Saints, hear me well
There comes a time in every believer’s walk with the Lord Jesus Christ when we must pause and search our own hearts — not the hearts of others, but our own. And one of the areas most often overlooked is unforgiveness. Not just the obvious kind, where we harbor bitterness toward someone who has wronged us, but the subtler kind: the inability to receive from others what we feel we’re owed — an apology, an acknowledgment, a certain treatment, a certain love. When we withhold forgiveness because someone hasn’t given us what we believe we deserve, we are still bound. And bondage, saints, is never the fruit of the Spirit.
Scripture Anchor
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” — Mark 11:25 (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.” — Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” — Romans 8:6 (KJV)
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” — Galatians 5:16 (KJV)
Expository Development
Beloved, unforgiveness is not a passive condition — it is active warfare against your own spiritual life. When we hold onto offense, when we demand from others what they may never give, when we measure our peace by their behavior, we have quietly stepped out of walking after the Spirit and into walking after the flesh. Our old nature was crucified with Christ, but it will attempt to resurrect itself every time we choose resentment over release.
This is why Paul draws such a sharp contrast in Romans 8 — to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Unforgiveness robs you of peace. It keeps your mind carnally fixated on what was done to you, what wasn’t said to you, what you feel you’re entitled to receive. But the new creation in Christ is not called to operate from entitlement. We are called to operate from grace — the same grace that was extended to us while we were yet sinners.
Hear me, saints — this is not a suggestion. Jesus tied our own forgiveness directly to our willingness to forgive others. That is sobering. It means unforgiveness is not simply a personal struggle between you and another person — it is a spiritual condition that affects your fellowship with the Father Himself.
Practical Application
- Examine your expectations. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal where you’ve been demanding something from someone that only God can truly satisfy.
- Release the debt. Forgiveness is not saying what happened was right — it is releasing the demand for payment and trusting God as the righteous Judge.
- Walk after the Spirit, not the offense. Every time bitterness rises, choose to yield to the Spirit rather than rehearse the wound.
- Guard your peace. Unforgiveness will steal your peace faster than almost anything else. Protect it by staying quick to forgive.
Reflection
Is there someone from whom you’ve been withholding forgiveness because they haven’t given you what you feel you deserve? What would it look like to release that expectation into God’s hands today?
Closing Prayer
Father, in the name of Jesus, search our hearts and reveal any root of unforgiveness hidden within us. Deliver us from the demands of the flesh and align us fully with the leading of Your Spirit. Teach us to forgive as we have been forgiven, and let our peace no longer be tied to what others do or fail to do for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” — Romans 11:36
Pastor, Robert M. Thomas, Jr. The Gathering Place Houston – Fellowship of Believers
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