Walking with an unforgiving spirit, being bitter towards someone, is one of the worst sins we can commit. It is a state where all spiritual progress halts. Solution: Forgiveness!

Forgiveness is the best "medicine" against spiritual drought and apostasy. Jesus says:

"And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses."

Mark 11:25

An unforgiving spirit prevents God from answering our prayers. Heaven is closed. My wife Solveig wrote a fantastic book some time ago titled: Forgiveness – the Key to Peace, Freedom, and Progress. In this book, she includes a story about a man from Stord who heard the message of forgiving those who had wronged us. The man was born with a brain injury and had been prayed for several times without anything happening. Then he began to do a spiritual "spring cleaning" in his life. He remembered a person who had wronged him many years earlier and hurt him. He chose to forgive because forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice to follow God's will.

When he went for a new check-up at the hospital a few weeks later, the doctors could not find the brain injury. He was healed! God waited for healing until he had forgiven that man.

There are several reasons why healing does not occur. Here we are at an important reason: Lack of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not the same as saying that the wrong done to us was OK, and we should not blame ourselves. Forgiveness is a choice, where we choose to set aside a matter and not take it up again – or hold it against the one who wronged us. And it can sometimes be very tough!

It is not always wise to continue the close contact you had with the person, but still, you can forgive him/her. We will benefit from it ourselves! Bitterness can lead to a number of illnesses – and even to apostasy from the faith!

We can therefore pray for the Holy Spirit's power to be able to forgive. Jesus is our best example. On the cross, he prayed for those who had crucified him: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." The Gospel that we are forgiven unconditionally by grace alone is the way to go when we experience being hurt and trampled on. Just as we received forgiveness from God for free, we should also give it – for free.

The Gospel is the greatest power in the world. This message can help prevent war between friends and family members, between churches and nations, at work, and in school. Do as Jesus – who welcomed Judas with open arms – and called him "friend"!

Forgiveness is a good start to the day. Satan loves to bring up old things to separate friend from friend and pull us away from God's grace. Forgiveness should be a daily spiritual practice.

It is said that Christian leader and professor C.S. Lewis often had to forgive the teacher from his primary school days over and over. "The cruel teacher who darkened my youth." We are never done with forgiving. Let us start each day by examining our hearts and not picking up old trash again.

One of the Greek words for "forgiveness" in the Bible means "to send away." It reminds me of how God forgives us:

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Psalm 103:12

In other words: He sends our sins eastward and us westward. We will certainly not be able to meet our sins again. And God does not see them either. Isn't this great!!

There were 12 gates out of the old Jerusalem. One of the gates was called the "Dung Gate." There they removed old trash from the city.