I’m amazed by how unmerciful the Christian body is today. Forgiveness is the hallmark of Jesus, yet so many of us are unwilling to extend it. Why? We serve such a merciful father in Heaven, who dries our eyes and wipes our slates clean when we accept His son and seek Him often with remorse. We can commit any sin in the world and be forgiven when we confess, repent, and make an effort to change. Aren’t we instructed to forgive (ah, yeah…as many as 70 times 7…Matt 18:21-35)? Too many times to count. How often do we mess up? Too often to count (we are sinners by our fleshy nature). How often will we continue to mess up until we come face to face with those pearly gates? Too much. Will our track records (proficiency, works of the flesh) count at those gates? Nope. But our repentant hearts will. The great thing about our Lord is that He rewards on good faith and effort alone.

Coming to Jesus isn’t all that hard because our burdens are too heavy for our shoulders and His yoke is so, so easy (Matt 11:28-30). Any sin, friends. He’s offering you total forgiveness if you’ll avail yourself of Him.

If the Lord is willing to overlook the wrongs we commit during our lives, then we should be willing to offer the same to His children, our brothers and sisters in Him. It won’t be easy, but we should keep trying until forgiveness becomes second nature. If it takes all your life, that’s okay. We’re all in this spiritual journey together.

Why is He so willing to see past our errors? I’m not privy all the mysterious ways of our Father, but I do know that one reason is because we wrestle against unseen powers of darkness (those demons and negative spirits…Eph 6:12). He knows that when these forces come against us (whether you believe in them or not….they’re still there), we become vulnerable. We can feel out of sorts. How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t know what possessed me to do it. I was out of my mind. I don’t feel like myself. I don’t know what came over me.”

I walk in the mercy gifting (Romans 12:6-8), so I have a heart for many things that most people don’t understand. People think I’m nuts for some of the things that I am able to extend grace. I’ve been that way a long time, even before I reconnected with Jesus. But the Lord has really grown my heart by leaps and bounds over the years. I still struggle with forgiveness at times. I especially find it hard to extend grace when loved ones hurt without provocation. The enemy likes to use some of my friends and family to pass judgment, envy, and mistreat. Can anyone relate?

There was a high-profile homicide a couple decades ago where a mother of four (of course, the press played up the fact she was Christian so they could cast it in a negative light) took the lives of her children (in a bathtub). The country was outraged, rightfully so. Parents everywhere mourned the loss of those innocent souls. They wanted justice served and severe punishment inflicted. Don’t ask me why, but I felt sorry for the mother. Mind you, I was in my mid-twenties at the time, enjoying socialite life, and consumed by all that this flesh-filled world offered. I had no aspirations for marriage or children. I was saved but didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. I really couldn’t relate to what the mother was going through, but I had compassion and hoped that she would seek help.
Clearly, this woman had severe mental health imbalances that weren’t properly managed. So there’s the physical explanation. She was a stay-at-home mom with several kids. While motherhood is a blessing, it is also hard. Her circumstances may have been too stressful to manage while her husband worked all day. We also don’t know what other factors may have been at play. But there was another huge factor that went unnoticed by many…

Never underestimate the spiritual powers of good and evil around you. They are there whether you like it or not. No one in their right mind (however chemically imbalanced) would want to inflict such harm on another. There was something else at play that frightful morning for the mother and her four children. It was demonic (spirit of psychosis, death, among others).

We have got to start thinking outside the box, because we don’t just live in a house with four sides. We live in the supernatural realm, and the sooner we realize it, the more powerful we become as Christians (because He gives us great authority to prevail against the enemy’s wiles).

I remember when a famous comedic sitcom star from the 80s got sent to prison a few years back for allegedly assaulting women. His show recently returned on air after he got out of prison. I enjoy watching this popular show. It celebrated the black community by depicting two white-collar, affluent, adoring parents who were all about wholesome family values. I haven’t watched it in thirty years, but I love catching up on reruns. He was the up and coming television dad favorite. We all loved him.

But look at what the enemy was doing behind the scenes at the time. God was using this man to do a good thing for the world at large while the enemy was wreaking havoc with the man’s personal life. The spirits of lust and power tempted him beyond measure. To some extent, he caved.

I hope that the mother and tv dad sought the Lord for forgiveness and inner healing somewhere along the way. Because both were there for the taking, and I know that Jesus wanted to forgive and heal them, just as he does for all of us.

I hope that you will start asking the Lord in prayer to show you truth in all circumstances. To enable you to forgive in all ways. To judge less. And to see what’s really out there lurking beneath the surface and behind the shadows.

Above all, to have a heart full of mercy, just like Jesus’.