Unconditional Forgiveness
One of my Brothers once claimed,
“You cannot forgive someone who has not asked for it first!
The command to forgive is always proceeded by the conditional "if he repent." Thus, it is true that we can't forgive someone without them repenting first. However, we should always maintain a spirit and willingness to forgive them if they repent. This scripture does not say "If thy brother trespass against thee, forgive him." These are the very necessary steps of rebuking and repenting that come before forgiveness.”
Luke 17:3-4
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
But there is a BETTER WAY!
My response was “It is My choice, I choose who and how often, I forgive!
I choose to forgive regardless of weather or not they ask... SO, I am quick to forgive and long suffering in instruction.
Thus, my Brother should be reconciled to God and I will reproof him accordingly. After that, it is between Him and God. If God draws him to me after that then, so be it. If in fact my brother does turn to me requesting forgiveness, my forgiveness then turns to forgetfulness. But I tell you this, I try my best, to have already forgiven him, as the very words of sin fall from his lips!
I would much rather be disappointed in my brother’s stumbling actions then angry and offended and “Lightning Fast Forgiveness” grants me that grace. Mind You, this is VERY hard at times. But I get A LOT of practice just by being a Pentecostal Christian! Ha ha ha!
I consider holding anyone in a state of un-forgiveness The SAME as “holding a Grudge” . Therefore, because of my absolute Love for my brother, I will not hold anyone in account for more then 2 seconds! Because, Jesus knows, I have quite an account making ability myself!
Who am I, to hold another in moral debt, after what Jesus forgave ME for!
I have been forgiven MUCH , so I chose to love Much and forgive quickly!
Matthew 6:14-15
14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
So, If you get forgiven the same way you forgive others; How much cooler is unconditional forgiveness! If I forgive my brother for his trespasses against me the moment the trespass falls from his lips, how much quicker is Jesus going to forgive me? Woo Hooo!
I like forgiving my brethren before they repent… In fact, the few occasions they have come back to me asking for forgiveness, I surprised them! I say, “forgiveness for what?” because I quite honestly have forgotten what they have done! Then they have to remind me and I say “oh, that? I forgave you the moment it happened! But, I am Glad Jesus has helped you thru that situation...East to West” , everyone is happy. The bridge is strong between us and we move on to MUCH better things.
Also, it has been mentioned that My forgiveness does not take effect until the trespasser repents...hmmmm... Well, it was in affect for me the instant I did it! As for my fallen Brother? That is between only Him and God...as it should be...
What I am trying to say is that, instant unconditional forgiveness is pure. It releases you from the burden of waiting on a fallible human or institution to bring you closure and release from your hurt.
Thus, you should forgive and forget the trespasses of even an old congregation that you may feel has wronged you. That way, you can honestly say, "They didn't mean that...because every one there, loves me, and I love them. Sure, they stumbled but then so do I. So what! It is over... And I am sure Jesus has helped them or is helping them grow thru that, even now..."
BOOM! You are free from your hurt!
My Brother then asked:
If we are supposed to confront our brothers in love about their offenses against us, how can we do this if we have forgiven them (as you define it). If we have forgiven them then we have forgotten their wrongs against us, but how can we confront them with something we have forgotten?
I say, Be quick to forgive, Be what I call “longsuffering in instruction”… When the words come that are wrong. Forgive them instantly, knowing the brother who has wronged you has done so out of imperfection and confusion, have compassion for him because something has happened that has caused him to slip and fall. After all he who loved you would never hurt you unless he were confused. When a friend trips and fall you run to him and say “are you alright” out of concern. Even so when he trips and falls on you. Nature says “get off of me” out of self defense. But grace says “Ouch! That hurt, are YOU alright? What made you trip?”
When I am wronged I say not “how could they” But I say, “what has happened to them to make them fall?” Then, I forgive them! Boom! Anger GONE!
After that, I let them know that their actions are not right with the character of Jesus and tell them they should prey about it… Then I try to forget because I will not hurt my brethren anymore by focusing on, or remind them, of their self dishonor. (That is what the enemy does to steal joy and I refuse to be like that little punk!) If Jesus wishes to step in, then so be it. He will reproof and correct. After doing this, I can then cast the offence into the sea. If my brother is brought before me, under the conviction of God, then that situation is for my brother’s growth! Not mine! Sure, I learn something from it too, but my brothers repentance is a point were new growth can start for him. It is at this time we can build him up to resist the thing that tripped him in the first place by asking what the DEEPER reason was it that caused him to stumble. “You were forgiven the moment it happened, but, we still need to figure out what exactly happened, fallowed by, how can we both Grow from this lesson….?”
Of course this may NEVER happen, as the case with my ex-wife, but I have released her with forgiveness’ and then cast (what I call) the “veil of forced innocence” over the unbelievable agony that I suffered from her sin, and thus her transgression became light enough to drag to the alter and cast it into the sea! Then Jesus gave me the ability to be ready to always receive someone’s request for forgiveness and to still be ready to meekly help them see deeper into God’s Love, if they do return to you, Long suffering in instruction… Be ready to give and never expect to receive! (That is what Jesus did on the Cross and I want to be like HIM!) Especially unto your beloved Brethren who struggle as you do.
Thus Luke 6:27-30 still stands:
27 "But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either. 30 Give to everyone who asks from you, and from one who takes away your things, don't ask for them back.
My brother then said:
”So basically, you find comfort by lying about what really happened. Where is that in the Bible? I think you can think on love without lying about what happened. “
my response to this is:
To say this, is to say, what many others reflexively say, in error:
“I am willing to forgive you ----BUT---- Look at this Bruise! God, it hurts! How could they have done this to me! How can I possibly not see or feel that which truly Happened? You had better apologize for the way you have treated me! Have I NOT been wronged? How could you? Where is your love?”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Does NOT say…
4 Love avoids pain and is sometimes unkind; love wants what you have; love exalts it ' s importance, and is prideful; 5 does sometimes behave rudely, just to show you your weakness, because you provoked a response, due to your evil actions; 6 love enjoys when you fall, believes truth is relative; 7 it takes the light load, believes only what it sees, waits stubbornly for proof, is critical and only tolerates. 8 Love gives up.
We should be saying in love:
“I forgave you already! ----For---- I am sure this Bruise was and accident! Don’t worry about me, why did you do what you did, are you Ok with God?! What did I do to make you stumble? I refuse to see what happened to me. What matters is how we can both grow from what happened between us? I have NOT been wronged? You would never do that, because you Love me, as I love you.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Does say
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.
When you have been wronged, it is not about YOU, it is about your fallen Brother and the painful opportunity that has been presented for Christ to grow BIGGER in them because of the situation! After all, we are "our brother’s keeper" and our brother sometimes messes up! When this happens, he needs to be inspired by God’s unconditional love and forgiveness thru us, so he can hopefully become a better keeper for us when we fall.
–cause, you KNOW, we will
So, go forth my Brethren! and Forgive Unconditionally!!!
Yeshua :boy_hug: 
