Forgiving Forward
Last weekend I went to a leadership training for 2=1 Marriage counsellors. One of the topic discussed was forgiving forward. It was interesting because the conclusions drawn from it was something I had discovered in my dealings with my husband but I had not looked at it from the perspective of God or Jesus. I wanted to seek peace and pursue it and the only way that made perfect sense to do that was to forgive forward. What you may ask is this forgiving forward business? Okay let me give you my take on this.
In my marriage I have been cross with my hubby a few times now and one particular incident I was very furious with him. Well I certainly did not like how it felt and I knew whatever the matter I did not want anything outside of me, husband or whoever, to take away my peace. As I may have mentioned before for me, I function at my best when I have peace of mind. It does not matter what is happening in my life if I do not loose my inner peace, I know I will make it. When it comes to other things besides my emotions, this is a peace of cake but especially with my hubby I tend to loose my peace. I finally discovered that it is because I attach fear to the anger or situation arising and so I loose my peace.
Well I knew that I intend on being married to him till death do us part and I also know that looking ahead as life will have it, I will upset him and likewise him me. I had to find a way to deal with it without loosing my inner peace and still relate lovingly to him. So I sat myself down and thought of all the things that he could possibly do to hurt me and decided to forgive him for them. So I decided to forgive him for anything he will do to me in the future. Easier said than done as you will be saying, yes of course. With my heart in my mouth and my stomach boiling I thought of as much ugly situations as I could stomach and made up my mind that I do love this guy and so in order to love and have peace I must be willing to forgive him in advance so when or if any situation arises that will cause pain I would have already forgiven him.
Don't look at me like that, of course the situation will hurt. I am human. And yes since then I have been hurt by one thing or another, due to my being sensitive or controlling but I always remember my promise and so the healing process is shortened.
Going back to last weekend we had to apply this forgiving forward process to everyone or thing not just our spouses. Its amazing the freedom that comes when you forgive in advance anyone who could possibly offend you. Its still work in progress though but as I discussed this with my husband we discovered that when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. In other words when you purpose in your heart to forgive what others will ever do to you when they do do something, that word comes back to remind you of you promise. It also helps you move on quicker and sets you free. You no longer have to carry baggages for long any more. However if you do not forgive forward the offence comes as a surprise, a shock and since you have not planned how to deal with it, it deals with you and puts you in bondage of bitterness, and unforgiveness and all the ugliness that goes with that. It not just forgiving only, its also blessing the person the offender. Can you imagine that someone stole money from you and after you have forgiven them, you went and gave them some money also as a blessing. My dear, that is the blessing I am talking about.
I also discovered in my meditation that God forgave forward before he ever created this world. The bible says that Christ was slain before the foundations of the world. Wow! So God knew that the secret to happiness is forgiving forward. So before he ever created a single entity He made sure He atoned for any offence they will ever make.
Think about it, even just the physical act of dying on the cross by Jesus that was done 2000 years ago was before you ever existed, yet your forgiveness was guaranteed and the price for your sins paid for. Imagine that! Before you ever sinned or offended, God had forgiven you. Now all you have to do is acknowledge that forgiveness and you can enjoy its freedom.
Not only that, he became a blessing to us. We call him Jehova; Elshadai( our all sufficiency), Tzedkenu(our Righteousness), Rafika(Our Healer), Rohi(our Shephered), Shamar(the one who is always with us), Baal Perizim( our breakthrough), Jireh(our provider) the list goes on. Imagine our offender calling us a blessing. Thats the standard he set for us to follow. We forgive and then we bless the offender. God is really an awesome God.
Not only that, he became a blessing to us. We call him Jehova; Elshadai( our all sufficiency), Tzedkenu(our Righteousness), Rafika(Our Healer), Rohi(our Shephered), Shamar(the one who is always with us), Baal Perizim( our breakthrough), Jireh(our provider) the list goes on. Imagine our offender calling us a blessing. Thats the standard he set for us to follow. We forgive and then we bless the offender. God is really an awesome God.
So if God who is the greatest mind in all universes did that and since he created us in his own image and likeness, then for sure we have the capability to do so. It hurts every time someone offends us but to forgive everyone before they can ever hurt us, wow that is real kingdom living.
The secret is out! So lets grab it and set ourselves free from all offences past, present or future. We as Christians like to ask the questions, "What will Jesus do?" The answer is he Forgave Forward. So now its your turn. He said to his disciples at the last supper,before the incident of the crucifixion ever took place "This is the cup of the covenant of my blood shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Do it as often as you drink it in remembrance of me". Wow, that night and the following 3 days were the worst in human history but also the best in human history. Because One man forgave forward we have redemption though his suffering. Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Him?
