The Hardest Commandment Jesus Gave? FORGIVENESS WITHOUT LIMITS

In this episode of The Wellspring Podcast, we dive into one of the hardest commandments Jesus ever gave: forgiveness. In a world filled with hatred, division, and offense, the heart of Christ calls us to something different — to forgive, even when it hurts.

Jesus was despised, rejected, mocked, and crucified… yet He still chose forgiveness. Through this conversation, we pray you are encouraged to reflect the love and mercy of Christ in your own life. Unforgiveness can quietly become a barrier that keeps us from the peace, freedom, and purpose God desires for us.

Thank you for watching. We pray this episode strengthens your faith, brings clarity, and points you back to God’s truth.

If this ministry has blessed you, we invite you to partner with us. Your support helps us continue creating content and growing this podcast for His glory.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You have to be vulnerable to love somebody.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

This is one that is two parties.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

It is. And it's directly affecting you and the other person. This is the one thing that will probably keep more people out of heaven and maybe missing the rapture.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Well, hello and welcome to the Wellspring Podcast. I'm joined here with Pastor Randy Lynn, my dad, where we are covering the subject on forgiveness today. I pray that you've been watching these podcasts and that you've been encouraged and uh also been encouraged to read your Bible, which is alive and active today. This next parable that we're going to go over, Jesus speaks on forgiveness. And where we try to put limitations on who we should forgive or how we should forgive or how many times we should forgive.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Yes. And he does.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah, well, we're going to talk about that as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Could you go to uh Matthew chapter 18, verse 21?

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Matthew 18.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

This is where Peter comes to Jesus and Feeling very religious. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Feeling like I got this down here. Yeah. Uh go to verse 21. All right, here we are. Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times? And Jesus said, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Yes. And I wanted to stop right there and uh talk about the fact that the number seven in the kingdom of God is the number of completion.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Completion and perfection. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

And what Jesus is saying right here is from completion to completion that pretty much an infinite amount of times. He's not throwing out if you do the addition on 70 times seven. He's not saying that's how many times that you should forgive somebody and then just cut them off.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

He's saying that you just forgive as many times as necessary.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

That's it. And Peter was, like I say, he was feeling his oats, very religious, thought he was really saying something, man, seven times. In our human nature, that sounds really good.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

I'm going to give forgive him seven times.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Because as you point out in this uh message we're putting out today, that our nature wants to kind of keep score. Yeah. Humans kind of love to keep score.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Exactly what Peter was going to do. What he was doing. I read that the culture and cultural norm of forgiving was like three times. Oh, okay. And uh so he was doubling that and adding one.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

And adding one. Thought he was really going far beyond. Yes. I love it. We can learn a lot from Peter.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Yes. Well, I want to ask you this question. How far is too far when it comes to forgiveness?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Well, um, and I'll ask this, I'll ask a question back. Are you talking between us and the Lord or between people?

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Between people. We live in a world full of strife and anger.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

All across social media. You see people typing in comments, uh, just driving down the road, people m not seeing the merge signs. It's hard for me to not uh have anger when somebody cuts me off. And uh in what I'm saying, this question from is in society, yeah, what does society feel like? Um how it's too far to forgive.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Well, I I'm sure in our world today, well, we have examples of it every day. If you don't agree with my politics, I can't forgive you.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

And I read a statistic just the other day. Two out of five families in America, that is two out of five families won't talk to each other. Yeah. Because of political divides, philosophical differences, and all of these things that keep people divided.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

And again, that has no place in the kingdom of God. Yeah. I mean, you really, I mean, we're gonna get into it today, but you can't go to heaven without unforgiveness in a person's heart. It's impossible with God. I mean, and we can read on if you'd like, the Lord said, Therefore, but the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants, and when he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Now that was a huge amount of money. Yeah. It was like you might as well say ten million dollars today. But since he was not able to pay, his master ordered that he be sold with his wife. That's what happened with the culture in those days. It wasn't just bankruptcy like we have today. You sell your wife and your kids and all that he had for payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, and I mean, who wouldn't? Pleading with him, saying, Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. And then the master of that servant was moved with compassion and he released him, and he forgave him the debt. Yeah. Which literally means the man canceled hundreds of millions of dollars of debt to have compassion.

unknown 5:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Because the man begged for compassion.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah, he saw all of the man's humility.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yeah, exactly. But that same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denary that today would be like a hundred ounces of silver.

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Yeah. Which is, you know, not not that much, you know, maybe uh in the scheme the grand scheme of things in the story was much less than what the original servant owed his master.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Exactly. Seven thousand bucks. He laid his hands on him and he took him by the throat saying, Pay me what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down, did the same thing he did, and entreated him, saying, Have patience me with me, and I'll pay you everything. But he would not and he threw him into the prison until he should pay the debt in other words, no time limit, you're going to prison. Now, how can a person in prison work pay a debt? Yeah. He put him into an impossible situation.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

My thing in here in seeing this story is like, this is just my own life. I don't know how I would be able to treat somebody like that after I was just forgiven such a debt.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Of course you couldn't. You have the heart of Christ in you. But yeah, how hard do you have to be? You just beg for compassion. Yeah. Got re you got forgiven $100 million. This guy's begging for $7,000, and you choke him, try to choke him to death and send him to prison. This dude was pretty mean.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Then he said, but he would not threw him in prison until he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what took place, and I want to stop right there and say, whatever we do, people are watching.

SPEAKER_02 7:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

And it's very important, especially as believers, that people see us have mercy.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

And see us have compassion because that'll size you up real quick in somebody's mind. What kind of person is this?

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Yeah. And even as a parent now, my kids are watching. Yeah. They're seeing how I have compassion and forgiveness towards others. Exactly. And even more so in their life, I want them to grow up having the compassion that Jesus requires us to have.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Amen. And they were sorry and went and told they were sorry for this guy. And they went and told their mas the master, the guy who'd forgiven him a hundred million, all that had taken place. Ooh. And then his master, after he had summoned him, said to him, or his employer today, would say, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you? And his master was angry and delivered him to the jailers and under King James says tormentors. He says the tormentors, which is closer, we'll get to that in a minute, until he should pay all his debt. Now, here is something that'll knock your socks off. So also my heavenly father will do to each of you if you from your heart do not forgive your brother his trespasses.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

That's pretty heavy when you think about that.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

And uh you know, son, growing up uh in Christianity, uh, holiness, power, powerful Pentecostal, uh, you know, we were we were taught holiness, we were taught live right, live for God. And so I grew up, and rightfully so, thinking that, man, you know, I've got to live right. And that means, you know, don't cuss, don't drink, don't smoke, don't chew, don't dip, don't cuss, uh cuss. I already said that, don't sleep around, you know, do all the right things. And those are good things to do, but I really never realized how important forgiveness is on in God's eyes. Yeah. And so now I like when I read that verse, I mean it's literally saying that if we don't forgive our brothers and sisters, another passage the Lord says, your heavenly father won't forgive you if you don't forgive me in their trespass passes. But he's literally he's going to turn people over to the tormentors. What is that? That's actually hell. Yeah. This is the worst sin, almost. I mean, if there is a worse sin beyond the sin of unbelief.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Yeah, and they're not on levels, sin is sin.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Sin is sin is sin and sin. But I'm just kind of giving you my perspective. When I grew up, I thought, man, if I don't drink, smoke, cuss, and all that, I've got it down. But and so that really empowers a lot of religious people. And I didn't consider myself religious growing up, but I consider myself I'm a right, just living person. But I didn't realize at times unforgiveness or bitterness would creep in.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Yeah. It changes who you are as a person, how you respond to people, how you respond to situations. Yeah. I feel like forgiveness is one of those things that goes under the radar in the Christian life.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

It does go under the radar. Well, it's almost socially acceptable to hold grudges because man, after all, they did. They they hurt your loved one.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yeah, there's a lot, there's a lot of that going around on social media. I see a lot of people saying, um, if they hurt you or they don't agree with you, cut them off. Cut them off. And then you're living, and then I can see those people as they continue in life um with that bitterness, yeah, it they're living a false sense of joy and happiness, yeah, not realizing that the bitterness that's within their heart, the unforgiveness, yeah, is slowly tearing them down.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

It's destroying them. Yeah. And that's the reason the Lord said things like, Bless those who curse you, bless ho those who despitefully use you.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

And and again, back to my little analogy. I I preach today that this is the this is the big boy sin. This is the this is the worst thing that can happen. I mean, if you want and like you say, sin is sin. We don't categorize it.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

But if you want to really be mature in Christ, yeah, it's this forgiveness thing. Yeah. It's bigger than any other sin. Well, and it's straight to the point. If you don't forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will not forgive you.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yeah, and I just heard this in my spirit. It's like, you know, like if if you're drinking or something like that, yeah, it's mostly something that affects you. Yeah. It can in certain circumstances affect those around you. And it's a good fabulous situations. Uh, I mean, even driving in that situation, you can affect other families in that way. There's a lot of there's a lot of sins that personally affect you.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

And unforgiveness and bitterness is one that is two parties.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

It is.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

And it's directly affecting you and the other person.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

And the other person. And and it is so big with God. I mean, I it didn't really dawn on me my whole life till I've gotten older. This is literally the one thing, other than blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which is another podcast. This is the one thing that will probably keep more people out of heaven and maybe missing the rapture than a lot of other things. Now, any sin can. Yeah. It'll cut you off from God. But I mean it's ex it's again, it's kind of socially acceptable sin that people just well, they they hurt you, you have a right to hold that against them. No. We don't.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Jesus, his whole ministry was on forgiveness. It was. I mean, I I think back to uh I was in the Messiah play not too long ago, and there was a scene um where Jesus drew a line in the sand for the Pharisees not to stone the woman and said, You without sin cast the first stone.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

So many stories like that, so many events that happened in the Bible. Yeah, Jesus is talking about forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Forgiveness.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Because when we get down here later in the podcast, he paid the ultimate price for forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

He did. He absolutely did. It is just it's it's so enormous the impact unforgiveness has on the human heart. Like you said, it begins to change who you are.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Changes that identity again, away from being aligned with Christ, and you're separate. You you have a right, you have a wedge between you and that other person, which creates a wedge between us and God.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Unforgiveness opens the door to anger and strife.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

Anger and strife, and you you just name it. You then you go on down the list of sins.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

But uh, I just I wanted to point that out growing up in a in a a godly home, but we had some religious crust on us, for lack of a better way to say it. And we kind of overlooked holding grudges, but literally, that's the biggest thing with God is forgiveness. It enters every area of the Christian walk, too. Yes, this forgiveness thing. And you know, we're all about getting our prayers answered, aren't we? You know, oh Lord, help me, Jesus. You know, I know you've you've given me this, you promised me this. And one of the greatest scriptures that everybody knows in the word of faith movement, I'm sure, and most Christian circles, Jesus talks about the faith in God, having a faith of a mustard seed that you could literally say to this mountain, Be thou removed, be cast into the sea, shall not doubt in his heart, but believes those things that he said will come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says. And a lot of people stop right there, oh, praise the Lord, and it's great. You know, I'm getting my prayers answered. The very next verse says, And when you stand praying, forgive. Yeah. It is literally attached to us getting our mountain moved, yeah, our prayers answered, because God looks on our heart and goes, Oh, you're holding a grudge against this person. And because he's already, listen, when God says I won't do something, he's God who cannot lie. If he says he won't forgive you or me if we don't forgive someone else, yeah, that blocks everything.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Unforgiveness, I feel like, is the number one thing holding people back from their miracle that they've been praying for.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Absolutely is. I believe it too. And keeping people getting their prayers answered, yeah, keeping their well, even Peter over there talking about marriage, he said, if you want if you want a good marriage, he said that keep your lips from speaking guile to your wife, that your prayers be not hindered.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Yeah, I mean, and I've been married for now 11 years this year. You've been married for a lot longer.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

43.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah, that's a wild and uh we've there's been a lot of things in my marriage I wish that I could have taken back.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Oh, yeah, oh, me and a thousand times too. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:47

I I so wish that I could have held my tongue in those moments.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

And don't we all and that thank God. Yeah, thank God we get to learn. Thank God the Holy Spirit gives us uh overs in some areas. I mean, we can't take it back, but we can sure smooth it over and make up for it in love and kindness.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

Yes, but forgiveness is a lifestyle. It is, it's when you choose to start forgiving, uh, like Jesus has encouraged us to. He said you have to.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Like I said, like I feel like number the number one thing keeping people from their miracle or the next breakthrough is having that unforgiveness in their heart, and the devil deceives them thinking that it's not a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Oh, but it is huge. Yeah. It literally keeps both people in bondage.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Not only if you un if you forgive somebody, not only does it release you, it releases them. Yes. You know, and and to show them forgiveness, I've seen people's lives completely changed by somebody being uh forgiving to them.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

You know, we've heard stories of you know, estranged kids and they father left when they were young and and they they for chose to forgive their their father.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

We were at Act 64 conference years ago, and this this uh great man of God was telling how he literally had to forgive his dad for being amusive and you know terribly mean when he's but the moment he forgived his he forgave his dad, you know, it changed everything in his own life.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Yes. I had that written down through forgiveness there comes a release. Yes, and then God's peace and his presence comes in.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

It does, it does. Because the Lord won't he forgives us, so he's not going to saturate any place with his presence where there's bitterness and unforgiveness. It's division and strife, and there's none of that in God.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Hello, everyone, and I want to thank you for tuning in to us here on the Wellspring Podcast. The Wellspring is an extension ministry of my home church, Praise Center Ministries in Sepulpa, Oklahoma, in which my dad is the lead pastor. And I'm just so excited that we can bring to fruition this ministry that the Holy Spirit pressed upon my dad's heart to start, that this podcast can be a place where you find information about what you're reading in the Bible, where we can answer your questions that you have about the Bible, and where we can just allow the Holy Spirit to minister through us to you. Once again, I want to thank you for tuning in. And I pray that this podcast has been a blessing to your life. And I want to remind you, if you love the content that you're watching and want to hear more, be sure to like this video and subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified anytime we release any more content. And if you have any questions about the Bible, feel free to comment on the video below and we will read those comments and hopefully we can do a podcast about that in the future. Now let's get back to the video. I have this down. Forgiveness is not uh saying that what they did to you was okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

That I'm glad you brought that point up. I had thought of thoughts of it a while ago. We are not, and don't want anyone to think because forgiveness is so big, it takes in rape, murder, abuse, slander.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

I mean the worst of things that happen to people. So, yes, be assured, we are not minimizing what those people did to you.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

It's not saying that the sin is okay, you never ignoring the accountability that the person needs to accept for doing those things.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

And God doesn't minimize it either because he says, Yeah, I will have vengeance is mine. Yeah. And I will repay.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

And I know this is pretty heavy, but and forgiveness is not an okay to stay in a situation of abuse or harm. It's like I forgive you. I'm gonna stay. Never. God will God will see your heart of forgiveness and find you a way out.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Yes, he will. Yes, he will. As a pastor, I've counseled many ladies in abusive relationships. And I always tell them, you know, yes, you have to forgive, but you don't have to stay there and be a punching bag either.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

You know.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yep. It's releasing the debt, not excusing the offense.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Not excusing the action. That's great. Say that again.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

It's forgiveness is releasing the debt and not excusing the offense.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Absolutely. Well, God Himself doesn't excuse it.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

No.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

And I've I finally the Holy Spirit showed me why God is the supreme judge.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

He sees the thoughts of everybody's heart. He sees why people do things. Yeah. You know, like hurting people hurt others.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Because they've been hurt. Think about what think about what a kid goes through who's beaten up by his dad when he's eight years old.

SPEAKER_02 23:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Think about. And so it's horrible. We don't we weren't there. We don't see when that kid grows up and he robs a bank and beats people up.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

It doesn't m make that right. It's horrible. No. But we can't see. And this is why God is the only one who is uh uh what's the word I'm looking for? He's the only one qualified to uh bring vengeance because he sees the motive of the heart.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

Where we only see pieces of information, and so that's why the Lord is the final judge. And he will repay if it's not repented of.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

But he's the only one who can say, so between humans, we have to leave that all with God.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

And that's why he tells us, vengeance is mine. That's right. Don't take vengeance into your own hands, because I'm the only one who can give a completely righteous, just, and fair retribution based on what that person went through.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Yes, and saith the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Yeah. Uh going back to our passage in Matthew, Peter asked, Where is the line? Where do we where do we stop forgiving? And Jesus responded in this condensed version, there is no line.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Yeah. That's what he was saying.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

You don't keep track, you just keep forgiving.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

You just keep forgiving. You just keep forgiving. And if there's true repentance, of course. And you know, uh, we have to forgive anyway, even if there, even if there is not true repentance, we have to forgive because we can't hold unforgiveness in our heart to anybody. It will hurt us. It closes the doors in our life. It closes the doors. Now, again, as you said, you don't stand there and let people continue to hurt you. Yeah. There are people, and it's okay to keep certain people at arm's length.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Because, as you well know, there are people who are habitual uh thieves, they're habitual uh users, manipulators.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

I've seen teenage kids addicted to drugs will manipulate their parents. Oh, I'm doing better. I'm I'm so sorry, you know, and then they'll come and steal them blind.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:29

You know, after their parents forgive them.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

So you can guard yourself, but you do have to guard, but not cut.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

That's that's what I've seen in culture is they're they're taking a higher form of guarding yourself against somebody, yeah, and just immediately saying, I'm cutting you off completely. No communication, don't ever talk to me again.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

And really what God calls us to do is forgive them. Yeah. And maybe not talk to them every day, but um, just forgive them and pray for them in hopes that what forgiveness does is it gives you the hope that that relationship will be back together. Which is God's will. And what cutting off does is not ever wanting the relationship to be there ever again.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Exactly. Uh what if God cut us off after the eight hundredth time?

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So why is forgiveness so hard?

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Well, because the human heart wants to be the victim.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

There's something in our sin nature about being the victim, and that we have to crucify that nature with Christ because we are victorious in Christ. And so holding on to that it pets me. It it's it lets me be the victim. And, you know, it is hard. Now, you know, here it's easy for me to sit here and say these things, you know, I've never been physically abused, yeah, I've never been kidnapped, or any of those horrible things that some people have experienced. So only God, son, is gonna be able to give that person the ability to see through the eyes of Christ.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Yeah, it's not something that we can do on our own.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

It is not, it has to be done by faith and obedience. It's really an obedience to God.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

I'm not ever gonna subject myself to that person again, but I'm gonna leave it with the Lord. I'm gonna forgive them. Yeah, and what happens to them is between them and the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Yeah, and um I like this. I saw it. Bitterness keeps the wound alive.

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Oh, it does.

SPEAKER_01 27:45

As long as you're holding on to the unforgiveness, it keeps that wound open.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

And what God wants to do is He's waiting, He's sitting there waiting for you to forgive so that he can dress the wound and bring healing.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

And if you don't allow that forgiveness to come from your heart, Satan uses that bitterness in your heart to keep the wound open so he can keep poking at it.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Yes, he does. And keep entering and corrupting the wound and making it worse, bringing other stuff with it. Yeah. It just goes from bad to worse.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

As humans, we want justice.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

We do. But here again, that's a sin of unbelief.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

To not believe that God is capable of bringing justice, and that's what we as believers have to do. We have to say, you know what, God, this did happen. But you're big enough to see what went on and to bring correct justice. And he does.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

And he will. And of course, the Lord says, I I prefer mercy.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

The Lord delights in showing mercy, and so should we.

SPEAKER_01 28:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Because being like the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 28:56

A lot of times I see that pride and forgiveness go hand in hand.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Oh, they they always want you to respond to that. Yeah, pride and unforgiveness. Yes, going hand in hand. Well, yeah, that's that, that's that. I was hurt. And and here's here's unfortunately what happens to a lot of women. Um, they are truly abused. Yes. They have been uh, you know, I use rape, they've they've they've been abused, mentally abused. Absolutely terrible. And so when that happens, what they tend to do is what you know the human nature will. Bless God, nobody is ever going to get close to me and hurt me ever again.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

So they put this wall up to where they really can't be loved by a future husband, they really can't be you you have to be vulnerable to love somebody.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

So really unforgiveness cuts you off from being able to be loved.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Because again, you have to be vulnerable. If somebody can't hurt you, they can't really love you.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Yeah. I find that in marriage, if you're yeah, if you don't have that vulnerability, you can't truly love each other.

SPEAKER_00 30:03

We were naked before each other in the garden.

SPEAKER_01 30:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

It's complete vulnerability. But again, so that's that's why it takes the spirit of God to crack through that shell. And and first you've got to love God enough to trust him.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

To forgive you and see things correctly, which he does, and then take care of that other person.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Yeah. And just as we talked about um, we already mentioned it once, but the enemy uses unforgiveness as a stronghold in our lives, just as he uses alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, right, any addiction, he makes it a stronghold in our life that I see so many people, and even in my life at times, whenever I've had unforgiveness, I was wondering why I was in such a dry spell, I couldn't write music. I was wondering why things were happening that I I prayed God, I prayed and asked God to do in my life. I was wondering why I couldn't get past it. But the enemy keeps unforgiveness in your heart as a stronghold and keeps you from ever reaching the joy and the peace that God has for you and releasing or helping you re reach the potential that God has in his plan for your life.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Yeah, it absolutely will hold you back from ever reaching what God wants you to do. And that's the that's the main tool of the enemy. That's the main trick.

SPEAKER_02 31:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

To keep that hurt ever before you to where you can't move forward.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

And so, yeah, it's so it's so imperative. Again, to me, unforgiveness is the big sin.

SPEAKER_02 31:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

It's the worst because it stops everything for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Concerned.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

I mean, I I asked this generation, um, what is missing in this culture? What is the number one thing that I see across social media that causes so much anger and strife? What is missing? And that is forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Forgiveness. That's right. And agreeing to disagree, loving you, valuing you apart from your opinion, because hey, we've all bought a bill of goods at one point, and we've all believed certain things that were wrong at some point.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

And got we're all a work in progress.

SPEAKER_02 32:22

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

And so we have to let we just have to leave that with the Lord. And one other thing you asked, why is it so hard to forgive people? It it's because that nature has to be put down. And so what I could say this, what should a person do that's been truly badly wounded? How do they start moving into for forgiveness? The first thing you do is you say, God, please help me see that person through the eyes of Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Because again, he's the one who sees what made that person act out like they did to har to harm you. So asking, I think that would be the first thing a person should pray that's having to enter and having to forgive a terrible thing. God let me see them through your eyes, and then to remember Jesus died for them too. Yes. God wants nobody to be tormented in hell forever. So, yeah, they hurt me, but I don't want them to go to hell.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 33:31

I want God to be able to save them and forgive them because I want to go to heaven.

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Because we've been forgiven.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Because we have been forgiven.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

We forgive because we've been forgiven. That's right. Which is uh my next point here in uh the book of Psalms, chapter 51. Yeah, David. Can we go there real quick? This is in the point of David's life, right after he took uh Bathsheba, yeah, committed adultery, committed adultery, and had her husband put to the front of the line, which was pretty much inducing murder. Straight up murder. Straight up murder. In those days, if you were at the front, you were the first to fall. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

And uh Boy not only did he have him put him up to the front, he had the others pull back from him.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

Yes, he did. Yes, he did. The other soldiers so leave him out there by himself. It was a direct order for Bathsheba's husband to be murdered. Oh man. And then we find David, after being anointed by God and God spirit being with him in all of these moments, then he realizes what he has done.

SPEAKER_00 34:37

Yeah, he does.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

He realizes that he needs to be forgiven.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

That, son, you hit the biggest key in this whole thing. Everyone has to realize they need forgiveness.

SPEAKER_02 34:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

And because each of us need to be forgiven, we have to look across the board there and say, Well, they need to be forgiven too.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

And that's where our mindset shifts from pride to humility.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

That's exactly right. And selfishness, see, yeah, really, unforgiveness is a form of selfishness.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:12

Because it's all about me. And you forget, no, that uh that's a soul too. You know? Yeah. Again, we don't minimize what that person's done to you. We don't. It's wrong, it's demonic in many cases. Yes. But it has to be forgiven if we want Jesus to forgive us. So, yeah, David said, and oh, here's a great place to start. Have mercy on me, oh God. Yes. According to your loving kindness. I love that. You know, if it's again, it's a matter of the heart. It is. God will run to anybody who just will humble themselves and ask for his mercy. You know? Yes. He loves people so much.

SPEAKER_01 35:57

Have mercy on me according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, great compassion. Blot out my transgressions.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse means from my sin.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

There's point number two. You have to admit you did wrong.

SPEAKER_01 36:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

A lot of people, pride, pride keeps people from admitting they did it. Just go ahead. If you want freedom from sin, just go ahead and own it. It's your sin.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

You did it as an act of your will. But just fall down and do what David did. Lord, forgive me. Cleanse me.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

According to your loving kindness.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

Yes. And continue on three, for I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me against you, and you only have I sinned and have done what is evil in your sight.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:46

You are the right, you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:52

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me, yet you desire faithfulness even in the womb. Yeah. You taught me wisdom in that secret place. You cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

SPEAKER_02 37:08

Right.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. And this right here, my favorite part of this whole verse, is where he comes down and his heart is open fully. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast from me your presence. Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me, but restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Man, that's powerful.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

I love the strength in this verse.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:52

How he realizes that everything he's done is so unclean and that he's in such desperate need of forgiveness. Yeah. Because in that state of needing to be forgiven, he's just he's taken back by all of the sinful things that he's done.

SPEAKER_00 38:11

It surprised him, really.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Yeah. And in this moment, he can't feel God's presence.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

Yeah. Oh, and there's the big one. If you really love God, you won't want to live without his presence. Yes. And that's really an indicator of a person's true, true person's heart, a measure of a person's heart is do you cherish the presence of God? Yeah. And if you're truly born again, you feel this fill the Holy Spirit, David's had it on him in the Old Testament, but he said, he knew the Holy Spirit so well he said, Please don't take your Holy Spirit from me.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

Because he knew it was the Holy Spirit helping kill Goliath. He knew it was the Holy Spirit that encouraged him when he was down.

SPEAKER_01 38:57

Yeah, when he and the mighty men went and destroyed all of the other um giants and Amalachites and that was with God's Spirit.

SPEAKER_00 39:06

With God's Spirit.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:12

And that's one way you'll know you're ripe for forgiveness because if the presence of God means that much to you, you're a candidate for immediate forgiveness if you repent.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

Yes, his cry in this verse, and the reason that I wanted to look at this one specifically is we all need mercy.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

We all need mercy, son. That's that's what really keeps people from going where they want to with God, because if there's any bit of a righteous judgmental spirit left in you when you see others fall, then you know pride goes before a fall.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

You'll you'll know, you'll know where you are. And it took me a long time, I'm we I confess, to really get to the point where when I hear about somebody else falling, I wouldn't say, Well, that's their bed, they made it, they'll have to lay in it.

SPEAKER_03 40:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:11

Man, when I fell a few times, you know what I found out? All I can think of now is when I hear somebody fall, is oh, they need the mercy of God.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

I need the mercy there, but for the grace of God, there go I again. I need God's mercy. And so when you realize how badly each of us, our righteousness is as filthy rags. How how completely unholy we are without Christ and his cleansing. That we're nothing. You have to realize that you and I are nothing without his cleansing blood. We're just like everybody else.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:46

But that'll that'll educate us to see how bad people need mercy when we know how bad we need it.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Yeah, I mean, I know this is not on compassion, but compassion goes hand in hand with forgiveness. Oh, yeah. And we have no compassion in society these days.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01 41:02

I was going, uh, I was up in Ufala this weekend for the gold conference, and uh, me and Keaton were in the truck, and we went in to go get some energy drinks before the service. That's shame on you. And uh uh we went in and uh we were talking about there was a guy behind the counter, how he just seemed really mean.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

And like no matter what anybody said to him, he just had a hard exterior in conversation.

SPEAKER_03 41:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 41:32

And uh he was telling me, he was like, Well, I went to buy some burritos, and he was he was upset, and I was telling Keaton, I was like, Well, you have to think with this world being in the place that it is, with so much strife and anger, and yeah uh feeling like you deserve this or you deserve what you get and no compassion. Right. He sees people our age come in every single day with a bad attitude.

SPEAKER_00 42:01

Yeah, an entitlement attitude.

SPEAKER_01 42:04

Yes, and so when he's it's gotten so bad, I feel like he just immediately sees somebody in this age group and responds in that way.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 42:13

And um I feel like in those moments we have the light of Jesus inside of us.

SPEAKER_00 42:20

True.

SPEAKER_01 42:21

And in those moments, we can no matter what is said or how he responds, we can respond out of love and compassion. That's true. And that could be what opens his eyes to wow, not every person in this generation is this way.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

That's true. You know, a long time ago I learned I learned by the help of the Holy Spirit, and somebody, like you say, cut me off in traffic or hateful at the counter. Yeah. I've had the Holy Spirit say to me, and it was not something I was supposed to divulge, but I've heard the Holy Spirit say, uh, you know what, their spouse just told them they're leaving today. What if set what if that person just got told you're you're the one the love of your life has left you today, and yet they're there at work. They have to stay at work, yeah. And they've got some of the worst news ever. That may be why they respond that way.

SPEAKER_02 43:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

Maybe they just lost their home. Maybe they're maybe their kid just told them I'll never talking to you again. Yeah. I mean, we have to think about why. What how are they hurting? You know, and that's just trying we to be like Jesus. That's just trying to be like Jesus is what we've got to do and give mercy and grace first.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:39

Because man, we all have needed it.

SPEAKER_01 43:42

Yes. And in closing on this podcast, I wanted to talk about the ultimate act of forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 43:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

Forgiveness comes from humility and love. And Jesus went through more than we could ever imagine on his way to the cross, out of his love for us. He still chose forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 44:05

His beard ripped out.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Nobody ever can imagine the pain he went through.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

How unimaginable. It was only I mean, if you look in the studies that they've done on the blood from the Shroud of Tyran, it's it's only God's mercy that Jesus was not dead before he went to the cross. But he kept on going in order to show it's not a limit to forgiveness. It's limitless. And he kept on going forward. He took the stripes on his back. He took the nails in his hands. And on the cross, he looked down at those that yelled and screamed at him.

SPEAKER_00 44:52

And he was perfectly innocent.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Yes. Nobody'd ever done anything. And on the cross, he looked down at those that despised him for no reason. Yes. Screamed at him, beat him, spit on him. And said, I forgive you.

SPEAKER_00 45:06

Yeah. What amazing love. What amazing grace. It's it's indescribable. There really are no words if you look at the cross and what people, what he did for us, what people did to him. It's it's there's no words. There's no words.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

Through the most unimaginable hurt and pain that any person could ever go through, he chose to forgive.

SPEAKER_00 45:32

And on top of that, the physical pain, he was betrayed by every single person he loved.

SPEAKER_02 45:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:42

He was completely betrayed, left alone, so that he could take he's so he could be the high priest that feels our pain in every area of our lives. Yeah. It's unthinkable what the Lord went through us. And how can we look at that and what he forgave and not forgive other people?

SPEAKER_02 46:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:06

It's uh we got to go there. We gotta love them.

SPEAKER_02 46:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Like Jesus loved them. Yeah. So praise God.

SPEAKER_01 46:14

Well, in closing this today, I want to ask you, who do you need to forgive today?

unknown 46:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Who is God putting on your heart right now? I feel the Holy Spirit in this podcast studio. Yes, and I feel the Holy Spirit wherever you're at speaking to you right now, who do you need to forgive? What unforgiveness is in your heart right now that is closing the doors for God's perfect plan for your life, for the joy that you've been praying for, for the peace that you've been asking God for. What unforgiveness are you holding on to that you need to release? Because out of your release in forgiving this person, you're going to experience joy to the fullest. You're going to experience a love of Jesus that you have never encountered.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Yes, it's true.

SPEAKER_01 47:05

And so today, Dad, I would ask you to pray for our listeners today. Pray that they feel the forgiveness of Jesus in their own life and feel that the love of Jesus just overwhelms them and urges them towards forgiveness.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

I want to remind you, it's unthinkable what he was going through on the cross, but he was thinking of you. Just like the old song says, when he was on the cross, you were on his mind. He had you in mind and he loved you that much. And if he can love you that much, he can do a work in your own heart and life. You just have to let him. I don't know what's been done to you, but God does. And I don't know who you need to forgive, but God does. And if you'll just trust in the love of Christ for you, it will release you from what's holding you and binding you. So, Father, I just pray for my dear brothers and sisters today. I pray in the name of Jesus that they would feel what we're feeling right here, right now. The kindness, the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remind them, Lord, you can heal every single hurt and every single pain. You can do something about it, something beyond their mind, something supernatural can happen in their being because of the love of Jesus Christ. And I pray they feel your presence. I pray, Lord, that you help them to forgive. And they can do it if they'll ask you to help them. Be with them right now. Touch them where they are. Bring people to remembrance that they need to forgive. And give them the grace to release those things by faith in Jesus' name. And let the love of Christ just heal every hurt and every pain right now, Lord. You're big enough to do it. And we thank you for it this very moment in Jesus' name. We pray. Amen. Amen. We love you. Amen. We thank God you listen today. Yes. We know that as you forgive, completely new life, completely new level of loving and serving Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

And we thank you for joining into the Wellspring podcast today. And I pray that this message has brought the love of Jesus into your life. And that as you experience forgiving others, that Jesus brings freedom into your life today. Once again, I want to thank you for tuning into this podcast. I pray that this topic has been a blessing to you and maybe opened your eyes to see the walk of the Christian life in a new way. I pray that God brings freedom and breakthrough in your life and that you continue to live a life in love with Jesus. Also, I wanted to give you the opportunity, if you would like to sew into this ministry, there will be a link in the description. And if you click that link, it will take you to our church giving page. And if you click the drop down, you can click Wellspring Podcast and give there. Once again, thank you for tuning into this podcast. And I pray that it has been a blessing to you. I pray peace in your life and blessing in your life, and that each day you continue to walk in the love of Jesus.