FEB 20, 2020
Bible Reading: Matthew 6:14-15
Memory Verse:And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32
A Catholic Priest was said to have written this: There is no perfect family. We do not have perfect parents; we are not perfect. We cannot marry a perfect person nor do we have perfect children. We have complaints from each other. We are constantly disappointed. There is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness. Forgiveness is vital to our emotional health and spiritual survival. Without forgiveness, the family becomes an arena of conflict and a fortress of evil. Without forgiveness, the family becomes sick. Forgiveness is the asepsis of the soul, the purification of the spirit and the liberation of the heart.
He who does not forgive does not have peace in his soul or communion with God. Evil is a poison that intoxicates and kills. Keeping heartache in your heart is a self-destructive gesture. It’s autophagy. Those who do not forgive are physically, emotionally and spiritually ill. For this reason, the family must be a place of life and not a place of death; a place of paradise and not a place of hell. A healing territory and not a disease territory; an internship of forgiveness and not guilt. Forgiveness brings joy where unforgiveness has brought sadness; healing where sorrow has caused the disease. A family is a place of support and not of gossip and slander of one another. Shame those who plant evil about others. We are family and not enemies. When anyone is going through a challenge all they need is support.
Meditate on these forgiveness quotes:
1. “When a deep injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive.” –Nelson Mandela
2. “Forgiving what we cannot forgive creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.” –Lewis Smedes
3. “Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.” – Thomas S. Manson.
4. “When you forgive, you in no way change the past — but you sure do change the future.” – Bernard Meltzer
5. “Forgiveness is a choice, but it is not an option.”
– Joel Osteen
6. “It can be hard to forgive and let go but it’s important to remember that harboring the resentment and holding a grudge can hurt you even more. The word ‘forgive’ really means to give something up for yourself, not for others.” – Jack Canfield
Quote: “If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive.” –Mother Theresa.
Prophetic Decree: I rebuke the demon of unforgiveness, in Jesus name.
Prayer Focus
1. Thank you Father for releasing the Oil of forgiveness into my heart, in Jesus name.
2. Blood of Jesus, purge my spirit, soul and body, in the name of Jesus.
3. I destroy the stronghold of unforgiveness, malice, resentment, and bitterness, in Jesus name.
4. Peace that passes all understanding, flood the gate of my heart, in Jesus name.
5. Blood of Jesus, laminate my emotions from all my painful experiences, in Jesus name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Leviticus 22-23
