Over 2000 years ago, the most horrid and popular methods of execution was by nailing them to a cross. It was by far the most wretched slow and painful torture that man has ever conceived. They would take these two old, huge, splintered pieces of wood and make you drag them throughout the town. Then when you got to the execution spot they would then pound nails the size of railroad spikes through your wrists and ankles, usually yanking your joints out of their sockets. Afterwards they would stand the cross up and let it drop into it's hole so that it would stay erect. The only way to breathe or talk while on the cross was to take your weight and push up on your feet which was painful in itself. Otherwise you could breathe in but you weren't able to let it out. It was such a heinous way of death that Rome wouldn't allow for their citizens to be executed in such a manner.
With that in mind, Jesus actually came to the earth just to go on that cross and suffer that death so that he could purge us of our sins. He did it because the alternative, eternity without us in it, is worse to Him. Because His love for us really is that strong. The reason why I mention this with forgiveness has many reasons. While He was on the cross the first word that came out of his mouth was the word forgive- "Forgive them for they know not what they do". Through the blood sacrifice of Jesus, God can forgive us. And through that forgiveness we can have salvation. But it goes deeper then that. Much deeper.
To truly love Jesus, we are expected to follow him and obey him. He is to be the example of what we strive for. That includes forgiving. My past has a lot of hurt and abuse in it. My earthly father was anything but kind while I was a child, and he was worse with me because I was the first-born and a girl (he believes that the first-born should be male). Yet, if I am to follow the example that Jesus gave on the cross (forgive) then I am also expected to forgive what was done to me. There is even a parable in the bible which speaks of a master forgiving his servant a debt yet the servant wouldn't forgive his fellow man a smaller debt so the master punished him for it. As God forgives us, we are to forgive others.
Now to go back to the example of my father and I. As long as I hold on to the evil that he did to me, I am still in bondage to it. I can never be free as long as I keep it within my heart. It will sit like a poison slowly killing me. It would turn my heart into stone, cold and rigid. With no chance of experiencing what God has in store for me. There wouldn't even be room for God. As long as I refuse to forgive, I will relive it until I either do forgive or die. I become like one with two masters. The abuse will continue and live on.
To forgive my father isn't to set him free, but to set me free. It isn't about him. Do you think that he really cares whether I forgive him or not? Half the time he denies that it ever happened and the other half claims that I deserved it. I didn't forgive him for his sake, I did it for my sake and for my sanity. So that God will be free to heal me from the hurt and pain. So that I can be open to become who God intends for me to be. And so that he can use me to help others that are where I was. I pray for my father that God would move him to ask for His forgiveness because by what he did to me, he also sinned against God.
Jesus forgave the people that were killing him while they were standing there mocking him. Through the pain of the cross, forgiving was his first concern. And we truly know not what we do. That is just as true today as it was 2000 years ago when he died. But because He without sin died for our sins, death couldn't hold Him. So He rose. Through that blood sacrifice on Golgotha (the place of the skull) we are forgiven. And if you haven't experienced the forgiveness of God please feel free to check out my church's website at freshlifechurch.com. God's desire is that none should perish and even though He is knocking on the door to your heart, you have to be willing to answer.
God bless and always be a snakebird.
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