Can I Trust This Person....Again?

2 Corinthians 2:10-11

To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also:  for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us:  for we are not ignorant of his devices...

We must understand that many of the teachings in the church system are traps, devices, set forth by the enemy to deceive.

The above scripture speaks to the necessity to forgive.  But the organized church system has erroneously twisted scripture(s) to support unhealthy forgiveness what I like to call 'patterns' within that institution of church.  Yes, we ARE to forgive.  But the whole process of forgiving someone is not taught properly within the church.

For those of us who were raised in church, we often heard of how christlike it was to forgive.  Also, we also heard a lot about love.

Many times, scriptures, traditions and fables were used to convince churchgoers that in order to 'prove' that somehow one is walking in love and forgiveness, one had to allow someone BACK into their lives who explicitly already proved themselves to be used of the enemy at some point in the past.

We were taught that in order to 'test' ourselves to see if we harbored unforgiveness and bitterness...AND to 'prove' to others around us that we had, in fact, forgiven the offender(s), that that meant we would without reservation accept them back into our lives.

That argument came from the idea that Christ Jesus reconciled man back to God....the ministry of reconciliation thing (2 Corinthians 5:18)....so it was widely accepted and taught that since we have the 'ministry of reconciliation,' that was supposed to mean that we are to reconcile ourselves to all who prematurely spout off 'Forgive me.' (Even when repentance was not present, or sincere).

If we read further down to vs. 20, we will see that when the bible says we have the ministry of reconciliation, that is for us to be reconciled BACK TO GOD.  That does not necessarily mean that every one who offends, and we offer forgiveness, that that means we are to be reconciled back to them!

Separation is a very real thing for believers, and many times God requires it.

Be not equally yoked with unbelievers...2 Corinthians 6:14

Come out from among them and be separate....2 Corinthians 6:17

For I am come to set a man at variance (disagreement, separation) against his father, and the daughter against her mother....Matthew 10:35

There are times the Spirit of God will expressly, explicitly command you to separate yourself from some folks.

When that happens, you need not worry about 'not walking in love' or 'not walking in unity.'  You ONLY need to concern yourself with WHAT GOD TOLD YOU TO DO!

You see, if you do the religious thing and 'reconcile' back to people God told you to separate FROM, you are thereby walking in DISOBEDIENCE!

Now, we don't know WHY God tells us to do certain things.  I can attest of a few times where the Spirit of God told me in no uncertain terms to 'LEAVE them alone,' and I didn't.

And I paid for it, too!

Whether it was a church, someone who I thought to be a potential mate, a friend, a group, or whatever, when I didn't listen, I caught pure HELL!

Listen.

There IS such a thing as a 'forgiveness trap.'

It is another device of the enemy he uses against religious folks, or those heavily influenced by religious folks and who are people pleasers, who rely upon OUTWARD signs as proof-to themselves and to others, as well as the offender-that they have effectively forgiven the other party.  We MUST practice WISDOM in all of our relationships.  We cannot rely upon outward signs of something that should be done inwardly!  Forgiveness is an act of faith.  We do it when we don't feel like it.  Sometimes, the offending party is not even present the moment we have forgiven them.  It is actually a spiritual thing, NOT a work of the flesh.  When we go through religious histrionics to prove to ourselves and others that we are, in fact, spiritual, and are doing the right thing, then we are NOT walking in the Spirit, but operating in the flesh.

I don't know how many women have placed themselves in dangerous predicaments because their pastors, prayer partners, family friends all advised them to reconcile to an abusive husband, or a husband who had been unfaithful.  In almost all the cases, the marriage ultimately ended in divorce, and at times, violently.

The religious demon is NOT playing!

A religious demon knows how to feign repentance.  It knows how to pretend like its sorry or remorseful for what they have done.  The religious demon knows how to appear to have changed their destructive ways...just long enough to win unearned, premature trust...and then he pounces for the kill when you least expected!

We cannot afford to be ignorant of the enemy's devices, people.

It was Charismatics that came up with the slogan WWJD.  What Would Jesus Do?

They did it to start getting people to throw discernment, righteous judgment and wisdom out the window and replace it with naivete, ignorance, blindness....

Like the picture above says.  The enemy's greatest weapon against you is YOUR IGNORANCE!

If you are ignorant of the fact that there IS such a thing as the forgiveness trap, then you will walk right into the trap and become ensnared.

I will tell you what Jesus would do.!!!

Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, will warn the sheep of impending danger.  And He DOES!  Over and OVER again!  But the spirit of religion muffles His voice in the matter of forgiveness and reconciliation because it makes you assume that in EVERY case of having to forgive someone, that that means you are to reconcile to them as well.

THAT SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE IN EVERY CASE!

EVERY time you are in a situation where you have to forgive someone, do so readily and quickly.  But then pray...

'God, show me if I can TRUST this person.  If I can't and YOU know it, then remove this person from my life....'

Then let God move.

If He shows you that they can be trusted-and if GOD wants you to go back-then reconcile to them.

BUT...if He says NO, and warns you about them, TAKE HEED!!!!

Unity at all costs is NOT godly...and not advisable.

You could be uniting with someone-or something-GOD IS NOT IN!  Or that is under the judgment of God!

Don't fall for THE FORGIVENESS TRAP.