Page 147 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8
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Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology
Jesus’ command is clear: • Acknowledge that Jesus understands becau-
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall se He faced a similar situation as a human
love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 being.
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless tho- • Give the hurt to Him to dispense of as He
se who curse you, do good to those who hate sees fit (not by judging the other person).
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you
and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of Please note that there is no doubt about the
your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun realness of the hurt and wrongness of the
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends action and person(s) that caused it.
rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if • Now you can forgive the other persons (wh-
you love those who love you, what reward ether they know it or not).
have you? Do not even the tax collectors do • Start praying for them.
the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren • Start asking for the Lord’s blessing, peace &
only, what do you do more than others? Do love on them.
not even the tax collectors do so? 48 There- • Start loving them with His love. (Ask Him
fore you shall be perfect, just as your Father to give His love for them to you.)
in heaven is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV)
Actual Impact: Believers who have done this
It is clear that Jesus is inspiring His followers to report a tremendous freedom and the love of
a higher level of living. The implication for us is God flooding their bodies! People are amazed
clear: We should also ask God’s blessing on tho- about the impact of forgiving according to the
se who have or are mistreated us and those close Scriptures.
to us. This is not easy. To move from the valid
feelings we currently have to the point where we Do not worry if this takes time. Deal with past
pray God’s blessing and begin to feel His love issues and off course daily with present issues. If
for them, we need to move through forgiveness. abuse is continuous you need to seek assistance
from competent counsellors.
Again Jesus has covered forgiveness thorough-
ly. In the Our Father prayer, He teaches us to Please note that in order for us to freely pray
pray for God’s forgiveness of our sin conditio- God’s blessing on those we are in conflict with,
nal upon our forgiving those who wronged us we need to forgive. This does not necessitate
(Matthew 6:12, 14-15 NKJV). He seals His tea- going to the perpetrator and telling him/her
ching in the parable of the king who settled ac- about our forgiveness. That is part of the pro-
counts with his creditors. He forgave one who cess of reconciliation, which is a further process
owed much, but upon hearing how that one and not part of the scope of this article.
treated one who owed him little, the king re-
versed his decision and punished the forgiven Being a blessing by appreciating the people
one severely (Matthew 18:23-35 NKJV). around you
Our faith-praxis implementation consisted
God has forgiven us all our sin through Jesus mainly of silent prayer up to now. But we can
Christ. For us to hold something against others extend our blessing by doing acts of apprecia-
who wronged us is not an option. tion. The process of appreciation works by you
observing the good in people around you and
Moving from hatred to forgiveness to prayer for then doing an act of appreciation. Off course
blessing is a process. We suggest the following you will also be asking God to bless them and
in outline: praise Him for them!
• Acknowledge that the hatred/offense is People usually respond very positively to ap-
there. preciation. Appreciation has always got to be
• Acknowledge that you cannot hold on to it. honest – not manipulative, syrupy or using the
same thing too often.
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