“But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:26
When I was five years old my father committed suicide. From the age of six to thirteen, I was physically, mentally and sexually abused. Over the years, I have been able to see hundreds of people set free from a similar past. Many have asked me how I was able to overcome all the tragedies that had come against me.
I did not hear the gospel until I was eighteen years old. When I got saved, I discovered a powerful principle, it is the art of forgiveness. I found out that to be free, I must forgive. Maybe you have not been molested or abused, but you are bound by something that has happened to you. Do you know that you must forgive those who have harmed you?
For years I confessed that I had forgiven those who did harm against me; but one day I realized that I had tried to forgive, but was not free. Then God spoke to me, “Paula, you have tried it with your strength; now try it with Mine.” Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.” I had to yield to God, and He placed forgiveness in my heart.
Pray this prayer with me: “Father, place within my heart forgiveness toward anyone who has hurt me, wronged me or caused harm against me. I release them and declare, they are forgiven, and I am free.”
“To be forgiven is to be free.”
