A Heart of Forgiveness

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

Proverbs 4:23

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Proverbs 3:5

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken."

Proverbs 15:13

I have been reading out of the book of Proverbs and it struck me how many times the heart is mentioned. Proverbs talks about the heart being full of wisdom but also having the capabilitiy of being full of evil. "Trust the LORD with all thine heart" and "Keep thy heart with all diligence." We always put so much emphasis on the spirit, but the heart is also very key to who we are. Our mouths speak what is in our hearts. That is why it is so prudent to guard our hearts. When we allow things to penetrate our hearts that are not of God, we are pulling off the guard over our spirit. This is why the Enemy attacks us through/by our homes, families, and those close and dear to us. He knows he cannot reach our spirits head on, but he can break our spirits by first going through our hearts. Wow. It's so true though. Here's an example. A member of a church feels hurt by someone else in the church, so, they leave and completely turn away from God. Their heart was wounded and so the Enemy takes that opportunity to draw them away from God. Look at Job. The Devil tried all sorts of tactics, but if you notice, it is when Job's family was taken away that we all seem to get angry. We all know that material things are not eternal, but the thought of losing those you love is painful. Yet, Job had a guard over his heart. That guard was his trust in God. That is so key. Job knew that no matter how much he was attacked, God had a reason and He was still in control. If we allow the circumstances and the trials that we face every day to penetrate our hearts, then we set up our spirit to be broken. That is why depression happens. "By sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken." The greatest advice anyone ever gave me was to guard my heart. Now I know why it is so important to surround my heart with trust in God. You may think that is foolish because maybe you trusted God and were still hurt. I never said that you won't be attacked. The Enemy goes after our hearts more than anything else, because he knows that if he can destroy that, he can destroy you. Our hearts determine what decisions we make. "But, Nickie, that's bad. My pastor has always said not to trust my heart." BINGO!!! That's it. It's not trusting our heart it is allowing our heart to trust in God. There's a huge difference.

One way you are surrendering to your heart and another you are surrendering your heart to God.
 

When you surrender to your heart, you will be hurt. When you surrender your heart to God, He will protect and surround you. Don't confuse the two. If you have been hurt, it is not God's fault. God does not desire to wound or cause you pain. He loves you and He sent His son to die for you. One of the college students at Tehillah said that God had to bring her to the realization of "how much Jesus was wounded the day He hung on the cross." The Devil laughed at Him for trying to save a people who wanted Him dead. If there is anyone who has the right to say His heart was wounded, it's Jesus. But, his heart was surrounded by His trust in God. WOW!!!! Have you ever thought about that? Instead of allowing Himself to surrender to the pain in His heart, He surrendered His heart to God. "Into Your hands I commit my spirit." This is powerful stuff!!! Jesus had a human heart that felt everything we feel. We can't imagine the extent of how much pain his heart was being bombarded with as he was beaten, spit on, mocked, and hung on a cross to die. Yet, instead of saying, "what is the use, they all hate me," he simply said, "Father forgive them." Ok??!! How many of us are willing to do something even close to that? How many of us can say to God as we are being bombarded by words of hate and pain, "God, forgive them." Jesus said it to God concerning the entire world. Yet, we have a hard time saying that about one person who has tried to hurt us or not even tried but, it just happened.

What better way to show our trust in God than to ask for forgiveness? Not for God to forgive them, but for you to forgive and in turn be forgiven.

But, you say, "I didn't do anything, so why should I ask to be forgiven?!" The word of God says, "Forgive and you shall be forgiven." There's two sides to that coin. First side, you were forgiven by God the day that you became a Christian. Second side, you cannot be forgiven until you forgive. But you say, "what?! That doesn't make a flip of sense." Oh, yes, it does. When Jesus forgave you for your sins, God forgave your sins. When you forgive those around you, God forgives your unforgiveness. But you say, "that's just a bunch of circles of forgiveness." Yep, man, you are smart! Do you remember that verse you learned when you first came to know the LORD? "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son." In order to forgive you have to give something of yourself. Jesus gave His life in order that the world could be forgiven. What is it that you need to give in order to forgive those around you and in turn be forgiven for not forgiving?