"Set Free From Being a Slave to Our Enemies"

"But IF YE FORGIVE NOT (do not let go of offenses committed by others against you) MEN THEIR TRESPASSES (wandering away from the truth and sinning against God and others), NEITHER WILL YOUR FATHER FORGIVE YOUR TRESPASSES". Jesus, Matthew 6:15 KJV (Capitals are mine for emphasis)

IF WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE OFFENDED US, THEN HE WILL FORGIVE US OF OUR MISDEEDS

"The forgiveness equation", as stated by Jesus, is clear-cut, and easy to understand. He laid it out in the simplest of terms. God's forgiveness to us is "conditional". If we forgive those who have offended us, then He will forgive us of our misdeeds. If we hold grudges, and do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us of our sins.

BASICALLY, FORGIVENESS MEANS "TO LET GO OF ANY AND ALL OFFENSES"

To hold on to hurts and emotional wounds suffered from what people have done in the past will negatively affect us more than it will them. Basically, forgiveness means "to let go of any and all offenses". To "stay hurt" allows someone else to be in control of our feelings. When this happens, we have "abducted the throne", and become a slave to the one who is perceived in our mind to be our enemy.

THEY DID NOT FORCE US TO COME UNDER SUBJECTION TO THEM, BUT BY OUR OWN UNFORGIVENESS, WE VOLUNTARILY BECAME THEIR EMOTIONAL PAWN

To be unforgiving harms us more than it does the other person. What an awful concept to let someone who is supposedly our enemy make us their emotional slave. They did not force us to come under subjection to them, but by our own unforgiveness, we voluntarily became their emotional pawn. This does not mean that we become "bosom-buddies", but we have learned a lesson. We love them, but we love them from afar.

TO BE FREE FROM THIS BONDAGE, AND TO BE EMOTIONALLY HEALED, WE MUST FACE THE SITUATION HEAD-ON

Continuing to hold ill feelings against someone, no matter what it was that they did, or how long ago it happened, is not worth it. Being in such a spiritual condition will eat away at our spirit like a cancer. To be free from this bondage, and to be emotionally healed, we must face the situation head-on, and let it go! It is time to move on. We must not allow what happened in the past to influence our present and the future. Unforgiveness has robbed us long enough, so we must not let it continue to do its evil work today and tomorrow. The life of Father God in us must not be blocked in any way. Without His forgiveness we are stymied. By accessing His forgiveness, the future is as bright as the promises of God.