I had a friendship that ended recently. It was hurtful, as break ups usually are. But what pained me most was the realization that this “friend” probably was never really a friend at all. That hurt.
Ever since childhood, I have always loved hard. Especially where my friends were concerned. Friends have always been important to me, perhaps because I typically don’t have many. I’d always marveled at folks who had large circles of friends. In my younger years, it made me feel jealous. In more recent years, it has made me feel that something was wrong with me and that must be why people don’t seem to like me. Now though, I count it all joy to be set apart. Not only because I’ve been done wrong on many many occasions, but because it’s how my life as a follower of Christ should be.

Recently, and when I say recently I mean in the last 7 days, I was talking to God, and I asked Him why I don’t seem to be making any progress in areas of my life that I should be seeing success, namely in my career. His answer was pretty simple, unforgiveness. I had unforgiveness in my heart for the now ex-friend that I mentioned earlier.
During the course of this friendship, I was there for this person in just about every way imaginable. If she was short of cash, I helped, if she was hungry, I feed her, when she was without a car, I saw to it that she got to the places she needed to go, when she was sick, I took her to the hospital and held her hand, and when there was nothing that I could physically do, I prayed for her. I prayed with her and for every single day. I welcomed her into my home and into my family. She began attending family gatherings and just hanging out. She was my friend, and I loved her, until she wasn’t. I’ll spare the details, but one day, seemingly out of the blue, it was made clear to me that this person was no friend. She slandered me. She spread personal things that I had confided in her and gossiped about me. She even went so far as to try to get me fired from my job, even though I had gotten her the position she had there. Crazy right? So needless to say, when it all came tumbling down, I was left bitter and wounded.
So, when God revealed to me that I had to forgive her, I did. I honestly wasn’t even consciously aware that I was harboring unforgiveness, I thought I was over it, so it wasn’t hard for me to do. I repented, asked God to forgive me and change my heart, and I forgave her as I asked the Lord to sever the soul-tie that kept me bound to her.
That same night, He gave me a dream of her and she was crying. So I prayed for her. I prayed hard for her that whatever was wrong would be made right and that she would be ok.
The next day at work, Yah revealed to me something sinister. This girl had been practicing witchcraft on me. Talk about shock. I could hardly believe it. But the proof was in the containers of water I found all over my office space. Mind you, she hasn’t worked with me in many months at this point, and I just “discovered” what she left behind. How? How could it be that in all these months I never noticed these things? The answer, that unforgiving spirit was keeping me blind. The forgiveness was key in my deliverance from this evil. Mind. BLOWN.
The moral of this story I guess is obedience to the ways of our Father is always the key to freedom. We live in world where service to God is made to look like bondage but in reality, it’s the opposite. When we follow God, He makes us free. He shares secrets that we didn’t know (like any good friend would), He protects us, vindicates us, and exposes the thing(s) that we are truly bound by. John 8:36 says “So if the Son (the human incarnation of God) sets you free, you will be free indeed.”, but there is a proper order to all things.

In the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) we are given a model for how to pray. In it, it is made clear that when we pray , we have to repent for our own offenses and forgive other’s of theirs. In this scenario, it’s now been made clear to me that we must forgive if we expect to receive God’s mercy. After all, He has forgiven me time and time (and time) again, so who am I to be holding something against someone. Unforgiveness, even if you are unaware of it, causes a stumbling block. I interpret a stumbling block as something that impairs your vision of the road. It keeps you blind. The same way I was blind to containers or water in a space that I occupy every day. Unforgiveness is non-negotiable. Matthew 6:14 reads, If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. So if we want God’s best, if we want His blessings to overflow, we have to do what He does, we have to be faithful to forgive. No matter what the person has done or said, forgive them. Not for them, but for you. I’ve heard it said that unforgiveness is like taking poison yet expecting the other person to die. Ponder on that for a moment.
I’ve said all this to say, whoever you are holding something against, let it go. Forgive them and give it to God. What they did doesn’t matter, what matters is you moving on with your life and walking in all the blessings your Father has stored up for you. God wants to show you things that you won’t be able to see with unforgiveness clouding your vision. Once God revealed to me what I could not see (the witchcraft I was under), I was able to to dispose of it. And it shouldn’t be a surprise that within hours, my situation at work changed and I made more progress in minutes than I have been able to in months. That’s the power of seeing the what is hidden. That’s the power of forgiveness. Shalom.

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.”
Ephesians 1:7-8

“But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:15