“But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt.
6:15

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn
from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chr.
7:14

Shakespeare raised the question in his play “Hamlet,” To be or not to be, that is the question? It is a
question that is pondered, while reflecting on this life and death story. Hamlet is questioning whether
he should live or die in his own head. I believe we are all being challenged in our daily lives whether we
are to live or to die. Life be life-ing, and it can often times cause us to want to throw in the towel.
However, as Christians, we have been given the get of jail free card, if we confess our sins to our
Sovereign Savior. Yet, we are causing our own demise by refusing to confess, repent and forgive!

The word “forgive” appears in the Bible 56 times, with “forgiven” appearing 42 times, “forgiveth” twice,
and “forgiving” four times. The first instance of the word “forgive” is in Genesis 50:17, and the last is in 1
John 1:9. The New Testament uses the terms “forgive” and “forgiveness” interchangeably, and they
appear a total of 49 times across the 27 books of the New Testament. Therefore, I am convinced that

forgive, forgiven, forgiveth, and forgiving is crucial to our Christian lifestyle. However, most of us are not
willing to forgive! Pride, fear, pain, and unforgiveness haunts us and hinders us from forgiving,
forgiveness, or unforgiving!

Recently, I watched an episode of Tamron, with her guest “Shyne,” aka
Moses Michael Levi Barrow. Shyne was convicted and served a 10-year
sentence for a crime that he says he did not commit. In 2001, he was
convicted of assault and unlawful possession of a weapon, because of a fight
that Sean “Puffy” Combs had in club! During the interview with Tamron, she
was prodding Shyne to discuss what Puffy did to him. Despite Tamron’s
prodding, Mr. Barrow’s refused to succumb to throwing Sean Combs under
the bus. He stated that he was no longer a part of the life, and was not
interested in tearing another person down for his personal gratification. Mr.
Barrow continued to stay focused on who he has become and what his
mission is about. Now, a Prime Minister to Belize, he chose not to patronize

the social media regarding Sean Combs! He continually wished him well.

Well, I said all of this because I was completely moved by this brother’s conviction. It made me take a
mental note about his level of forgiveness and integrity. Forgiveness is the conscious decision to let go
of anger and resentment towards someone who has harmed you, without necessarily condoning or
excusing their actions. It can be a difficult process, but it can lead to a number of benefits. He rose to the
occasion of his life being changed and not needing to sabotage the life of others for us own benefit. In
addition, his mother joined the interview and stated: ‘Despite what happened to my son, it saved his
life. Had he not gone to prison, he would probably still be caught up in the life of “Puffy!”
Forgive or to not forgive, is the question? Are you or have you
forgiven? Is unforgiveness holding you hostage? Has bitterness and
resentment blinded your perspective? When we do not obey God’s
instructions, He allows things to happen that will result in
consequences that will challenge our comfort zones. There are so
many warnings, declarations, and signs for us to confess, repent
and to forgive. “Forgive and you will be forgiven!”