The Madness of Unforgiveness: What is Forgiveness?

by David Chadwick

What is forgiveness? Well, if we look at the dictionary definition from Merriam Webster, it means “to cease to feel resentment against an offender.”

Biblically, forgiveness releases someone of the debt once owed. It’s a significant display of love, ultimately mirroring what was displayed to us by Jesus.

Forgiveness is extraordinarily powerful and, like grace, sets apart the Christian faith from all the other world religions.

On a practical level, if bitterness can be described as “drinking poison and expecting the person who hurt you to die,” then forgiveness is the release of that bitterness. A complete relinquishment of the debt owed to you by someone. Forgiveness doesn’t hold onto a record of past wrongs done to you (1 Corinthians 13:5).

Forgiveness replaces bitterness with a love for your enemy that allows you to pray for those who have hurt you (Matthew 5:44). It places a desire for God’s mercy and grace to wash over the pain that you’ve experienced.

When forgiveness becomes real to you, you will become fully aware of what someone has done to you, yet you still choose to forgive. To let the other person or people go. There is no repression or denial because if you deny your pain, forgiveness can’t really take place. You must know that what happened to you really happened. But you release them. Not wishing for them to suffer like you have suffered. And cancelling the debt of the way they have hurt you.

Forgiveness hands over the offender and the offenses to Almighty God. This release becomes a wonderful display of just how much you trust in Jesus. After all, he certainly forgave all of us!

Hidden Insights into God’s Word: Cornelius the Gentile

by David Chadwick

Today is our fifth and final hidden insight into God’s Word. Acts 10 recounts the story of a man named Cornelius. In his story, you will find a very special hidden insight into God’s Word.

While not often referenced as a commonly known key biblical figure, Cornelius might be one of the most important biblical characters in Scripture.

Cornelius was a Gentile - a Roman centurion and devout follower of the Jewish God. When Peter was struggling with whether the gospel was for Gentiles, or only for Jews, he visited Cornelius.

Think about the significance of this for a moment. Peter must have trusted Cornelius so much to be willing to enter into such a tender and necessary discussion at that time.

On Cornelius’s rooftop, Peter received a vision. Previously thought of as unclean food, the vision showed Peter he could now break kosher laws! At that moment, he clearly knew that the gospel was both for Jews and Gentiles.

This was the first time that the church officially opened its doors to Gentiles, marking a pivotal moment and a marking time in the church’s life and history.

Here’s the insight. Because Cornelius opened his home to Peter, and was a safe place for Peter to process with, Peter was able to hear from the Lord and receive a vision to open the doors for all Gentiles for all times to receive the gospel of Jesus.

Maybe you, too, will choose to open your door one day for someone that will end up leading to the salvation of many others. There is no greater joy than to play a role in leading others into a relationship with Jesus Christ!

Cornelius is evidence of that truth for us all.

Hidden Insights Into God’s Word: The Book of Wars

by David Chadwick

How many of you have ever played a game of hide and seek? It is one of the most commonly played childhood games. There’s something exhilarating about little kids counting to twenty and then searching around to find their hiding friends.

I believe that God, the Creator of the universe, knows the beauty and wonder of childlike faith and appreciates hiding things for us to search out.

Numbers 21:14 says, “Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord, ‘Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon…’” This verse is where you will find today’s hidden insight.

Book of the Wars? What is that, you might ask? Evidently, it was an extra biblical book written by various different Jewish authors. The way it is mentioned in Numbers 21 seems to suggest that it was a rather well known book among the Jewish people.

Apparently, it was a book that described Israel’s many victories over enemies and how the Lord repeatedly rescued his people from their adversaries. They most assuredly took account of these testimonies to be able to read them again and again.

Perhaps all of us should write a book that lists out God’s victories in our lives. We can then go back and read it repeatedly to remind us of God’s victorious power in the past. And if God did it once, he can do it again!

Revelation 12:11 says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives unto death.” Testimony is one of the best ways to keep moving forward in faith in the midst of a broken world. For if God did it once, he can do it again.

Seeing that there were other books outside of what we know to be God’s Word also speaks to the miracle that there were 66 books that were preserved by the Holy Spirit to make it into the canon of Scripture!

Now you know how to answer someone if you are ever asked about the Book of Wars that is mentioned in the Bible. That book did not last. It was not preserved, but God’s Word is.

Another hidden insight for you!