Unforgiveness Hinders Spiritual Growth

After setting my gardening goals, I began researching which types of flowers produce brightly colored and very aromatic flowers to attract butterflies and birds into the yard for gardening.

All flowering plants do not grow just anywhere you would like to put them.  In our tropical environment, I soon discovered most of the flowers fitting the criteria to attract birds and butterflies required direct sunlight.  This was great because the garden area was in the sun most of the day.

It is important while sowing seed to ensure that the light conditions of the environment is conducive to the seed being sown.  A fern loves the shade of a dense forest.  A hosta loves shade, but much less dense than a fern.  Sunflowers need full-sun to create the big beautiful blooms we love.  Changing the lighting conditions of any one of these specific plants either kills the plants, or hinders them creating spindly little things with few or no blooms.

Unforgiveness hinders spiritual growth.  

Photo credit:  Maize   

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;  (24)  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."  Matthew 5:23, 24

When we fail to forgive and allow hard feelings (bitterness) to develop we can become resentful and allow thoughts (lies) from the enemy to harden our hearts.  

"Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." Hebrews 12:15

This strains our relationship with our Heavenly Father and we begin to pull away from Him.  Bitterness produces bitter fruit, We soon begin to feel as if everything we think or do seems wrong, and discontent moves into our lives.

This excerpt is taken from Corrie Ten Boom's book "The Hiding Place":

     It was a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the  processing center at Ravensbruck.  He was the first of our actual  jailers that I had seen since that time.  And suddenly it was all  there - the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing,  Betsie's pain-blanched face.     He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and  bowing.  "How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said.  "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!"
     His hand was thrust out to shake mine.  And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to  forgive, kept my hand at my side.
     Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them.  Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going  to ask for more?  Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to  forgive him.
     I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand.  I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity.  And so again I breathed a silent prayer.  Jesus, I cannot forgive him.  Give me Your forgiveness.
     She then took his hand and the most incredible thing happened.  From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.    And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His.   When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.

God gave His only son so that we might have everlasting life (John 3:16).  He wants that life to be an abundant life (John 10:10).  It is Jesus who is the Light in our life (John 12:46).  He keeps us out of darkness, and it is in His Him that we grow (Ephesians 1:17-19).