Forgiveness

Our God is holding us responsible for administrating His work of reconciliation in the earth
Matthew 18:21-35

God has made it possible for us to forgive by paying for our sins against each other with the blood Jesus shed on the cross
Ephesians 4:31-32

When we begin the process of forgiving, we will be in danger of being deceived into thinking several things that are not true:
*    * When we have to forgive a person more than once for the same event, we cannot be deceived into thinking that we didn’t really forgive the person the first time.
*    * When we still experience pain over an issue we cannot be deceived into thinking that we have not forgiven them yet. Every time I think about a painful event and the pain recurs I must go through the process again of repenting for wanting them to suffer for their error, then ask the Holy Spirit to empower me to respond to the event with His fruit. When I let Him love them through me I will administer His grace to them from the power of the cross.
*    * When our first response to a new sin is not automatically forgiveness, but our eventual response is forgiveness, we need to be encouraged that we are maturing. Maturity is measurable by our proneness to respond to a situation empowered by the fruit of God’s Spirit. At some point I will become mature enough to forgive more easily, but greater tests of our patience or kindness or peace or love will always come, to take us into a greater opportunity for growth and maturity.

When someone has sinned against me, I am in the same position of power that Jesus was in on the cross to intercede for them. Because He had been sinned against, He had authority to forgive. When someone sins against me, and I respond with loving intercession, my God loves it and gives me the blessing I am asking for them.