Today’s 333 Devotional: “Forgiveness Proceeds Healing”

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” (Psalm 103:2-3)

Notice we are told that forgiveness proceeds healing.

We see a beautiful example of this from Jesus’s healing of the paralyzed man. Jesus forgave his sins saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 5:20)

But when the Pharisees objected saying only God can forgive sins Jesus said, “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk?’” (Luke 5:23)

Jesus then said to the paralyzed man, “Arise, take up your bed and go home,” and he was immediately healed.

Physical, emotional, and spiritual health comes when forgiveness is sought and acquired from the Lord.

King David, who was well acquainted with the consequences of sin, said that when he tried to hide his sin he experienced all sorts of problems.

“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” (Psalm 32:3-4)

David understood that when he hid his sins from God, then his health deteriorated as a result thereof. But when He confessed his sins to God, then everything turned around.

What can help us forgive? It’s realizing how much God has forgiven us.

You may say, “I don’t feel like forgiving them. They don’t deserve to be forgiven.”

We do not forgive based on our feelings, emotions or reasons. Forgiveness is an act of the will based on our decision to obey God.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32)

We pay a price not only in our emotional and spiritual health, but also in our physical health when we fail to forgive.