“It’s often when I don’t want to live out God’s Word with another person that doing what God says is an epic defeat of the enemy. There is nothing more powerful than a person living out what God’s Word teaches.”- Lysa TerKeurst
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”- Ephesians 6:11 (ESV)
Lysa TerKeurst concludes Chapter 8 of Forgiving What You Can’t Forget with the final three truths to hang on to in your heart when you struggle to step toward forgiveness.
3. Your offender is also suffering from pain. Lysa observes that it’s hard to truly forgive someone without compassion. In addition, it’s hard to show compassion to someone who’s shown none to you. Therefore, Lysa counsels, start with showing compassion for the pain they must have experienced in order to make the choices they made.
Because when you show compassion for their pain, that enables genuine forgiveness. In turn, that helps you never to shame them or refuse to forgive them.
4. The purpose of forgiveness isn’t always reconciliation. The point of forgiveness centers on keeping your heart clean, cooperating with God’s command to forgive, and staying in position to receive God’s forgiveness. While mended relationships don’t always result, forgiveness helps mend the hurting heart.
5. Th enemy is the real villain. Certainly, people possess the option to sin against us or not. Also, those people willingly played into Satan’s plan. However, Lysa stresses, Satan represents the real enemy. For he’s on an all-out assault against all things good and real.
Above all, though, Scripture tells us we can take a stand against the devil’s schemes. In Ephesians 6:11, the original form of the Greek word translated can is dynasthai. The Greek word means I am powerful – I have power. Lysa comments:
“We aren’t powerless when the enemy stirs up trouble among us. The secret is to be aware of this. The power is not in question. But our awareness of it often rises and falls on our willingness to do what God’s Word says to do in times of conflict.”
Today’s question: When has doing what God’s Word says resulted in an epic defeat of Satan? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The consequences of their own choices”
