Unforgiveness Inhibits Spiritual Growth
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. (Mark 11:25)
One of the purposes of Scripture is to give us instructions for spiritual growth. As a community, and as individuals, our aim as we’ve surrendered our lives to the Lord is to become more like Christ.
Therefore, we take our lead from Christ in all circumstances, because He is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy and robust in love. And if we are to truly be like Christ, then we must forgive precisely because Christ has forgiven us. For as long as we remain in a posture of unforgiveness, we will stunt our ability to grow spiritually.
President James Garfield was elected President of the United States in 1880, but after six months in office, he was shot in the back with a revolver. For weeks, various teams of doctors and experts were brought in to see if they could locate the bullet in the president’s body, but with no luck. Eventually the President passed away. However, the cause of death was not the gunshot wound, but an infection that had been caused from the incessant probing.
Unforgiveness is like an infection that occurs from the constant probing and rehearsing of the pain you’ve experienced at the hand of someone else. As long as you leave it untreated, the infection will continue to spread throughout all the areas of your life, leaving you in a state of poor health. However, if you address the pain, if you let go of the bitterness, and you choose to forgive, the Lord will nurse you back to a place of good health and He will allow you to once again begin growing in your faith and maturation with Him.
One of the purposes of Scripture is to give us instructions for spiritual growth. As a community, and as individuals, our aim as we’ve surrendered our lives to the Lord is to become more like Christ.
Therefore, we take our lead from Christ in all circumstances, because He is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy and robust in love. And if we are to truly be like Christ, then we must forgive precisely because Christ has forgiven us. For as long as we remain in a posture of unforgiveness, we will stunt our ability to grow spiritually.
President James Garfield was elected President of the United States in 1880, but after six months in office, he was shot in the back with a revolver. For weeks, various teams of doctors and experts were brought in to see if they could locate the bullet in the president’s body, but with no luck. Eventually the President passed away. However, the cause of death was not the gunshot wound, but an infection that had been caused from the incessant probing.
Unforgiveness is like an infection that occurs from the constant probing and rehearsing of the pain you’ve experienced at the hand of someone else. As long as you leave it untreated, the infection will continue to spread throughout all the areas of your life, leaving you in a state of poor health. However, if you address the pain, if you let go of the bitterness, and you choose to forgive, the Lord will nurse you back to a place of good health and He will allow you to once again begin growing in your faith and maturation with Him.
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