The power of forgiveness on your health

11 years ago

Proverbs 17:22

New King James Version (NKJV)

A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones…

The scripture above refers to a crushed spirit, not humility.

How many times have we heard this scripture though? I know I’ve quoted it several times even in my blogs on this website. Well, once again, the Lord brought this to my attention but in the area of releasing unforgiveness from our hearts so that God’s healing power can come in and be effective.

Matthew 5:23-24

New International Version (NIV)

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

We tend to limit the above scripture to offerings but I believe it goes beyond offerings and affects our prayers and praise as well. Maybe God isn’t answering our prayers because we have unforgiveness in our heart that we can’t seem to let go of.  The scripture above says we must take care of it before we can come and offer up our prayers, praises etc.

Some people may not even realize they have unforgiveness in their heart until it starts to manifest in their health.

Matthew 18:21-35

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

I know this scripture doesn’t necessarily have to do with healing but I believe the point Jesus was making with forgiving 70 x 7 has to do with the process of forgiveness. It may take forgiving someone 70 x 7 times for you to finally release the unforgiveness from your heart.

Unforgiveness is not worth holding unto. It holds us captive to what people have done to us and gives them control over our lives to the point we become their and the devil’s puppets and don’t even realize it. No one should have that type of control over you.

Unforgiveness breaks our spirit and drys our bones. When you have a broken spirit (refers to a crushed spirit ) you can’t effectively communicate with God and therefore your prayers are not heard or answered and therefore your bones (or life line ) becomes dried up.

In addition to Unforgiveness & the root of bitterness drying us up spiritually, it dries us up naturally to the point that it can literally make us sick. Did you realize that many illnesses including cancer can be traced back to a root of bitterness and unforgiveness?

Search your heart today and ask God to reveal any area of unforgiveness or bitterness. Release it so you can be free. For some, it may take making a determined effort to forgive the person 70 x 7 times (in 1 day) to achieve this . Reminds me of the story of Naaman, the leper in the old testament. He was told by the prophet to dip in the stream 7 times. He didn’t see any results in the first 6 dips  but on the 7th dip, he came up whole. You may not see a release the first 70 x 7 times you forgive but if you commit to the process of forgiveness, you will eventually come up whole.

 

Leave a Comment