Q3. Forgiveness

[Pastor Ralph]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

[RD35]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

When we give Satan an internal platform to operate through unforgiveness or anger or for that matter, any unconfessed sin -- then he can continually attack us from within. Unforgiveness and anger imprisons us and keeps us away from joy and peace of Christ.  Relationships are severed and we live in hate and misery.  Wounds and hurts that are not forgiven make us live in offence and this does not let us operate in the full capacity God has called us to live.  The Word of God can never grow and produce fruit in the soil of an offended heart which is the very thing the enemy wants.  Unforgiveness and anger keeps a person irritable and control on the tongue becomes difficult too.  We may start sinning by speaking harsh words and curses. In brief, by entertaining unforgiveness and anger we will allow Satan to draw us into deeper sinning and he will be successful in making us sever our relationship with God.   The Bible is full of examples of people who did not prosper because of unforgiveness and anger, Cain and Saul to name a few.  

By the grace of God and ever since he found me and saved me, it is not difficult for me forgive anyone who hurts me.  Though for a moment I do feel sad, His grace and the reminder of how greatly He has forgiven me helps me shake of the dust and forgive everyone who hurts me.  All glory to God!!

Bitterness, unforgiveness, grudges are like cancer which will slowly destroy a person slowly.  It can chain us to the past, destroy families and sour relationships.  The Bible is crystal clear on the necessity of forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15) .  Unforgiveness can also affect our physical health and mental health.

 

[Travis81]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

 

They among other emotions/feeling processed negatively and adhered to allows his influences to metastasize and affect/infect godliness behavior adversely. Hence instead of being Christlike we move forward in a non-Christlikeness manner. We live, move and have our being with a sense heaviness instead of in the newness of life and in the peace that the Prince of Peace gives.    

 

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

I believe sense most people with a conscience, and especially a godlily conscience will self-condemn themselves long after they have been forgiven, therefore it’s my belief the person themselves are the most difficult to forgive.  

Being the lesson is heavily concerning the life of Paul, he said:

1 Timothy 1:15 - This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

1 Corinthians 15:9 - For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

I’m so thankful he also wrote: Ephesians 3:8 - Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Secondly, I would say the most difficult person for someone to forgive is the person that hurt them the most.

 

Whatever the cause for our Dis-ease it is important to forgive:

God says / the Bible says:

We forgive because we have been forgiven by God (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13.).

We forgive in obedience to God (Matthew 6:14-15; Romans 12:18).

We should forgive and/or not hold on to bitterness so that we may not be carry out negative actions while being lead by hurt (misplaced) emotions (Genesis 4:5-8).

We forgive so we won’t become bitter and defile those around us (Hebrews 12:14-15).

(there so much relational importance to share in regards this question even though I’ve perhaps written too much)

 

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

No forgiveness, no peace or know forgiveness, know peace.

Unforgiveness is choosing to remain incarcerated by bitterness, serving time for someone else’s sin, iniquity, offense, misstep, or mistake.  

"Unforgiveness Shackles the holder to the offender; it binds and blinds the holder of unforgiveness

Unforgiveness Metaphor “Being in unforgiveness is like being on a giant hook. Next to you on the hook is the person who has hurt you. The hook is extremely painful. Wherever you go, so does the hook and so does the offender. The only way you can get off the hook is if you allow the offender off first

This metaphor was suggested by Stephen Hayes - The cost of not allowing the offender off the hook is, perhaps, a lifetime of unhappiness."

[jesus]

(2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4: 26-27)  anger and unforgiveness are sins  are satan's schemes or devices so that we become spiritually crippled and unable to pray. It gives an opportunity for the devil to damage out spiritual life by keeping us in bondage of these sins. Again when we give satan an internal platform to operate through these sins he can continually attack us from within.We must give up those places within us through repentance and faith so that we be effective Christians and not paralyzed in sin.

The one who hurts me the most when I did good to them is the difficult person to forgive. anyone who is opposing and accusing me for being a Christian also is difficult to forgive.

My unforgiveness is more damaging to me than the person who hurt me is because I allow satan a place or a foothold in my life and an opportunity to damage my walk with Christ I cannot pray and remain closer to God and hear his voice,instead unforgiveness cripples me and allows satan to attack me. I need to repent and get right with God and surrender all who hurt me to Jesus and allow Him to work in my life and in the lives of those who hurt me. Obedience to God is the only key and not get into the deception and lies of the emery with anger and unforgiveness.

[haar]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27)

Q. How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? 

A.  Anger and unforgivenes lead to sin as they are contrary to the word of God. And sin creates the passage for the devil to go into the sinner to attack

Q. For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

A. Anyone who consistently offends me with impunity without remorse.

Q. Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

A. First, the offender has moved on and is not experiencing any feeling that hurts him and thus there is nothing damaging to him but I am left with the ulcer of unforgiveness. Second, my unforgiveness leads to and opens a way of entrance by the evil one to torment and add more damage to me spiritually and physically.
 

[garymerkel]

Unresolved anger and unforgiveness damage us spiritually, physically, emotionally, psychologically, and relationally.  It messes with the chemicals in our bodies and brains.  There is place for righteous anger...being angry about what God is angry, like the deception of Satan, being angry about sin, whether in our own lives or others, but the resolve is in Christ, turning it over to Him.  Carrying the weight of anger and unforgiveness is a weigh only Jesus can actually handle.  In Rom. 12 it says, "Vengenence is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.  It is not easy to turn injustice over to God but the best place, even as Joseph did and Daniel and his friends did.

I don't carry unforgiveness about anyone or anything.  My perception is that I would have difficulty with forgiving someone who killed or injuried my wife, daughter, or grandsons or someone in my family.  Yet, forgiveness is for the purpose of seeing them come to Christ, while justice is depending upon God to do what is right according to His law and will.  I as pardoned from my sin which contributed to the murder of Jesus.  I know this biblically, but I don't know how I might react if someone deliberately killed or severely injured someone in my family.  I would want justice.

People that hurt others often don't believe they did or they forget about it, so pondering it in our own minds only hurts us and keeps us focused on the hurt rather than the healer, Jesus.  The enemy of our souls can take unforgiveness to the level of seeking revenge ourselves and only God has the right to take the revenge sin all sin is against Him.

[Queen Mc Daniel]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

Anger, unforgiveness and unconfessed sins gives Satan an opportunity to have the advantage over us. Therefore, when we Forgive it’s a spiritual weapon to pull down Satan’s stronghold over us. however, the scriptures tells us to be angry but sin not.

 For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

I believe that the most difficult person for me to forgive is My self.

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

A Christian should forgive because we have been forgiven of our trespasses and sins. If we don’t forgive, we will not be forgiven. Matthew 6:15. Our unforgiveness is more damaging to us because Satan will take advantage of every failure we make and use it to cause our downfall.

 

[Uncle Dave]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27)

1.     How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

Jesus said we need to forgive others if we are to be forgiven (Matthew 6:15). If we are in an unforgiven state it means that Satan holds the leash. Until we give way to what Christ tells us what to do, we are under Satan’s command because basically, we are doing things his way. In other word, we have decided not to forgive as Satan would have rather than to forgive as Jesus would have us do.

2.     For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

I’m sure there are many different answers to this but in my case, the most difficult act of forgiving was being used by the person who only days earlier told me about Christ, whom I accepted right away but the person had a foot in the world in a big way and used the “everybody does it” line and spun me into a whirlpool of confusion that wreaked havoc on my mind. I remember a few days after the particular incident that lit the fuse I was way out in the mountains hunting by myself and all these things were plaguing me when it was like I heard a voice scream at me to forgive the person, and that was before I had ever seen anything about forgiving. It took me quite a while but as I began to see the cause behind the error that lead me into error, I was finally able to forgive the person.

3.     Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

Because I’m the one who is not forgiven of God. The person who did the damage may not even be affected by what took place or it is even possible I completely mistook the incident and here we are, days later the other person isn’t even phased and I’m somewhere out in the cold fretting over something I should be getting over and because I have not forgiven someone of something, God has not forgiven me and I’m left at Satan’s mercy (at-least for as far as God will let him push me).

[Uncle Dave]

On 10/27/2019 at 8:44 AM, Travis81 said:

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

 

They among other emotions/feeling processed negatively and adhered to allows his influences to metastasize and affect/infect godliness behavior adversely. Hence instead of being Christlike we move forward in a non-Christlikeness manner. We live, move and have our being with a sense heaviness instead of in the newness of life and in the peace that the Prince of Peace gives.    

 

 

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

 

I believe sense most people with a conscience, and especially a godlily conscience will self-condemn themselves long after they have been forgiven, therefore it’s my belief the person themselves are the most difficult to forgive.  

 

Being the lesson is heavily concerning the life of Paul, he said:

 

1 Timothy 1:15 - This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

 

1 Corinthians 15:9 - For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

 

I’m so thankful he also wrote: Ephesians 3:8 - Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

 

Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

Secondly, I would say the most difficult person for someone to forgive is the person that hurt them the most.

 

 

Whatever the cause for our Dis-ease it is important to forgive:

 

God says / the Bible says:

 

We forgive because we have been forgiven by God (Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13.).

 

We forgive in obedience to God (Matthew 6:14-15; Romans 12:18).

 

We should forgive and/or not hold on to bitterness so that we may not be carry out negative actions while being lead by hurt (misplaced) emotions (Genesis 4:5-8).

 

We forgive so we won’t become bitter and defile those around us (Hebrews 12:14-15).

 

(there so much relational importance to share in regards this question even though I’ve perhaps written too much)

 

 

 

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

 

No forgiveness, no peace or know forgiveness, know peace.

Unforgiveness is choosing to remain incarcerated by bitterness, serving time for someone else’s sin, iniquity, offense, misstep, or mistake.  

 

"Unforgiveness Shackles the holder to the offender; it binds and blinds the holder of unforgiveness

 

Unforgiveness Metaphor “Being in unforgiveness is like being on a giant hook. Next to you on the hook is the person who has hurt you. The hook is extremely painful. Wherever you go, so does the hook and so does the offender. The only way you can get off the hook is if you allow the offender off first

 

This metaphor was suggested by Stephen Hayes - The cost of not allowing the offender off the hook is, perhaps, a lifetime of unhappiness."

 

The line in your post " No forgiveness, no peace or know forgiveness, know peace". Not sure if your words or not but would like to make a banner of it in Photoshop

[Nandita]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? 

When we let anger and unforgiveness take root in our heart we give Satan the opportunity to turn those emotions into hatred, resentment, bitterness, and vengefulness. And just as saltwater and freshwater cannot flow from the same spring, a love for Christ and hatred for our fellowmen cannot coexist in our hearts.

 

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

There were people who were responsible for my life going wildly off-rail when I was younger. There were people who took advantage of me when I was older. There were strangers who hurt me accidentally and friends who hurt me deliberately. It took work to be able to forgive all of them. Knowing how much of forgiveness I've received in my life helped me forgive. Seeing how God took the ashes of my life and turned them into diamonds helped me forgive. Remembering that they, too, are children of God, also helped me forgive. I know how upsetting I find it when two people I love don't get along. Imagine what God feels when two of his children can't forgive each other.

 

Even now there are times when smaller matters crop up and I find myself holding grudges. Remembering I am forgiven, remembering that the person who hurt me is loved by God, and trying to understand the situation from my offender's point of view helps me release forgiveness. 

 

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt  you? 

Unforgiveness goes hand-in-hand with emotions like bitterness and resentment. The burning in your heart and churning in your mind doesn't hurt the person who hurt you. It does, however, make life unbearable for you. It makes you unhappy, it makes you hard, and it can interfere with your sleep, your motivation, your productivity,.and your personality. Worst of all, It can create a barrier between you and God.

 

As Travis81 said, so perfectly and beautifully, it's a matter of us deciding between "No forgiveness, no peace" and "know forgiveness, know peace".

[Old Jerry]

I think that anger and unforgiveness gives Satan an opportunity to damage me because for one thing I think about the situation and probably lose sleep over it. I think bad thought about the person so that Satan an opportunity to do his best. For me I think that most difficult person to forgive is one that has been at my side all the time and then they hurt me. The unforgiveness is more damaging to me than to the other person who hurt me because though I might be mad about it the other person doesn’t even know about it. Therefore he goes about business as nothing had ever happened.

[JanMary]

On 8/28/2019 at 10:59 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

1. Before I answer, I'd like to qualify "anger".....not all anger is sin. It's a God given emotion, meant for us to take some kind of positive action....like removing oneself from harm, or abuse, or speaking up on behalf of those who don't have a voice or don't know that they can have a voice, as well as righteous anger which Jesus expressed when he overturned the tables in the temple which were used for unholy purposes. Anger expressed appropriately can initiate healing in a situation rather than prolonged alienation. Correctly dealing with anger helps to resolve issues in relationships. When it's not dealt with, we can become passive aggressively angry, which is kind of a cowardly way of letting others know we are angry, but avoiding a healthy confrontation. (I learned to write about it to get it "out" of my system (it literally comes out through the pen or pencil onto the paper!) then to ask God's help in forgiving the offender, and when able, to forgive. (I was told to write and tear up the paper or in a journal no one has access to.) This is really a wonderful solution, and we can learn about ourselves as we are writing...sometimes the anger is really about "what happened back then" and we can deal with those issues "in the now."

This process removes Satan's access to use us as his agent to hurt others, and ourselves as his victims.

The kind of anger which is sin, is that which is "repressed" and causes harm to the angry individual, as well as that which is expressed in such a way that it causes harm to the one or ones on which it is "inflicted" as well as the  seething kind which Satan can use for his purposes. When that kind is present we can become a pawn, egged on by Satan to damage others or to seek revenge or retribution.  Jesus said "don't let the sun go down on your anger"....the intent being to express anger in an appropriate way before it turns to hatred and rage, and take the action which needs to be undertaken, prayerfully with the help of Holy Spirit.

2. It used to be myself, because of incorrect teaching about anger...for instance:  "all anger is sin." That false narrative leads to unhealthy attitudes and behavior, and delayed the emotional healing which the Lord was directing me toward...counseling, support to escape abuse, etc. and the ability to forgive. When I believed the lie about anger, a situation came up where I felt so victimized that I literally saw RED..I was riding in a car, and as I stayed silent, the grass and trees outside the car turned red. That scared me....and I decided to get help and to learn appropriate anger management.

3. Unforgiveness is like drinking poison expecting the person you're angry with to die. Instead it tears up our insides, creating health problems like ulcers, high blood pressure, chronic pain, asthma, and many other issues. It also negates healing in relationships, blocks joy and happiness, turns the outlook on life into darkness, fosters the sense of victimization and so on. It turns to bitterness and hard heartedness. Whereas we are "more than conquerors in Christ Jesus." Jesus also said "Be angry and sin not." Anger is simply an emotion. It's what we do with it or about it, which becomes sin.''

P.S.. days after I answered these questions, circumstances around me became unbearable and a PTSD episode erupted. Holy Spirit showed me some deeply buried anger toward God I'd been harboring for YEARS over the abuse and violence in childhood...He knew it was there and kindly used circumstances to "uncover" it....it wrecked me for several days as I cried and journaled and grieved....I couldn't reconcile that abuse with His love and His foreknowledge of the family I would grow up in....it just didn't seem to make sense, so I asked Him to help me reconcile all of this...and He said "Jeremiah 9:23,24.  Oh! I know Him so well and have such an honest relationship with Him BECAUSE of my GREAT need of Him every day and every moment, which I wouldn't trade for any "do-overs" of childhood. So I thank Him for this look at anger in our lesson, and for His integrity in showing me what I couldn't see....I feel emptied out somehow now...like there is more room for Him and for others to fill that icky dark space!  My spirit feels more free and light! Thank you, Jesus for your great love and care for me and for each of your loved ones, and for showing us that anger needs to be acknowledged and taken care of for our sakes and for others.

 

 

  

[Godswriter]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

Anger and unforgiveness give way to the enemy by allowing him a foothold in our lives. Anger is a God-given emotion however when you misuse it; it becomes sin. When we process anger wrong, it becomes sin immediately. The most difficult person to forgive would be my aunt Shirley since she hurt me so deeply. It is more damaging to me because it harms my testimony and everything else about it.

[Lottie]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

Anger and unforgiveness give Satan a foothold or opportunity to damage me when I choose to hold onto all my bitter feelings about the persons who hut me. Then I cannot pray anymore because my unwillingness to forgive hinders my relationship to God.And Satan will use it to remind me of their offenses ands cause me to become bitter and angry. He will use it as wedge between me and God. If I refuse to repent of my sin and forgive then I become useless in reaching out to others because I am so immersed in myself and my feelings.

For me, the most difficult person to forgive was one of my former supervisors. I had given all of myself to the job and in the end she treated me as if I was rubbish. When I left I was really hurt and bitter. I had to learn to let it go and put it in the past away from me. Though now and then I still talk about what happened.

My unforgiveness damages me more then the one who hurt me because they do not know I harbor it. And if they do they probably do not care. It hurts my relationship to God when i do not forgive others. Then I lose that sweet fellowship I had. It hurts me by making me angry and embittered  and it affects the people around me. Instead of acting in love I act out my feelings and in the end hurt the ones I love. It hurts me because I lose my witness and testimony for God.

[rosegarden]

On 8/28/2019 at 1:59 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

a.  When you hold anger and unforgiveness in your heart you give Satan a foothold in your life and you continue to get more angry and stubborn.

b. I once was angry at my niece (who lived with my parents for a time in her youth) and it was at a time of my Mothers death and it had to do with an inheritance.  I felt I had more rights than she did and everyone else thought so too and told me so.    I felt entitled but I was miserable.? At the time a song on Christian radio was popular.  You may have heard of it called "70 times 7".  You know what that was about!  Almost every time I turned on that station that song played.  I finally gave in and called my niece to come over, I apologized and we both hugged each others neck and cried. ?‍❤️‍? What a burden lifted!  Thank God there is Forgiveness!  After that I never heard that song again!  ?  God is Soooo Good!

c. Unforgiveness is more damaging to you because the longer you hold on to it the more angry you become.  You think by holding out in unforgiveness you are hurting the other person but you are actually  harming yourself as you are affecting your soul and leaning more to your flesh than the Spirit of God within you.

 

 

[hanks]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) 
How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? 
For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? 
Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you? 
Anger and unforgiveness provide Satan with a foothold to harm us spiritually and physically. He thrives when we are in a state of anger, despondency, despair, and darkness, and it is in this atmosphere that Satan is able to do his most damage to believers. He will quickly seize the opportunity of changing our anger, whether righteous or unrighteous, into a grievance, a grudge, a nursing of wrath, and an unwillingness to forgive. He must not be given any opportunity to take advantage of our anger or unforgiveness for his own sinister purpose; rather he must be resisted. Besides personal damage he is quick to undermine the church's spiritual health. If he can frustrate the work of Christ in His church here on earth, he is able to block the advancement of Christ’s church and kingdom. I would imagine if my wife ever betrayed me after we’ve been married for over 58 years; I think I would find it most difficult for me to forgive her. The same I suppose would apply to her. However, I realize that for my own health, I would have to pray for help in forgiving her. 
 

[lighthouse2014]

On 8/28/2019 at 12:59 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

Anger and forgiveness gives Satan the opportunity to damage us because as long as we hold these feelings against others he is keeping us from being useful for the Lord. We should be compassionate and forgive one another. Remaining in this state Satan has spiritually crippled us.

For me, the most difficult person to forgive would be the person that rapped my wife.

This is more damaging to me because Satan has kept this incident in the back of my mind for decades, it keeps me in a bondage that is hard to over come. Evan if I forgive him the thought is still there. For the other person, I pray he has repented of his dealings a long time ago.

[Preistina11]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? Anger and unforgiveness will give Satan opportunity to keep us under him. Trusting man rather than God is one mistake we sometimes make. And when they hurt us and belittle our trust in them, it can lead us to so much of hurt, pain and anger at someone that we are unable to forgive them and the spirit of anger takes control of us. But been able to repent by the grace and mercy of God leads us to forgiving them and heal our anger towards them."Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation." (2 Corinthians 7:10b)

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Most of my life there has only been one or two persons that I found so hard to forgive. After being born again it was gone from my system and I was free. But right now I am at a season of my life where I have been struggling to forgive one whom I have love, honored so much all my life. I do believe the enemy has much to do with it. I have like a thousand times brought it to the Lord, prayed for this person, I have kept coming to my Lord to and fro, that is my shortcoming, I need to stay there with Him to get over this wound and pain and show and let mercy, compassion and love flow out of me like Jesus. In the mean time I allow the Lord to prune me as much as it is so painful. I know the humiliation I have suffered because of this is not as much as what Jesus had to go through on the cross. He did it because of the future glory He knew which will come.Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Not easy but I trust the Lord.

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you? Yes, it is not only damaging to me, it has also put my husband and children in a difficult place. The truth is that person may not even realize it but here I am in a place where I am not in right standing with my God.

 

 

[blezed]

(2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

Satan can continually attack us from within when we harbor unforgiveness. Unforgiveness can turn into anger and we become spiritual cripple, unable to pray.

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

For me, anyone that I put my trust in and the violate that trust.  That person has probably moved on with their life and I am being continually attacked by the devil because I won't forgive. 

 

•  

[Maggz]

Satan delights in warfare, and setting a Christian against a Christian is achieving his goal.   If we hate, or nurture unforgiveness,  we are unable to love, and the love of one's neighbour is the great commandment of Jesus.  At its most extreme, it might cut us off from loving God, for a heart filled with anger and hatred cannot love.

[Irmela]

2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

If there is anger and unforgiveness in our hearts, then this is in the forefront of our minds and there is no peace. Satan continues to bring it to the front and this will make even our "nature" be different. We give in to doing things we would not normally do. 

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

Myself. 

I have been through deep waters in my life and have had much forgiving to do. I did learn it was better to forgive before it festers. 

It was just extremely hard to forgive myself for having lived as I did, when i knew better. 

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

Very often, the person who hurt us, is not aware of it, as it was not meant to hurt you. So then one walks around with unforgiveness of a misunderstanding. 

[Irmela]

2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27) How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

If there is anger and unforgiveness in our hearts, then this is in the forefront of our minds and there is no peace. Satan continues to bring it to the front and this will make even our "nature" be different. We give in to doing things we would not normally do. 

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

Myself. 

I have been through deep waters in my life and have had much forgiving to do. I did learn it was better to forgive before it festers. 

It was just extremely hard to forgive myself for having lived as I did, when i knew better. 

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

Very often, the person who hurt us, is not aware of it, as it was not meant to hurt you. So then one walks around with unforgiveness of a misunderstanding. 

[Krissi]

How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you?

There's an expression (which I'll probably mangle so I won't try to quote it) that has to do with a camel's nose under a tent. The idea is that problems start when the animal's nose wedges itself under the base of the tent, which causes an opening that permits the entire camel to crawl into the tent ... then you've got a huge problem. Anger and unforgiveness are like the camel's nose. Though an angry moment will pass, the bottom of the tent has been distorted so it's easier for the camel to put his nose and body under it the next time. And so on. 

Anger, like this, is additive. It expands. It really doesn't matter the source or the cause of the anger, whether it is justified or not, because anger, itself, although it seems to dissipate, stays within. someone or even a situation has to be forgiven for that anger to disappear. Anger and forgiveness, then, are connected.

For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive?

I have spent six years caring for my elderly father, giving up job opportunities, marriage offers and the life I wanted to live. My sister, a housewife who lives a few miles away, has seen him once in the last three years for 20 minutes. She inherits half the fortune -- I have given away all that I own and would like to have more to give. 

Am I angry about this? You betcha. But I'm dealing with it in all sorts of ways including asking God to help me forgive her ... and truly mean it. 

Just like Pastor Ralph's demonization on a continuum, I believe forgiveness is also on a continuum. On the left side of the continuum is an obedient act of barely spitting out the words "I forgive ..."; to the far right of the continuum is a sort of forgiveness that releases the "forgiver" to such a degree that the offenses are forgotten.

Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?

I don't know that it is worse for one or the other, but unforgiveness is certainly damaging and can actually cause physical problems. But, still, I'd rather struggle with unforgiveness than be the oppressor. I'd rather be in my shoes than those of my sister, the sin-committer who caused my need to forgive. That's not arrogance, I hope. Just a rational assessment of the situation.

[George L]

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11; Ephesians 4:26-27)

1. How do you think anger and unforgiveness give Satan an opportunity to damage you? Anger and unforgiveness creat a roadblock to your forgiveness of ‘them’. Which blocks your own forgiveness from God.   Vengeance  and judgement belong to God. It is forbidden territory for us.
2. For you, who is the most difficult person to forgive? My self. Sorry that I did it God, sounds good, but have you examined your inner thoughts about having made the mistake. Not the doing, but the slip in judgement and having gone through with it. Then it is nolonger an opps, but how do I break this repeating weakness pattern? There is a tremendous coupling between repenting for the action and removing the root within you. You must  become the “whosoever” of Jol 2:32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: and give the holy spiritual free rein to deal with that root within.
3. Why is your unforgiveness more damaging to you than to the person who hurt you?  The person that hurt you has gone on about their way unconcerned about you at all. You are now stuck in un answered prayer territory.