BREAKING BONDAGES: THE MANY ADVANTAGES OF FORGIVENESS | Matthew 5:43–48 | Message 6
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43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:43–48
The Power of a Forgiving Heart
Abraham Lincoln once said, “One godly mother is worth a hundred clergy,” and “No man is poor who has a godly mother.” And great mothers are great forgivers.
It’s strange—how often the person we can’t stand ends up controlling our life.
The one who hurt us can dominate our thoughts, influence our moods, and shape our words.
Unforgiveness drags the offender into our hearts, where resentment burns and rules our emotions.
As the poem says:
O Lord, please pour Your cooling love
On my heated heart,
As I leave at Your feet
All the hurts that I have harbored.
Forgiveness isn’t weakness—it’s freedom. It liberates both the offender and the offended.
Eight Advantages of Forgiveness
1. Forgiveness causes me to love my enemies.
Jesus said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” — Matthew 5:43–44
Goldie Bristol learned this truth the hardest way imaginable. Her 21-year-old daughter, Diane, was raped and murdered. Years later, Goldie wrote:
“In the years since Diane’s death, God has been teaching me much about forgiveness. Forgiveness is necessary for our emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.”
She prayed for her daughter’s killer, visited him in prison, and even embraced him as a lost soul in need of Jesus Christ.
“We weren’t filled with resentment,” she wrote. “We were not in bondage to him, but miraculously filled with the freedom of forgiveness. Many think it’s impossible—but nothing is impossible with God.”
Goldie’s story proves it: forgiveness heals the human heart.
2. Forgiveness identifies me as a true Christian.
“That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good.” — Matthew 5:45
Forgivers resemble their Father. They shine like the sun that warms both the just and the unjust.
3. Forgiveness helps me earn spiritual rewards.
“If you love those who love you, what reward have you?” — Matthew 5:46–47
St. Augustine once said,
“If you are suffering from a bad man’s injustice, forgive him, lest there be two bad men.”
Forgiveness breaks the cycle of revenge. It makes room for God to bless and reward.
4. Forgiveness matures the believer.
“Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” — Matthew 5:48
The Greek word teleios means complete or mature. Growth comes through obedience.
Psychologist Archibald Hart defined it well:
“Forgiveness is relinquishing my right to hurt back.”
One missionary taught this lesson in vivid fashion. As he and his son played catch near a jungle tree, he suddenly shouted, “Fall flat and crawl toward me!” The boy obeyed instantly. Hanging above him was a deadly snake. Obedience saved his life.
Likewise, when we obey God’s command to forgive, we escape the poison of bitterness.
5. Forgiveness is essential to restoring relationships.
“If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” — Luke 17:3–4
Billy Graham once estimated that “75% of patients in hospitals could be made whole if they would forgive.”
6. God cannot forgive us if we refuse to forgive others.
“If you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may forgive you.” — Mark 11:25–26
Forgiveness isn’t optional; it’s the oxygen of spiritual life.
7. Forgiveness allows God to answer our prayers.
“To open their eyes… that they may receive forgiveness of sins.” — Acts 26:18
Even the Lord’s Prayer includes it:
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” — Matthew 6:12
8. Forgiveness allows us to start all over.
Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom wrote:
“Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids.”
Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The Freedom of Forgiveness
Forgiveness doesn’t excuse sin—it releases the soul from bondage.
It transforms hate into healing, anger into compassion, and despair into peace.
When you forgive, you stop dragging the past into your future.
“To forgive,” someone said, “is to set a prisoner free—and discover the prisoner was you.”
Friend, release your burden today. Let Christ teach you the many advantages of forgiveness—love, maturity, healing, and freedom because nothing reflects the heart of God more beautifully than a heart that forgives.
