In the book of James Forgiven Bible verses, we get a clear picture of what happens when you gain your brother.

FORGIVEN BIBLE VERSES DEFINITION WITH FORGIVEN BIBLE VERSES BLESSING BRINGING FORTH FORGIVEN BIBLE VERSES HOPE

But, Jesus said, If your brother won't make peace with you, then take one or two people with you to witness and reason with him.

(Deuteronomy 19:15; 1 Timothy 5:19) 

If he still doesn't want to make peace, tell the church, but if he still refuses, think of him as a heathen and a publican. Honestly I tell you, whoever's sins you retain on earth, will be found guilty in Heaven and whoever's sin you forgive on earth, will be forgiven in Heaven. Again I tell you, if two agree on earth, concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in Heaven, because where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. 

We're gonna take a look at the different levels that we've divided forgiveness into and you can decide for yourself, which level(s) you've chosen to grant to the people in your life. Some of these may sound the same to you, but many people don't like to admit to something (even to themselves) unless every word in the description are the very words they would use. These aren't in any order of importance.

• You cease to feel resentment against an offender (whoever has sinned against you), but you really don't trust them anymore.
• You can forgive but you can't forget. You store a record of the offence in the back of your mind just in case you need to bring it up at a later date for any reason.
• You claim to forgive, but your relationship has never been quite the same with the person … and never will be. You tolerate the offender as much and as you can bear to, because Jesus said to forgive. Sometimes you rarely speak, if ever again, and the relationship virtually ends after the so-called forgiveness.
• You excuse the offense, but you ridicule, deride, mock, taunt or rally the offender, sometimes in anger and other times in humor.
• You forgive outwardly for appearances, but inside you just can't seem to forgive.
• Some things you forgive, some things ya don't, it's complicated y'know.

Maybe the levels of forgiveness that you use aren’t included here. If not, go ahead and add them in, because there are bound to be millions of conditions and levels that fall in between these categories, or have additional little addendums. It’s okay, we’re all guilty of it. 

Ah, here’s one I forgot: 

• As long as you’re in a good mood, your forgiveness abounds, but wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and anyone who has ever sinned against you is a scoundrel until your mood changes.

Now, let's look at the word forgive. The prefix for means before and the word give, in this case, means commit. So, to forgive is to think of things as they were before the offense was committed. You may say, That's a tough thing to do, until you think about it this way: Have you ever done anything that you wish you had never done? Is there something that if you could, you would totally erase it from your life, that it would be forgotten totally from anyone's memory who knows about it? It won't happen unless you forgive others the same way. 

It's hard on both the offender and the victim of a sin, when forgiveness is not granted. For the offender, they feel untrusted and ashamed. It can weaken a person's soul to live with knowing that they're not forgiven for something that they're so sorry for. It's as if there's an invisible net around them that they can't escape. To repent for something we've done, and not to be forgiven, is an experience that God didn't want us to bear, and that's the whole reason why we have the New Testament, and why Jesus died for us. It's a shame that we've defiled this beautiful gift of grace by putting it into levels. Forgive others the way you want to be forgiven by God for things that you've done. 

What about if you’re the victim of a sin? Let’s say someone has committed a sin against you and you don’t forgive them. How can being unforgiving hurt you? It's in your subconscious mind if you haven't completely forgiven someone for something. Your mind knows what level you've assigned to each act of forgiveness you've granted. You don't think about it all the time, but the knowledge of it is there. This can cause bitterness in your spirit that can affect other parts of your life. Your faith will feel like it's tainted with guilt. That's because you're being measured by God with the same forgiveness scale that you're using. Your lack of trust in your offender can cause you to be untrusting of others as well. If your offender is a loved one, you can become blameful of them for unrelated things that happen in your life.

Being unforgiving can cause a chain of circumstances that prevent you from being fruitful for God. Until you completely release your offender from his sin, you'll remain in the same net that you've put him in. 

We've done a pretty thorough job of putting forgiveness into levels, now let's look at the levels that we've put sin into. What about people? Do you find it easier to forgive a loved one than an acquaintance or a stranger for the same offense? Are there sins that we simply find unforgivable and others that we have no problem whatsoever forgetting? To that, I have to ask you, are there some sins that you’ve committed that you think God should hold you accountable for, or do you want Him to forgive all of your sins? 

 Did you catch that? If you have anything against any. Forgive all or you won't be forgiven. Sorry, there are no levels for all. All means all. It doesn't limit the number(s) or the intensity of the sin(s), or even how long ago they happened, it's infinite.

 Okay, back to the beginning. Remember the question we began with? What would Jesus consider forgiveness? My friend, the answer is this: He's gonna use the definition you choose . . . on you! With that in mind, you may want to consider how generous you are with the gift of forgiveness that you grant to others … and to yourself!