[Faith-talk] FW: [thefamilyoffaith] Unforgiveness is a Negative Witness - Dr. Larry Ollison

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: "thefamilyoffaith" <TheFamilyofFaith at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <thefamilyoffaith at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [thefamilyoffaith] Unforgiveness is a Negative Witness - Dr.
Larry Ollison
Date: 
Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:49:00 -0500



Unforgiveness is a Negative Witness  
by Dr. Larry Ollison 

Why is it that the devil is attacking so much in offenses and in the area
of unforgiveness? In (John 10:10) it says "the thief comes to steal, kill
and destroy. Jesus came to give us abundant life."

If the devil wants to kill, what does he want to kill? He wants to kill
us, but specifically he wants to kill the work of God, steal the work of
God, and destroy the work of God in your life. He wants to get at God
through the body of Jesus that is here on this earth. He wants to destroy
the ministry of Jesus Christ. His goal is to get you tied up in
unforgiveness and in offense so you will be weak and without joy. (Nehemiah
8:10.)

What do you do? You decide you are going to let the offense go. Who
decides if you are going to let it go? Who decides if you are going to
forgive? You do! The person who has been offended and hurt has to make the
decision.

Paul said, "forgetting what lies behind I press on." God forgives and
forgets and we must be like God. We have to choose to forget. Forgetting
does not mean that you don't remember. You still remember, but the surge of
anger that you normally would feel when you remember isn't there. You
remember it only as an historical event. You don't remember it with the
pain.
When we start seeing people the way God sees people, we are not going to
be offended and we are not going to be unforgiving toward things they do
and say.

You can choose what you think about. The battle of faith takes place in
the mind and the devil is the king of guilt. He'll try to make you remember
your past. Is it your past that keeps you from going forward, or is it your
present attitude about your past that keeps you from going forward?

Unforgiveness will affect your sanity. Have you ever been around somebody
that won't let go of unforgiveness? The Bible says to think on certain
things, which means you can control what you think. It's a lie to say, "I
can't help what I think."
Unforgiveness will make you open bait for the devil. You've got to
realize that the devil is trying to pull you into a trap - everyday. The
easiest trap he has is offenses and unforgiveness. Once he gets you in
there, you are trapped. 

You may be trying to go on with your ministry. You may be trying to
witness to a person you are working with. I know of a man who has been
trying to witness to a co-worker for years. I'll be honest with you. He
will never witness to him and get him saved in his current condition. Why
is that? Because in his current condition he is offended and he has
unforgiveness and it just pours out of him. While that unforgiveness is
pouring out of him, he's trying to witness to his co-worker. Witnessing is
taking place, only it's a negative witness instead of a positive one. The
co-worker is probably thinking to himself, "If that guy is a Christian, I
don't want what he has. He's a mess. He's mental." The world calls this
being a hypocrite.

(2Timothy 2:25-26) talks about how we come to the truth. We hear the
truth, we come to our senses and we escape the snare of the devil. The
devil hopes you won't be smart enough to forgive. The devil wants you to be
stupid when it comes to forgiveness. But forgiveness is the key to being
set free. Forgiveness is possible in every situation. Forgiveness is a
choice. That choice is totally ours.