray for those who hurt me? OUCH! This seems totally opposite of how we feel. God knows what it will take to overcome the hurt and bring healing. We are asked to pray for those we are offended with. It is hard. But there is a reason why God requires this. It is because it changes our perspective towards the offender. Our view on them after the offense is negative and uncaring. When we pray for people who have hurt us our view point changes towards them. We start to have compassion for them. This is kingdom living.

God has changed me and I am not the person I use to be. In my old condition, there was not room for the fruit of the Spirit to truly manifest. Now, allowing God to change and heal me of my past, there is a healthier tree to produce healthier fruit. I have learned to abide in the vine! This is what we all need to do. We can’t bear fruit on our own, only by abiding in Jesus will we produce much fruit.

John 14:11 NKJV

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Looks to me like we are pruned if we don’t abide, and pruned if we do. I would rather be pruned to bear more fruit then to be cut off and discarded because I chose to not abide.

2 Peter 1:7 – 8 NKJV

“…to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This is a command for us to have brotherly kindness and to add to that, love. This helps us to forgive those who have wronged us.

We add these virtues not only for ourselves, but for others. Our lives affect many. What fruit are you producing that others can pick?

It is easy to get selfish and uncaring about others. It is hard to live in this selfish world and not have it affect us. That is why we have to put on faith and love and to be kind to one another.

How we should live

1 Thess. 5:8 Amplified Bible

“But we belong to the day; therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

Again, we are to put on faith and love. We are to put on salvation like a helmet. This protects and surrounds us and our thinking.

Did you know kindness protects and supports our life?

Proverbs 20:28 CEB

“Kindness and faithfulness protect the king; he supports his throne by kindness.” 

This shows that if we allow kindness and faithfulness into our lives we will be protected and supported. It is a good foundation to stand on instead of building on a weak foundation of sandy efforts, works, and manipulation.

How can kindness support us? Let us go back to the definition of the word “Kind”: “Of a friendly, generous, or warm-hearted nature, showing sympathy or understanding; charitable, humane; considerate, forbearing; tolerant, generous; liberal, agreeable; beneficial.”

We are fortified when we are friendly and generous. When we are approachable instead of being an island unto ourselves. People will be strengthened around you and feel secure.

Don’t pressure people when they do wrong. Yes, we are to correct if need be, but never make the other feel they blew it and there is no hope. Kindness is how we want to be treated (Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you Matthew 7:12), and kindness is how we should live.

We purpose to wear kindness and to give out that fruit daily. We have enough of it because it is growing and manifesting in us new everyday.

Listen to people. Hear about their life. Don’t be so quick to interrupt and share your needs or something about yourself. People want to know you care about them. Listening is showing kindness. Listening goes a long way.

1 Thess. 5:14 Amplified Bible

“And we earnestly beseech you, brethren, admonish (warn and seriously advise) those who are out of line [the loafers, the disorderly, and the unruly]; encourage the timid and fainthearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, [and] be very patient with everybody [always keeping your temper].”

Kindness costs us something. It costs us our flesh. We die to what we might want to say and change it to be what God wants us to say. We realize what we are thinking will possibly hurt or hinder someone and let it go, and in turn, we say things that will build up. This is kindness.

1 Thess. 5:15 Amplified Bible

“See that none of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.”

The Apostle Paul, the writer of Thessalonians, wanted you to have the very best life that you can have. There are a lot of people who don’t know Christ so get over yourself and let your action and attitudes do the preaching.

This is a way to have a great life. show love, be at peace, show patience, show kindness, and seek to do good, and thank God in everything. No matter the circumstances.

We all have problems and we can react or act badly towards others because of them. Your problem that you think is the worse thing in the whole world, is not your problem, your problem is probably the way you are acting because of your problem.

Mercy is kindness and kindness is mercy. Mercy is a beautiful thing. Become nicer. Don’t be a mean Christian. MAKE A PLAN TO GO OUT AND BEHAVE YOURSELF.

Aim to show kindness and seek to do good! Powerful words to live by. This is how we should live everyday.

From one kind hearted person to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Overcome Or Be Overcome – Part 1 (Are You A Hoarder?)

One day I came home with my daughters and opened the door to our house and smelled a terrible smell. We immediately began sniffing around trying to find where this bad smell was coming from. We sniffed until we found the culprit. It was coming from under our kitchen sink where we put our garbage. Quickly I took it outside and disposed of it into our bigger garbage can. I just could live with that terrible stench in my home.

We all have garbage.

We all have GARBAGE that needs to be taken to the garbage can everyday! We are consumers. We buy something at the store and after we use it, we throw away the package it came in. After our garbage container is full in our house, we take it out to the larger container outside and empty its contents into it. Then we take the smaller garbage container back into our houses and put more garbage back in it. This cycle goes on and on, week after week, month after month and year after year.

If we don’t take our garbage out to the trash, we will smell the results in just a matter of time.

►Well, guess what? We are all full of it too!

I want to look at the trash we have in our lives and see it for what it really is, and also show you how to get rid of it! We all have garbage that the Master Garbage Man needs to take away. We need to do some “Spring Cleaning” and get our trash out. If we do we will look better, feel better, and yes, even smell better to those around us.

Remember the smell in my home?  I just couldn’t live in an environment that smelled so horrible. Yet, we all do this in our spiritual lives. We walk around with excess rubbish from our past and try to ignore it thinking it will go away. Too much trash in our lives will stink up our homes, and too much fleshly garbage in our hearts will stink up our lives.

People will smell your trash because the stench leaks out. The reality is it will never go away until you “smell around” to find were the stink is coming from. This is not a fun thing to do. There will be pain involved. You will have to work at getting the “stench” out, but in the long run it will pay off and be well worth the house cleaning. The good news is that God is the Master Garbage Man and He is always there to help you get rid of your trash.

Video:  “Garbage Hoarder” (Viewer Discretion Advised)

 Garbage stinks! 

 What garbage do you find in your life?

Un-forgiveness?

Bitterness?

Judgmental attitudes?

Critical spirit?

Rejection?

Fear?

Let’s look at a few pieces of trash you may have…

1.  Rejection:

You know the scene. It is in the middle of the day. The children are out to play on the playground. They choose team members to play the game. One by one everyone is picked until it comes down to the last person. By now they really don’t want to play because they were the last to be chosen. The reject! The one no one wants.

Rejection! We’ve all experienced it. Not getting that promotion we were anticipating. Or not getting the job you interviewed for and someone you know did.

We all want to be valued and accepted. Being valued is a natural human desire. When we don’t feel valued we tend to draw back and isolate ourselves, or get mad and lash out. Maybe you have been rejected from a friend, or relative. How about wanting to go out with someone on a date and they said, “No!” Rejection can lead to un-forgiveness and then bitterness.

Why does rejection wound us so deeply?

Rejection is painful because…

●It attacks the very person who we are.

●It destroys our self-esteem

●It makes you think something is wrong with you

●It makes you feel like you are not valued or wanted

●It makes you feel “less-then” the one who rejected you

This is why it is one of the most common tools the devil will use to destroy a person’s life. God never wanted us to feel rejected or abandon. He desires for you to know who you really are, and realize how deeply God loves, accepts, and appreciates you, so that you can live out the fullness of what all God has ordained you to be.

Rejection has a way of destroying a person in which few other things can. The sad fact is that the number of people who are affected by rejection is staggering. If we want to be all that God has created us to be, then overcoming rejection and its affects is vital and absolutely essential.

Remember; God will NEVER reject you! He will always receive you.

We have to OVERCOME OR we will BE OVERCOME

2.  Un-forgiveness:

Un-forgiveness and rejection are truly a war that is going on inside of you. It is safe to say that everyone has experienced rejection or has un-forgiveness in their life. If you don’t overcome this WAR, it will overcome you! These are pieces of trash which can pile up and begin to make us stink! It becomes the “clutter” in our lives that prevents us from being who we were created to be, and to live our life free from the clutter, shame, and isolation garbage can bring.

Why do we allow this war to continue?

War: H1993: “to be in great commotion or tumult, to rage, war, cry aloud, be disquieted, rage, be troubled, be in an uproar.”

UN-FORGIVENESS IS…

1. Un-forgiveness is Disobedience

We are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross for us. We deserve damnation and hell, instead of mercy and grace and eternal life. But there is something further we have to understand about our forgiveness. If we forgive others what they did to us, then we are forgiven. But, if we don’t forgive what others have done to us, we are not forgiven either.

Look at your life and what has been done to you. Does it even compare to what YOU have done yet Christ forgave you?

Matthew 6:14-15 KJV

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” 

Why does God connect our forgiveness with forgiving others? It is easier to receive forgiveness compared to giving it. Dead people don’t have rights. We are crucified with Christ (Galations 2:20). Forgiving others has to do with laying down our rights.

It doesn’t make sense that we are forgiven and yet we don’t forgive. It doesn’t make sense that we are loved and yet we hate. We would be a hypocrite and so would God if we are forgiven and yet have un-forgivenss in our hearts. They have to be connected so we will see the depth of what Christ did for us on the cross. We are not forgiven if we don’t forgive others. Forgiveness is why Christ went to the cross. So you and I would be forgiven.

It is plan disobedience to God if we don’t forgive others. Disobedience is Sin!

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

►Un-forgiveness is something that can really hold us back from escaping the corruption of sin and living for God.

►Un-forgiveness comes in many forms, such as bitterness, hatred, malice, holding grudges and resentment.

►Un-forgiveness can actually block God’s forgiveness towards our sins and provides a foothold for the devil to influence our lives.

►Un-forgiveness is probably one of the biggest yet-unnoticeable sins in the world today.

►Un-forgiveness is not only a sin, but it’s a disease. It carries with it paralyzing and life-threatening symptoms that can end in spiritual death.

►Un-forgiveness can spread division and strife throughout our church as well as our home. Not to mention the chain of bondage it places on our lives.

►Un-forgiveness will start to spread throughout the mind, taking over the thought process interfering with what should be our focus, paralyzing and causing us to miss the important move of God.

►Un-forgiveness causes our responses, actions and body language to become inappropriate.

When we release the other person and forgive them, we release ourselves too.

We also release them to be forgiven by God.

2 Co 2:10 KJV

“Whom you forgive I also forgive, for if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ.

2. Un-forgiveness gives Satan an advantage over us.

2 Cor. 2:11

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 

One of the things we learn is that un-forgiveness is one of Satan’s devices, an instrument, a weapon, a plot, a scheme, a tool, which he uses.

People, who Satan couldn’t get to rob a bank or shoot someone, he gets to them through strife, bitterness, resentment and un-forgiveness… things that many people wouldn’t describe as awful sins. Some people look at some folks and say oh, they are a wonderful Christian, they love God, they read their Bible, they pray, and yet that person could be soaking with strife and un-forgiveness. Why? Because we don’t always identify it as one of the things that is a sin. Yet, the scripture says that it is a device of Satan. We have to remember that sin is sin. Sin is all the same. It separates us from God.

Un-forgiveness in our heart can give Satan an advantage over us, a way of controlling us, robbing us of our joy, our deliverance, our peace, our love, harmony in the home, the victory of overcoming, from possessing all of the promises of God, our prosperity, our salvation.

Wake up and understand that we are in a culture right now in the world that is fostering, festering, stirring up, strife, bitterness and un-forgiveness.

Talk shows are really into it, talking about how upset they are, angry, and how they are going to take revenge and get people back that hurt us.

News commentaries feed into this too. Are you watching the news during the Presidential Campaign? Mud is slung everywhere on both sides. It seems every campaign has to slander the other to make themselves look good. I would just like to see a campaign run without slander and pointing fingers, but not sure if that person would be elected. The world expects you to stand up and fight for yourself, even if it means to slander someone else.

Ultimately, bitterness and un-forgiveness will take people in that direction, and it begins with strife.

3. Un-forgiveness is Bondage.

We can get all bound up thinking about what happened to us to the point that it binds us up from growing in Christ. It prevents us from having healthy relationships.

If you don’t let go of un-forgiveness and bitterness you won’t just lose relationships, you will lose yourself! Forgiving others benefits you the most!

You will repel others away from you because of what un-forgiveness is doing to your emotions internally. Release them and forgive, then you will enjoy your life and others will enjoy you!

If we are bitter and resentful, it’s because we are allowing ourselves to remain that way.

Anyone can make excuses and blame the past for his or her bad attitudes, poor choices, or hot temper.

If you want to live in victory and overcome, you cannot use past emotional wounds as an excuse for making poor choices today. (The video: “I am going through emotional problems right now” to justify the garbage in her living room.)

You dare not use your past as an excuse for your current bad attitude or as a rationalization for your unwillingness to forgive somebody. It is time to allow emotional wounds to heal. It is time to put your garbage out for the Master Garbage man to take away for good.

Be looking for OVERCOME OR BE OVERCOME – Part 2

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.krisbelfils.com

http://www.hopefellowshipspokane.com