FORGIVENESS

Welcome once again to another episode of It’s the Flat-Out Truth podcast, I’m your Host Bravo Colon. In this episode I want to touch on a subject that has been weighing heavy on my heart it is the subject of Forgiveness. There are times when I am reading or meditating on G-d’s word that certain themes will come to mind, and forgiveness is just one of those subjects What it is and what it isn’t. What is forgiveness? What we have been taught is that forgiveness is the writing off a debt or an offense, of some sort whether spiritual or physical. But what is forgiveness? There is a lot more to forgiving or being forgiven than we realize. First, the bible teaches us that if we want to be forgiven, we must also forgive. But how do we forgive? How do we let another person off the hook from paying a debt or even offending us or a hurting or killing a dear loved one, whether accidentally or on purpose? Pride can be a barrier or obstacle that stands in the way of forgiving another person, especially if we were embarrassed or even were put to shame by another individual. Is forgiving an act of saying oh it’s ok don’t worry about it, but holding on to the remorse in silence, in secret? Can one forgive without forgetting? These are questions that in this journey of seeking out the truth, I have asked myself, that I seek out daily. It seems everyone’s definition of forgiving or forgiveness is different in one aspect or another. To some it means not holding a grudge, to others it means giving the other person a pass for what they have done. To someone else forgiving means not being tied up or trapped by feelings that would alienate the other person from your life because of what that person did to you. This reminds me of one of many parables spoken by Yeshua HaMashiach in the Brit HaDashah the New testament. The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant In Matthew chapter 18 21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

In a commentary I found on Messiah-of-God.com it explains it this way. “That the first servant represents each one of us. Just like him, we all have a Huge debt that God our Father has wiped away or put simply, forgiven. We in turn are expected to demonstrate this forgiveness, out of thankfulness and gratitude, by forgiving others of their smaller debts and trespasses against us. We can see that tis teaching this to us in the Lord’s Prayer in (Matthew 6:12-14), “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors…For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” This is 12 chapters before the parable of the unforgiving servant. By ending this parable of the unmerciful servant with this statement in Matthew 18:35, Jesus is vividly emphasizing his point to forgive as many times as is necessary. Otherwise, those who do not forgive are exactly like this first servant, and God will treat them as such by not forgiving their massive debt.” To note: in this Parable The king has a servant who owes him ten-thousand talents. A talent was worth more than 15 years of wages for an average worker, this the total this servant owed would add up to at least 150,000 years’ worth of money. Yeshua is making a point that this servant owes the King a lot of money. After hearing from the other servants how this one servant treated his servant. The king became angry and ordered that the first servant be tortured until he could repay what he owed. Just like the second servant who was sent to prison, one can’t earn money while being tortured which means thie first servant would wind up being tortured forever. In the Lord’s Prayer Yeshua teaches us that to be forgiven we must first forgive and not just a hypocritical forgiveness we say we have forgiven but still hold a grudge and treat the person different from before the offense, or trespass, but completely releasing the other person from owing whatever the debt, and continuing to love that person as if nothing ever happened. Are we really, capable of this kind of forgiveness? All throughout the bible we can see that Forgiveness is a Theme that is repeated often; from when the children of Israel were in the wilderness that Moses stood in defense of them being destroyed by Elohim, where he told G-D to blot his name out of the book of life; to where G-d pleads with Israel to return to H-M that HE would forgive her and heal their land; 2 Chronicles 7:14 New King James Version (NKJV) 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. If we sin and we are repentant (do teshuva), we pray G-D in heaven forgives us and HE does according to H-S word HE does as we find in: Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.

And again, in Jeremiah 31:34 No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.” We can compare this scripture in Jeremiah with Hebrews 8:11-13 in The New Covenant …11 No longer will each one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.” 13 By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete, and aging will soon disappear.… Forgiveness is one thing that G-D displays toward us the creation of H-S hands, and HE shows us what kind of forgiveness we should practice with one another. Now I know this is extremely hard for us as humans to put into practice, especially those of us who are so caught up with our own selves, Ouch did I hit a nerve? As I was researching about forgiveness, I came across my very own difficulties in accepting the fact that I really haven’t forgiven correctly, the way G-D commands me to forgive. Let me tell you it is a scary just to think that if I don’t forgive, what my end shall be. Friend there is no guarantee as to where we will end up, because the ultimate decision belongs to Elohim. That alone should humble and scare us and encourage us to seek to imitate the perfect example given to us by Yeshua, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”. After all the humiliation, after all the abuse, after all the ridicule, even after all of that HE still asked the Father to forgive us, even though we deserved to be, destroyed by Abba Father. Wow. Can we ever get to that level? That is why this is a never-ending journey, because it just doesn’t stop here, one thing leans on another and so on. Forgiveness, Mercy, and Grace all go hand in hand. The King (in the parable of the unforgiving servant) was moved with compassion at the petition of his servant, that he forgave all his debt, he wiped the slate clean, but when he found out how wicked his servant dealt with his debtors, he sought him out and punished him because of his wickedness. What can we learn from this parable? What is forgiveness? It is the ability to erase what another owes and display mercy so that in turn we may be displayed mercy and be forgiven. What forgiveness isn’t? It is not the inability to let go of a grudge or remorse for the insulting or injurious actions of another towards us. Let me put it another way we must Let go and Let G-D handle it because HE and He alone is the righteous judge who will give to each person what they deserve whether good, or bad. So, forgiveness is a matter of the heart, for that is where it is born, Proverbs 4:23 says to guard your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. So, then forgiveness not on releases the other person, but it also frees you from having to carry an unnecessary burden around that may very well lead to being condemned.

Friend let us learn to forgive one another just as Yeshua forgave each of us, let us learn to lend a helping hand to one another regardless of our differences, if you find yourself as I did struggling to truly forgive, then ask the Father to help you with being able to forgive others so that HE in turn may forgive you; forgive and forget, and hand it all over to our Heavenly father.