Find Freedom Through Forgiveness: Spiritual Fuel for Breakthrough
Do you remember the Canadian wildfires of 2023? It was bad. The smoke and ash were so pervasive that some claimed filmmakers captured video in major cities like New York, just in case they needed a post-apocalyptic vibe for a future movie.
We lived in Wisconsin at the time. Ash covered everything. Health experts warned that being outdoors for too long would be like smoking half a pack of cigarettes.
The poisoned air wrecked what could have been sooooooo many lovely summer days in so many places. It really didn’t matter how healthy you were.
A marathon runner who homesteaded and slept in a hyperbolic chamber would have gotten a pounding headache and burning eyes in that air.
You could have been in the most amazing cottage, had the best spot on a beach, been with the best friends on an all-expenses-paid vacation to Lambeau Field – and not be able to enjoy half of it.
In a very real, spiritual sense, this is something like how unforgiveness impacts our souls.
Haven’t you been in situations where things could be so, so good – and yet – you’re unable to enjoy any of it because of a memory (or memories) that plague you?
Unforgiveness is like spiritual poison that hangs in the atmosphere, seeps into your soul, and contaminates every part of your being.
Connect to God’s Heart Through Forgiveness
Take a look at how Jesus taught us to pray.
““This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” ”
In seven tight verses on prayer, Jesus speaks the word “forgive” six times. Forgiveness permeates Jesus’ teaching on prayer.
This is Jesus’ most direct teaching on prayer throughout His entire recorded ministry. Forgiveness was, and is, central to prayer. And prayer is central to abundant life.
As Jesus was being nailed to the cross, He cried out for the forgiveness of His executioners. Dallas Willard has remarkable insight on this. He writes:
““When Jesus hung on the cross and prayed, ‘Father, forgive them because they do not understand what they are doing,’ that was not hard for him.
What would have been hard for him would have been to curse his enemies and spew forth vileness and evil upon everyone.” ”
Forgiveness is the blood that pumps through Jesus’ veins, drained from His body, and poured out on the ground for us.
When we withhold forgiveness, we actively work against God’s nature and resist His power and presence.
Like opening windows while wildfires are poisoning the air, withholding forgiveness opens doors in our being to all kinds of awful, evil realities.
Exposing Unforgiveness’ Link to Sickness
Study after study causally (not casually) links unforgiveness to chronic mental, physical, and emotional health issues. Here’s a sample.
Increased risk of depression, heart disease and diabetes, among other conditions
Disables your body’s repair mechanisms, increasing inflammation and the stress hormone cortisol
Forgiveness could be a public health issue
All of those awful symptoms, though, are energized by a dark, personal evil that wants to steal, kill, and destroy every good thing in your life.
One well-respected pastor has said that in all the cases of demonic oppression he’s encountered, unforgiveness is the most common access point the devil exploits.
Jesus Himself said that particular kinds of demons can only be overcome through prayer. And when Jesus taught about prayer, as we’ve seen, forgiveness is essential.
God Isn’t Dismissive of Your Pain
What do you think the tone of Jesus’ voice sounded like when He taught on forgiveness in prayer?
If He said those words to you, right now, what would the expression on His face be?
Ask Him to show you. He’s eager to let you know how invested He is in your life.
Jesus isn’t ignorant or dismissive of your pain. Right before teaching on prayer and forgiveness, He touches on some of the most visceral and painful experiences a human being can endure.
In Matthew 6, He talks about hate, murder, adultery, divorce, social injustice, and more. He knows how people can be utterly devastated by others.
Jesus doesn’t say:
Just forgive, it’s no big deal
They didn’t know any better
You need to be forgiven, too, so you'd better forgive
It’s not like that. You don’t have to get into a trauma contest with Jesus. God is full of mercy – and righteousness. He’s all about forgiveness – and justice.
We may not be able to hold those values in proper tension. But Jesus can. He does. He invites you into full freedom by partnering with His Spirit and healing your deepest wounds.
Forgiveness Draws You Gently Into God’s Embrace
Patrick Lencioni has said that to build trust in relationships, we must share vulnerabilities. The more vulnerable we are, the more trust is built.
I think he’s on to something. And it’s a MASSIVE risk. Not every person is safe to share your pain with.
But Jesus is.
The more of your heart you’re willing to share, the deeper the pain you expose in His presence, the fuller the shame you let Him see – the more you will find Him completely, thoroughly, unbelievably kind. Tender. Strong. Loving. Worthy of your trust.
You can let Him see the scars you're ashamed of. You can trust Him with the pain you’ve been carrying. You can let Him touch the raw parts of your soul – and be healed.
Forgiving others requires us to draw near to God in vulnerability, trust, complete dependence, and full surrender.
And that IS how we invite breakthrough in our lives.
Paradoxically, it’s not through our spiritual prowess, exceptional gifting, or martyr-like sacrifice.
No.
Breakthrough follows embracing our weakness and vulnerability in ways that empower our hearts to surrender to God’s love.
When we forgive others as Jesus forgave us, we do more than just shut the windows to keep the poisoned atmosphere at bay.
The Holy Spirit blows the toxicity away so we can breathe deeply, run passionately, laugh unreservedly, and watch eagerly as God Himself replaces our ashes with greater beauty than we would dare to ask for.
Forgive as You’ve Been Forgiven
I don’t think that means what we may think it does.
God’s Word is like a key that unlocks treasure chests and prison cells. If we read the Bible in a way that’s disconnected from God’s heart, it can feel like an impossible weight. Or worse, a weapon.
Think about how God forgave you. Wasn’t it through the gospel? Didn’t Jesus take on your sin in His body, experience being separated from the love of the Father, so that God could satisfy His judgment against your sin?
Then that’s how we forgive others. It’s not about rehearsing all the ways God has forgiven us, though that may be helpful. We must apply the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to the ways we’ve been sinned against.
The cross communicates something more, though certainly not less, than the forgiveness of your sins. It also reveals how the ways you’ve been sinned against are seen and handled by God.
Even more, the resurrection of Jesus from the grave – after fully absorbing the sin of the world – demonstrates how Jesus can take all of your pain to the cross, through the grave, and come out the other side in glory and power.
You can be healed. By the power of the Holy Spirit, you can forgive.
Release it all into Jesus’ hands. Let Him take the memories, the people, the pain – the emotions – from you. You don’t have to carry it anymore. He’ll take it all the way to the cross so God can deal with every evil you’ve suffered.
Our God doesn’t stop at the cross; He follows through to resurrection. He will take your pain and replace it with beauty. He will restore the years the moths have eaten away.
He LOVES breaking through into your life with more goodness and mercy than you can contain. Forgiving others is spiritual fuel for breakthrough.
