Understanding Forgiveness: Part 3 - Unforgiveness

Part 2...
http://tony-campbell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/understanding-forgiveness-part-2-paying.html

Unforgiveness is seen as completely justifiable in today's society. We can all probably identify something that is fine not to forgive someone for or at least to delay forgiveness for. Think of a big furry dog covered in mud (weird I know) walking around inside a nice white house. Everytime it enters a room it's only a matter of time before it  does the standard crazy-dog-shake and dirt goes absolutely everywhere! I understand unforgiveness as being like this. As Christians each one of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit and God lives in us (1Corinthians 3:16) making us more like Jesus by renewing our minds (Romans 12:2). Unforgiveness is like inviting that paint-covered dog into the house. It will start in the front room and shake around until the room looks different, dirtier. It will eventually move into the next room and do the same, changing the appearance of the room. If unforgiveness goes unchecked in our lives it begins to twist and change our perceptions. We develop trust issues, become paranoid. As a result we isolate ourselves and build defense mechanisms to prevent ourselves from being vulnerable or hurt again. I believe that one of the main tactics of the devil in taking people down is isolation. In the beginning God said it is not good for Man to be alone (Gen 2:18) and the enemy knows that our faith can fail us in the absence of community and encouragement. If you want to know the areas of your life where the devil may be attacking you, have a look at where you're being separated from people who are positive influences on you. Anyway, unforgiveness is an intruder in the house of God and when detected it should be cast out immediately! Unforgiveness ruins lives. What if we all cast unforgiveness out of our hearts? Why don't we?

Check out part 4...
http://tony-campbell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/understanding-forgiveness-part-4.html