unforgiveness - Thoughts About God

Preventing Walls of Hostility

Devotionals — Thu, 21 May 2026 07:06:12 +0000

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Ephesians 2:14

Conflict can produce hostility. Years ago, I was asked to be one of the worship leaders at a church where they had never experienced a woman in a leadership position. The circumstances surrounding this caused discord among some of the people, and opposition started brewing within their hearts.

I could have easily felt hurt, discouraged, and abandoned. I almost questioned God’s purpose. I turned to scripture and found King David’s story.

Before David became the King of Israel, King Saul attempted to take his life several times. During years of fleeing, David could have allowed anger and rage to fill his heart toward Saul, and toward God whom he believed had anointed him for this task of leading His people. Yet, in his moments of frustration and suffering, he asked God to search his heart and allowed God to fill him with peace.

Conflict can turn into frustration and unforgiveness, which can breed anger and build a wall of hostility between our relationships with others and with God. We all have experienced hurt, pain, or a time when others wronged us — and where we may even feel that God has forsaken us — yet, those are the moments that God desires to surround us and fill us with His peace that transcends our circumstances.

The peace of God can demolish hostility. We must check our hearts daily and ask God, like David did in Psalm 139:23, to “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.”

Heavenly Father, forgive me where I have harboured unforgiveness and anger towards others and towards you. I ask that you break down the walls that I have put up that are keeping me from experiencing the fullness of the relationship that I can have with you and with others. Fill my heart and my life with your peace. Amen.

By Brigitte Straub
Used by Permission

The Stumbling Block of Unforgiveness

Devotionals — Tue, 28 May 2024 08:01:29 +0000

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Colossians 3:12-13

The forgiveness we do not give, the forgiveness we withhold— will hold us back in our relationship with the Lord and the plans He has for us.

Unforgiveness will become a stumbling block in our walk with the Lord and with others. It doesn’t matter if the person receives it, and it doesn’t matter if the person does or does not acknowledge wrong doing.

Forgiveness is about our heart letting go instead of staying in bondage to that circumstance. Forgiveness isn’t about changing the offender. It is about a change in us.

When we fully forgive, we will stop playing the same tape in our head, going over and over the wrong committed against us. When we stop playing that tape over and over again, life will become fuller and richer and the past pain will noticeably subside, leaving us wishing we had granted ourselves this freedom much sooner.

God is the ultimate healer and when we forgive and let go, He comes in with His balm of healing and tender care and does a work on our wounds that will truly change our lives. This change will take us to a place of continued and complete healing.

When you hear yourself saying this is too hard, ask yourself – is it too hard for God? Does God want you to stay stuck living in that pain, and living in that past that is keeping you from living today and embracing the future with hope?

Unforgiveness is the precise reason we can’t get past the pain. Letting go and moving past the pain will bring you peace and peace will bring you a new and fresh outlook on life as you discover a joy in your heart that you have not known before.

In the strength of the Lord, you can forgive and let go, you can heal and move forward in complete wholeness.

Matthew 18:21-22

“Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. “

By Kathy Cheek
Used by Permission

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

Victory over Unforgiveness

Devotionals — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 20:45:35 +0000

Forgiveness is an act of the will more than an act of the heart.

Read: Daniel 6 Daniel in the Den

Immediately after teaching His followers to pray, Jesus gave a warning about allowing unforgiveness to reside in the heart. He said that those who refuse to forgive others won’t be forgiven by the Father.

Do not misunderstand Jesus’ meaning here. Believers don’t lose their salvation when they refuse to forgive. Rather, they break fellowship with God because their unrepentant attitude gets in the way of regular confession and repentance. The Lord cannot ignore sin, and His Spirit will bring wrong behavior to the believer’s attention until he or she deals with it.

Forgiveness is an act of the will more than an act of the heart. Often people don’t feel like being merciful to someone who has wronged them. But a resentful spirit grows into a terrible burden. The Lord knows that forgiveness is best, even when it is difficult.

You won’t deal with a sin until you see it as God does. So assume full responsibility for your unforgiving attitude, and acknowledge that it is a violation of His Word. Claim the divine mercy He offers, and ask Him to enable you to lay aside anger and resentment against the other person(s). As part of the decision to move forward in grace, make a habit of praying for those who hurt you. And if God so leads, seek their forgiveness for your wrong attitude.

A bitter and resentful spirit doesn’t fit who we are in Christ. Nor is it healthy to carry an angry attitude through life. That’s why Scripture emphasizes the need to forgive. Choose to be liberated from your burden–Jesus promised to make us free when we release our sins to Him (John 8:36).

By Dr. Charles Stanley
Used by permission
https://www.intouch.org/

The Unforgiving Message

Devotionals — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 08:01:22 +0000

I had already walked nearly a mile along the woods, across the creek, along a field and by the small lake when I looked up and noticed a teenage boy walking my direction. He was wearing a bright red t-shirt and jeans and when he was close enough I could read the words printed on the front. The top line said in big white letters:

God Forgives

Great! He is a Christian I thought to myself. As his next steps brought him even closer I could see what was printed under it in even bigger black letters:

But I Don’t

I could not believe my eyes. I was shocked!

We passed each other and I was already thinking of at least ten scenarios that would explain the depth of anger and bitterness that resulted in him wearing that bold proclamation.

Do people ask him what is the story behind the words on his t-shirt?

Who won’t he forgive?

Why won’t he forgive?

It would have started in a huge painful event of course…

My heart felt heavy thinking of his pain. My thoughts ran in all different directions considering what must have happened to him at a very young and tender age.

I am never going to know his story. I am never going to know who he won’t forgive. I am not going to know why it impacted him so strongly that he is declaring it on his t-shirt.

Remember the first line, he is right. God forgives. I think it is amazing that this young man put that on his t-shirt. God forgives.

I hope a time will come when the young man will choose to forgive. Maybe he will make a new t-shirt that says:

God Forgives

I Forgive

I hope he does. There is power and freedom in our forgiveness of others who have hurt us.

“Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” ~ Matthew 18:21-22

By Kathy Cheek
Used by Permission

From: www.kathycheek.com

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