PAT'S
PERSPECTIVE
Forgiving
Your Enemies
By
Pat Robertson
The 700 Club
CBN.com
- The first step in forgiveness is to recognize your resentment against
an enemy. You must understand who the enemy is and what he has done to hurt you.
Then you must consciously say, "I forgive that person for the following wrongs
against me." Then repent of your feelings against your enemy and ask God to forgive
you, even as "we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us" (Luke
11:4). After that, begin to pray actively for your enemy's good. Jesus
told us to pray for our enemies and that doing this will help to fill us with
love for them. When you pray for your enemies, asking God to meet their needs
and manifest Himself to them, you are overcoming evil with good. Instead of fighting
negative thoughts in your mind, you are filling your mind with positive thoughts.
You are now on the side of your enemy; you have a spiritual stake in his well-being.
If God answers your prayer, which you want Him to do, the person prayed for will
be blessed, and you will learn about redemption--the ultimate form of forgiveness.
Keep in mind that if you ask God to bless somebody, God will bring that person
to a condition where blessing is possible. God will not bless an evildoer until
he or she repents of sin, provides restitution where necessary, and gets right
with God. So if you ask God to bless someone who has wronged you, the result may
well be a repentant sinner and a new brother or sister in the Lord!
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