Breaking Chains

Forgiveness breaks the chains of our impulse to retaliate against an aggressor. We’re automatically elevated onto a higher level of functioning the moment forgiveness is activated. Giving up bitterness along with the need to punish is a clear demonstration of forgiveness in action. An attitude of forgiveness produces hope for future happiness.



The desire to forgive is empowering. It gives up the demand for retaliation. Once a commitment has been made to forgive, memories of the hurtful behavior may surface to obstruct the commitment to forgive. A key step in giving or receiving forgiveness is absorbing the pain that must be endured until it is cleansed from your heart and soul.

To break the chains of anger and resentment, the forgiving person may need to reaffirm their commitment to forgive. The resurgence of resentment will try to negate the progress forgiveness is capable of achieving. Remember, God will empower you by way of the Holy Spirit to help you restore your resolve to forgive. 

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“The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers.”

~Luke 4:18 Contemporary English Version

Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery.
~Galatians 5:1 Phillips - New Testament in Modern English

Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get long with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

~Romans 12:17-19 The Message

God's Gifts: Love, Hope, Freedom - Part 2

After Bible study and worship service, I asked my daughter, a first grader, what she learned in her class that Sunday morning. "You must never be angry, for it's a sin to be angry," was her reply. She had learned something that isn't true, for God designed us to express this emotion. However when out of control and destructive, anger can be harmful and sinful.

To be restricted from sharing your thoughts and feelings with a loving, trusting intimate other is to smother the person God created you to be. Otherwise you're pretending to be something that's false. To come to the end of life without having been able to articulate what you think and feel, which is a very important need, would be a great loss.

To avoid this loss and the despair it creates, choose to accept the freedom and autonomy God makes possible through faith and trust in Christ Jesus. Jesus said that God "has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives." Integrity grounded in love for God, for others, and for oneself breaks the restraints of self-imprisonment. Jesus will help you do this.