Faith to Forgive Someone Who Hurt you Part 2 : Speak to It

Scripture Reference: Luke 17:1-10; Matthew 18:21-35

The answer Jesus gave shows us that forgiveness is released through faith but not in the sense that the disciples thought. They believed that it would require so much faith to forgive a person seven times in one day, but Jesus shows them that the little faith they have is enough to uproot unforgiveness from their hearts.

In Luke 17:6, Jesus used the example of a mulberry tree also known as a sycamore or sycamine tree. This tree has very large roots that run deep and are intertwined with each other and can symbolize unforgiveness in this instance.

There are some offenses and hurts that go deeper than anyone can imagine or think. If not dealt with, they can cause lifelong hurts that end up affecting our relationship with the person who hurts, creating insecurities, ruining future relationships, creating bitterness and leaving us broken. Just that single seed of unforgiven offense grows into this tree with deep roots that end up bearing all these nasty fruits in our lives and casting a shadow on us that can change us forever.

Jesus lets us know that with the little faith that we have, we can SPEAK to the tree of unforgiveness for it to be uprooted. Not chopped down or cutting off the branches. In other words, not just dealing with the offense on the surface. Faith can dig it up by the root where it all begun. You can literally speak it out of your life.

When something is uprooted, it leaves a hole or a void that can now be mended and planted with good seeds of love and peace that bring healing.

I had a personal experience with this after the loss of a childhood friend. I had never experienced a death that hit me so hard before. This was a different type of pain that I didn’t know existed. In the midst of my tears, the one person who could possibly comfort me at that point made a statement that pierced like a knife in my already broken heart.

I had made up my mind not to hold a grudge, but I struggled with forgiving the person. That was only the first step. I was heartbroken but at the same time experiencing the love of God and the comfort of the Holy Spirit in parts of my soul that I didn’t even know existed. I’m convinced to this day that only God who created us knows that part of us because it was so deep within me.

Holding on to that offense started hindering the flow of God’s love that I was experiencing but the person’s words kept repeating in my head like a record. I was mourning my friend and fighting unforgiveness. It was overwhelming so I just told the Holy Spirit “Lord, I am hurting. I never expected this person to hurt me and especially not at a time like this. I know I have to forgive him, and I WANT to but at this point, I don’t know how to. Only you can help me”. For days, I fought this battle of not letting unforgiveness take root.

See, I am one of those people, when I am mad at you, I don’t know how to hide it. I tell people that my face has its own mind and personality because it rats me out. I just don’t know how to hide my emotions. The enemy doesn’t hesitate to feed on this negativity either. He will open up a whole file in your mind about every bad thing that person ever did to you.

So, you have a record playing in your mind of the offense, on top of every other bad thing they ever did, and this just builds up into anger. In my tears, I kept asking the Holy Spirit to please help me to forgive because I really did want to, but I just couldn’t. I was hurting for days.

It was at church the following Sunday while I was trying to worship and fighting the same battle in my mind that I prayed that prayer for the last time. I was emotionally exhausted, and I told the Lord just that.

My lips muttered the worship song playing; tears flowed down my face but not because I was lost in worship. In my heart, I was still engaged in the battle of unforgiveness trying to take root and my heart not wanting to let it but at the same time hurting too much. I told the Holy Spirit to please help me one last time.

Then I heard the still small voice of the Holy Spirit remind me that the person was human and makes mistakes JUST LIKE I DO. His intention was not to hurt me. It was such a simple statement but when I heard it, I felt something being pulled out of my heart. It felt like something had attached itself. Imagine pulling off duct tape that had been firmly press on your body. That’s what it felt like in my heart and I felt a sudden release.

My heart just felt lighter and that love that had been flowing through me at first as I mourned my friend started flowing again. That was it. I wasn’t angry anymore, but I was reminded of Jesus telling His disciples that the mulberry tree can be uprooted with faith the size of a mustard seed.

I refused to let that seed of unforgiveness become bitterness. It had stuck on me for a few days, but I actively fought it. The funny thing is, the person never knew any of this was happening. It was all an internal battle that I would not have won if I hadn’t put my faith in the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know about you, but I never thought of forgiveness as something I could “speak to”. We don’t always have the strength to forgive certain offenses on our own but by faith all things are possible (Mark 9:23). We just have to be willing to let it go and ask the Holy Spirit to help us. We may not have the strength but in Christ through faith, we can forgive all things.

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