Another Look at Forgiveness
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you.
Today we take another look at forgiveness.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Another Look at Forgiveness
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Matthew, Chapter 6, Verse 12.
Brothers and sisters, sin is the violation of the law of the Father's love. It is the absence of faith and
therefore signals disloyalty towards the Father's will. Out of selfishness grows all evil, sin, and
iniquity. Selfishness is loyalty to the self. It seeks to enshrine itself as the center of all things,
replacing the heavenly Father, the source of all that is spiritually true, beautiful, and good. Brothers
and sisters, when we violate the Father's law of love, we are violating life itself. If we continue to
do so, we should well remember that "there is a way that seems right to man, but the way thereof
leads to everlasting death."
Brothers and sisters, out of unselfishness grows love, patience, mercy, and forgiveness. Out of
unselfishness grows the Fatherhood of God and his faith sons and daughters. Out of unselfishness
grows the desire to do our Father's will--the desire to know our Father, to find him, and to become
like him in the process. Out of unselfishness grows the desire for repentance and forgiveness.
Brothers and sisters, forgiveness is a spiritual quality and is essential to receive in order to obey the
perfection mandate. The act of seeking forgiveness acknowledges the consciousness of reacting to
the Father's law of love in a selfish manner. But the very act of seeking forgiveness makes one
conscious of heretofore unconscious reactions of selfishness and unconscious violation of the
Father's law of love. As these unconscious and unintended reactions of selfishness become
conscious, we bring the power of choice to bear on them. We repent, seek forgiveness, and obey the
Father's law of love. When we choose to react unselfishly to the Father's law of love, we choose
eternal life--choose to abide by the Father's will, to be loyal to our Father.
Brothers and sisters, repentance repudiates disloyalty to the Father's law of love. It is the conscious
awareness of the wrongness of this disloyalty towards the Father's law of love, and implies that given
an opportunity under similar circumstances, we would not respond in the same way. Forgiveness,
then brothers and sisters when it is accepted, abolishes the consciousness of sin from the mind-in
reality the consciousness of separation from our Father's love while removing selfishness and
distorted reality from our souls.
Brothers and sisters, our unwillingness to forgive is a measure of our selfishness, of our disloyalty
towards the Father's law of love. It is a desire to harbor a consciousness of wrongdoing. It means that
we enjoy harboring hurt feelings and enjoy holding selfish advantage over our brothers and sisters
who have wronged us. As long as someone has wronged us, they are in our spiritual debt, and the
role of prisoner and jailer is assumed. Neither can escape. The prisoner is trapped by the jailer, while
the jailer is trapped by having a prisoner to watch. Both are stuck, and neither can go forward in life.
This concludes today's message on understanding the meaning of forgiveness. We hope you find
something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next time, this
is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
Another Look at Forgiveness
