John Bevere - The Power of Reconciliation
- Watch
- Donate
Okay, I can’t believe this! We’re in session six; it’s the final session of «The Bait of Satan.» Have you enjoyed this? Okay, great! You know, can I tell you, I am so grateful to the Lord because I had a great man of God look at me and say, «John, never get tired of preaching this.» He said it back to me in 1995, and I’m so glad I get to preach this for the rest of my life because I personally need to hear this. I had a senior pastor say to me one time, «I read your book, 'The Bait of Satan', four times a year.» I laughed at him. I was at a conference, and I laughed and said, «Oh, come on!» I said, «You’re exaggerating.» He looked at me seriously and said, «No, no, it sits right by my bedside, and I read it every January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st.» I said, «Why?» He said, «Because I want to keep a Teflon coating in my spirit so that offenses just fall off me.» I thought, «Wow, you’re a wise man.» I feel so privileged because I get to preach this and hear myself preach it. It’s just such a reminder.
As a matter of fact, when I read the book at Focus on the Family, it was years after the book came out. They wanted to make an audiobook of it. I came home and said to my wife, «I know this book is from God; I have three men I need to call.» My family was like, «Yes, amen!» So you know, that’s why we’re told to exhort one another daily. That’s why I’m so happy that if you’re watching this for the first time, great; but if you’re watching it again and again, I applaud you for being so wise.
So, we’re going to talk about reconciliation. All of this that I’m preaching is not a bunch of theories, okay? I went through a deep wounding offense. There was a man in my life who was a father to me—very, very close. He was a spiritual father. What happened was he did some things to me over the course of a year that were absolutely devastating, and it actually got worse as the year went on. It became so obvious at the end of the year that people started coming from everywhere in this church saying to me, «Are you okay?» I said, «Yeah, I’m fine.» People would ask, «Are you going to go to him?» I said, «No, I’m going on with the call of God in my life; I’m fine.» What I didn’t realize was that I was too proud to admit that I was offended. I saw being offended as a sign of weakness, and I was too proud to say I was weak.
What happened? I went for several months, and the love of God started getting colder and colder. These are some of the signs that I can look back on now that I didn’t recognize. Ministry started to become more of an occupation to me, not a passion. I remember Lisa and I driving in the car. There was a worship CD on; I actually think it was a cassette tape. I know most of you can’t even relate to that! She was in the car, and she was weeping, and I felt nothing. I mean, God was so far away, and I was just sitting there driving. She looked over and saw my stone-cold face and said, «John, what’s wrong?» I said, «Nothing, nothing, you worship and meditate. I’m just…sorry.» It got so bad, so bad that I couldn’t stand myself anymore. One day, I walked out to my backyard and kind of looked up—no one was in my backyard—and I looked up and said, «God, am I offended?» And I heard this on the inside of me, «Yes.» To this day, it was the loudest I’ve ever heard the voice of God. I personally think it was audible, but it may not have been; it might have been so loud in here that I heard it here. I dropped my hands and said, «I don’t know how to get out of this. I’ve forgiven by faith; I’ve fasted; I have confessed forgiveness; I’ve prayed; I’ve had other people pray with me. Why am I still so tormented? Why can’t I get out of this?»
I remember I was at the end of a four-day fast shortly after this, and I went to a funeral. This man was conducting the funeral, and I was sitting in the back because I got there a little late. I remember about three-fourths of the way through the funeral, the wells just broke open to me for the first time in months, and I started crying and crying and crying. I remember being in the back, and I just went, «I forgive you! I forgive you! I release you! I forgive you! I release you!» I thought, «I’ve got to get out of here before this funeral is over.» When they said «Amen» and closed the casket, I bolted out of there because my eyes were probably so red from crying, and I thought, «It’s done! I’m free! I’ve forgiven him; everything’s great!»
Well, two weeks later, I saw him again, and I’m telling you, when I saw him, I thought, «How can he be so blessed? I mean, he did this to me, and he did that to me, and he did this to that person, and he did this to that person, and he’s doing this now.» I remember leaving that place feeling so beat up. I went home thinking about it. I had lunch with my wife, and I talked about it over lunch. I thought about it all afternoon; I talked about it with Lisa at dinner. I went to bed thinking about what he had done to me. I got up the next morning thinking about what he had done to me. I got in the shower thinking about what he had done to me. And then I got scared. I thought, «Oh my gosh, I cried tears! Why am I still so tormented?»
There was a truth that I did not understand, and that truth is found in Paul’s words in Acts 24:16. Paul said, «Herein do I exercise,» everybody shout «exercise!» «Myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.» Now, the New King James says «strive;» this is the King James. Other verses use different words, but I’m going to go to the root of this word. The word is «exercao,» and this is how it’s defined: to exercise oneself, to exert all one’s diligence, to endeavor, to strive, to engage in some activity with both continuity and effort. So it’s a focused exercise, just like you would go to the gym.
Now let me explain this to you. Arden, would you help me please? I’ve got Arden here, my youngest son. He’s big, he’s tall, he’s strong. Now, I want you to watch this. I could walk up to Arden and do this. Did you like that, Arden? No? See, the reason I chose Arden is I knew he’d be honest. Alec might say, «It’s okay, Dad.» Now, Arden is fine. Do you see that? He’s fine. Now, can I have that chair, please? Now, I could take this chair and I could go like this, and if I did, what would I do? I would wound him. You see, there are some offenses that come close that hit us; when they hit us, we don’t like it; but when it’s over, it’s like water off a duck’s back—we’re okay. There are other offenses that hit us that wound us, and wounds don’t heal overnight. If not properly treated, wounds never heal. Arden, do you still love me? Yes? Thank you very much!
Okay, several years ago, you know, the kids were small; Lisa and I were preaching; we were doing a conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. That is a great place to do a conference! Today we were playing tourists, and this was about 23 years ago. I remember we wanted to go see this place called Hanauma Bay, and there was a wall to see it, and there was a sign that said «Do not climb the wall.» What do I do? I climb the wall! I put my foot up, and it’s like a stone wall, so it’s uneven, and my right leg’s a little crooked. When I put all my weight on my right knee, I hear this, and I went, «Ow!» Now, my wife and the associate pastor are laughing at me in the car, but when I jumped down off the wall, I can’t walk, and I’m like this. They run out and help me back, and I’m in a brace for the next six weeks using crutches and even getting wheeled onto airplanes in a wheelchair.
So, the next day the associate pastor’s wife had a trainer who is a physical therapist. They got him to work on my knee. This guy owns a gym, he’s bald, he’s big, and he’s not saved, okay? Yet. He’s working on my knee in his gym, and he’s making me hurt. He says to me all of a sudden—he’s really a rough guy—"You want to know why you injured your knee?» I said, «Sure.» He said, «You know all these people around here?» I look at them, and he says, «They would never injure their knee when they climbed that wall, but you did.» I said, «Okay, why did I injure my knee and they didn’t?» He said, «Because you’re out of shape; you don’t exercise!» I started thinking about it; the reason I chose Arden is that Arden goes to the gym like five days a week; Arden is strong. If I would hit some of you as hard as I hit Arden, you’d need to see the doctor! Okay? But he can handle it.
Then there are some people, like our old neighbors from Orlando, Florida. He was a WWF wrestler, and I remember we became very close—our kids, he and I, would play street hockey together and basketball. One day he looked at me and said, «John, come watch my videos.» I thought it was all fake until I saw his videos. I watched him literally break a chair over his back; I watched him bust an acoustic guitar over his head; I watched a 400-pound sumo wrestler land on top of him, jumping off the ropes of the ring, and he got up! I mean, if that happened to anybody else, they’d be in traction! All of a sudden, I realized there are Christians like that. Because Psalm 119:165 says, «Great peace have they who love your word, and nothing can offend them.» You can’t injure that guy! But let me tell you; you could put any of us in serious condition with what they were doing to him.
Well, that’s the way there are people in the spirit. There are people who are weak; they’re not praying, they’re not building up their inner man; they’re not spending time in the Word, so they’re easily wounded. Then there are other people who spend time in His Word, they love His Word, they spend time worshiping, and they’re like that WWF wrestler and Arden. You see what I’m saying?
I remember we got on a plane and flew over to Indonesia, and when we arrived there, they saw that I got off the plane in a wheelchair. It was really humbling. Addison, Arden, Alec, and Austin all got off the plane with Mom carrying all the bags, and here comes the man of God in the wheelchair! So they were like, «Well, you need a physical therapist.» So they got this physical therapist; I don’t think you were on that trip, were you? I can’t remember, but anyway, my youngest…no, you were! You don’t remember? Anyway, the guy is working on my knee; okay, this physical therapist. He goes, «Mr. Bevere, do you want to know how to get your knee healed?» I said, «Yes, please tell me!» He said, «Exercise every day; exercise!»
And I started thinking that makes sense. Like a football player, if he blows out his knee, right? What do they do? They do physical therapy. What’s physical therapy? That’s focused exercise to get that guy’s knee back to where it was before it got injured, and the Lord said to me, «That’s what you need to do; you need to exercise!» I’ll never forget that I heard Him say that so clearly. I said, «God, how do I exercise?» And the Holy Spirit said, «Read Matthew 5.»
So I read Matthew 5, I get to the 44th verse, and look at the words of Jesus: «But I tell you, pray for anyone who mistreats you.» I thought, whoa! «Pray for anyone who mistreats you!» Do you know what’s amazing? Not once in the whole gospels does Jesus tell us to pray for our mother. Show me the verse; it’s not there. Not once does He say to pray for our father. Now, do we not pray for our mom and dad? Yeah, you pray for your mom and dad, okay? But what I find to be amazing is the person that Jesus specifically isolates and tells you that you must pray for is the one who has mistreated you. So I remember the Lord showed me that, and the Lord said, «Pray for him.»
So I got up and started pacing the floor, and I said, «Father, bless him.» That’s about all I could say that day. The next day, «Lord, if you can, bless him.» I kept praying that way every day with that kind of monotone voice, with no passion. So after about five weeks, I’m still in the same shape, and I’m on a three-day fast. The Lord said to me, «Read Psalm 35.» I had no idea what was in Psalm 35. So I start reading Psalm 35, and the first ten verses make no sense at all, which is so funny. You’re like, «Okay, I’m reading.»
Then I get to verse 11, and look at this: «Evil people pay me back evil for good.» I said, «Hey, that’s me!» «I sank in despair.» I did this guy good; he paid me back evil! So I’m thinking, you know, David’s gonna say, «Bust their teeth out,» right? Like some of the Psalms do, right? But look what David says: «But when they, the evil people who paid me evil for good, were sick, I dressed in the morning; I deprived myself of food; I prayed with my head bowed low as I would pray for a friend or a brother.» And the Lord speaks to me and says, «Son, you pray for him what you want me to do in your life, your family, or your friends.»
Now, that changed everything! I remember I got up from the table and started pacing the floor, and I said, «Father, I pray that this man would know You the best a man can know You. I pray that he would please You the best a man can please You. I pray that You would reveal Your heart to him. I pray that You would open up the wisdom of Your Word to him. I pray that You would surround him with men and women who will speak Godly counsel into his life. Deliver him from wicked and unreasonable men; surround him, Lord, with Godly men and women. I ask that You bring finances in for his ministry from unexpected quarters. Lord, protect his wife and children.»
So I started praying this way. Can I tell you? It wasn’t easy; it was painful. Some people think in order for our prayers to be correct and accurate, they have to feel good, okay? Can I make a point? When a guy is on a leg curl machine and they’re putting twenty pounds on there, and he’s recovering from a blown ACL, that guy wants to scream and hit the physical therapist, right? Because it’s so painful! So this was—you just can’t pray what feels good; you’ve got to pray truth.
So I kept praying for him this way with as much passion as I could muster up, which wasn’t a lot, but I kept doing it every day. I prayed for him like almost five minutes every day, and I remember after two weeks there was a little more passion, and I was starting to pray. I was excited about praying this for him, and what’s happening? I’m starting to get healed. You see what I’m saying?
So I was praying like this for about five to six weeks, and I remember there was a certain day; I was outside early in the morning in a construction site praying, and I remember I was praying for this guy. All of a sudden, out of my spirit comes this: «So and so, I love you.» I called out his name and said, «I love you!» And when I did, I felt like junk came out! Just like junk! And I thought, «I’m healed! I am healed! I’m totally healed!» I went home and told my wife, «Baby, I’m healed!» Because Lisa had looked at me and said, «You know, John, you need to pray for him.» She nailed it.
I said, «Lisa, I’m just—aah! I’m healed! I’m healed!» And she rejoiced; she was so excited. But then I saw the guy two weeks later and another little «ant» on the inside, I thought, «Now what?» My wife, who’s so prophetic sometimes it scares me—and believe me, between her and the Holy Spirit, I don’t get away with anything—she sits me down and says, «Honey, you need to go to him.» I said, «Oh!» I jumped up off the couch and said, «No, no, no, no, no! I prayed; I’m healed! I’ve exercised! Everything’s good; I don’t need to go to him!» She said, «Okay.»
So I went out and prayed and said, «God, do I need to go to him?» And the Lord said, «Yes.» And it wasn’t as strong as the first time, but it was strong. Now, there are two times Jesus tells you to go to your brother, okay? Let me first of all show you how most people interpret going to your brother. Alec, why don’t you help me this time? All right, this is the way most people, you know, when Jesus says, «Go to your brother,» this is the way most people interpret it: «Eric, I just want you to know you did this, you did this, you did this, but I forgive you.» Okay? So what are they doing? They’re using that scripture that Jesus says, «Go to your brother,» to vomit all over you and tell you how bad you treated them. Me! Right? That is not what he had in mind when he said, «Go to your brother.» Thanks, Alec.
When Jesus said, «Go to your brother,» He’s got the purpose of reconciliation. Now, there’s a big difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, and this is where many people miss it; they lump the two together. No, they’re separate. In order to understand the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation, you have to look at the cross, alright? When did Jesus forgive us? When He hung on the cross and said, «Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.» He wasn’t just talking about the soldiers and the Sanhedrin; He was talking to the next generation, the next generation, the next generation—right now to you and me—because our sins put Him on that cross.
So here’s the deal: Jesus forgave us before we ever said, «I’m sorry.» Do you know how many times I’ve run up against people, and they’ll go, «I’ll forgive them when they apologize?» Well, what if Jesus would have waited for you to say, «I’m sorry,» before He forgave you? You and I would have all been in hell! But he chose to forgive us before we ever said, «I’m sorry.» But when were we reconciled back to Jesus? When we repented and said, «I’m sorry, Jesus; you were right, and I was wrong. Please forgive me.»
What led us to that repentance? The Bible says in Romans 2 that it’s the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. So this is what Jesus has in mind when He says, «Go to your brother; create an atmosphere of goodness that’s going to make him want to say, 'I’m sorry.'» When you go to him and say, «Yeah, this and this and this, but I forgive you,» you know what he’s going to say, or she’s going to say? She’s going to say, «Excuse me?»
So this is what the Lord led me to do: through my wife, I bought a gift—a really, really nice gift, a gift I would like to have, okay? I wrapped it up and made an appointment, and I went to this guy’s office and said to him, «I want to give this to you; I just appreciate you.» He opens it up, and his eyes got bigger than saucers! I mean, he looked up at me—I’ll never forget; I can close my eyes and still see it. His eyes are open, his mouth open; he’s like, «Wow! Thank you!» He was speechless!
So this is the way I opened up because I’m creating an atmosphere of goodness, right? Didn’t God cause His son to shine on you before you got saved? Didn’t He give you food before you got to say? Didn’t He give you a roof over your head before you got sick? I’m creating an atmosphere of goodness, right?
So I looked at him and said, «You know, I’ve been praying, and I have realized that I’ve been critical of you.» He goes, «Oh no, you’ve not been critical?» I mean, I said, «Oh yeah, I have! I know what’s in my heart; God has revealed it to me.» And he said, «Well, I forgive you!» Then he opened up and started sharing with me. He said, «Well, I did this,» and all of a sudden now he starts opening up, right?
And right there, right there in that office, I was completely able to be reconciled with him because there was nothing else between us. I remember when I walked out of that office, I felt as free as I’ve ever felt in my life! And I remember after like two or three days, I was just literally walking in freedom like I had not experienced in years! I looked at my wife and said, «You know what? When I first met that man, he could do no wrong in my eyes, and I loved him.» I said, «That’s immature love!» Then I saw his faults, and his faults were directed towards me, and I didn’t love him anymore. I said, «That’s immature love!» I said, «You know what, though? Now I still see his faults, but I love him with the intensity of when I first met him!»
That’s got to be the love of God because 1 Peter 4:8 says, «The love of God covers a multitude of sins.» My life, our family, our ministry has never ever been the same since that! Lisa and I talk about it; we go back to the time where I reconciled, and everything in our life changed. I would never have been where I am today or been privileged to help people the way the Lord has gifted Lisa and me to help had I not forgiven that man! I would have been a very bitter preacher trying to force and make the call of God in my life happen. It changed me forever!
Now, I just want to say this for the sake of clarity: there are two times Jesus says to go to your brother. Number one, if your brother has ought against you, or number two, if you have ought against your brother. Mine was the second case: I had ought against him, so I went to him. I realized that I had to do it because he also had ought against me, and that’s what I discovered in that meeting.
That is the importance! I’m going to state again what I stated in the very first session: Luke 17:1 says, «It is impossible that no offenses should come.» Again, that word «offenses» is the Greek word «scandalon,» which is used to describe the bait stick of a trap. The hunters would put the bait on and catch small animals and birds. The bait of Satan is Satan’s trap. Offenses are Satan’s trap to pull us, the believer, into his captivity.
The bottom line, the bottom line we as believers should live by, I believe, is shown in Romans 12:18: «If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.» In other words, sometimes it’s not possible; there are people who will not be reconciled. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18—we go over that in the book—how to handle these situations. But as much as possible with you, live peaceably with all men.
I want to end it with a testimony, and then I want to pray. I’ll never forget the time I was doing a conference in Florida. This is just etched in my memory forever. It was a packed-out conference, and the leader of the conference was getting ready to introduce me. He said, «Before I introduce our guest speaker tonight, I want so-and-so to come up and share with us.» I remember this guy came walking up on the platform, and it looked like he just literally got off the construction job. He’s got jeans that are completely dirty with torn holes in them, he’s got a shirt that’s dirty on him, he looks like a construction worker, and he walks up on that platform in front of all these people.
The host starts interviewing him, and he said, «You know what? Let’s hear your story.» He takes the mic and says, «I’m 36 years old, and I’ve been raised in a Christian home. I’ve been a Christian ever since I can remember. But all my life, there has been a wall between me and God.» He said, «I will go into services like this; people get touched by the presence of God, and I feel completely on the outside looking in. I feel like there’s a wall.» He said, «I will try to pray and get in the presence of God, but I’ve never been able to do it.»
He said, «Then, a couple of weeks ago, someone put in my hands the book 'The Bait of Satan, ' what we’re talking about.» He said, «I read the book in two days.» He said, «When I got to the end of the book, I realized I held unforgiveness against my mother.» He said, «My mother gave me away when I was six months old.» He said, «So I contacted my mom and talked to her for the second time in 36 years.» He said, «I said, 'Mom, I’ve held unforgiveness against you for 36 years for giving me away.'» She started crying on the phone. She said, «I’ve hated myself for 36 years for giving you away.»
Well, he forgave her; she forgave herself. Remember, Jesus said, «If you have ought against any, forgive them.» «Any» includes you! Okay? If God forgave you, you need to forgive yourself. Amen? Amen! She forgave herself, and now the guy is crying so profusely that tears are running off his beard onto his shirt. I’m on the edge of my seat thinking, «Wow!» He looks at all of us weeping and says, «Now the wall that’s been between me and God for 36 years is completely gone!» He said, «I’ve been crying like this for the last three weeks. I cry like this when I pray in the morning; I cry like this when I come into services.»
Do you have the right to be offended? You have the right to do anything if you want to go to hell and burn in hell forever and ever. God will protect your right to burn in hell forever because He’s given us free will. But if you want to walk with God, you do not have the right to be offended. Two wrongs have never made a right. The fact that you were mistreated was wrong, but your sin of being offended is not justified by the fact that you were mistreated. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
What we need to do now is pray, and we need to take responsibility for our sin of harboring the offense and refusing to forgive. Then, we need to forgive. Can we do that? Can you all pray with me right now? I’ll lead you in a prayer, and I want every one of you watching to pray with us right now. I’m going to pray, and then you repeat it:
«Father in heaven, in Jesus' name, thank you for speaking to me through these sessions and through this book, 'The Bait of Satan.' I have realized that I have sinned against You in harboring unforgiveness and offense. I realize two wrongs don’t make a right. I have justified my sin for far too long because of how badly I was treated. So this very moment, I come before Your throne, and I ask You to forgive me. Forgive me for unforgiveness, for bitterness, for resentment, for harboring this offense. I repent of this right now, and I’m walking away!
And right now, from my heart, I forgive.» I want you to whisper their name, whether it’s your mom, your dad, whether it’s a cousin, whether it’s a friend, an ex-pastor—just whisper their name right now, and I want you to see them, and I want you to say to them, «I forgive you. I release you. You owe me nothing.» Forgive them.
And now, Father, I pray for every single person that’s prayed this prayer. I’m asking that Your presence would manifest in their life even right now. Holy Spirit of God, pour out Your love afresh in their hearts. I speak to the bitter roots, and I pull them out of their lives in Jesus' name. And I thank You, Father, for releasing that liquid, beautiful substance that I see in the spirit now, the love of God into their hearts, bringing healing in Jesus' name! Amen!
I want to make sure that some of you know that you will need to exercise—pray for these people! Pray for them daily. Pray for them what you want God to do in your life. Think of the greatest things you want God to do in your life, pray that for them! And then, when you know you’re healed, at that point, go to that person. Do not go to that person until you know you have prayed it through and you’re healed, because it will show up! If you really haven’t forgiven them, it will show up by the way you talk to them when you go to them. You’ve got to make sure that you’re going for their sake, not for your sake only! Amen?
It’s been a real privilege to be able to speak to all of you here and everyone that’s watching through these sessions, whether you’re in a small group or you’re watching by yourself. It’s just been the greatest honor to share with you how to be free from the trap of offense. Be free and get others free! Share the book with them; just get people into the Word of God, and let’s get rid of this massive offense that Jesus prophesied would happen in the last days. I believe the greatest move of God will occur when Christians and believers are totally free from the trap of «The Bait of Satan.» God bless you! Enjoy the book!
Alright, challenge number six is going to be broken up into two parts. This first part is going to deal with the challenge of prayer. You know, Jesus said when someone gives us a hard time, we are to respond with the energy of prayer. You know, the only time Jesus specifically told us to pray for someone was always in regards to our enemies, so my challenge to you is this: create a hit list.
Now, a hit list is usually to mark someone for death or destruction, but with this hit list, we are going to target people for good! Perhaps in the first lesson, if you recall, we challenged you to write a letter to someone who has offended you or mistreated you. With this hit list, I want you to remember those people and write down their names. Once you’ve written their names down, begin to pray for these people. Hit them with prayer! Respond with prayer for these people!
Now, don’t just pray simple prayers; pray for these people like you would pray for yourself, like you would pray for your family, your children, your own destiny, and pray for their finances. Pray for things that are meaningful to you that will also be meaningful for them! And once you’re at a place where you actually enjoy doing this, then you’re ready to move on to the second part, which is reconciliation.
The Bible says that we should do all that is in our power and our strength to live at peace with all people. John just talked about in lesson six that forgiveness takes one, but reconciliation takes two. So keep in mind that the person you have offended or who has mistreated you may not cooperate, but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try.
My challenge to you today is to pursue peace with all people, to pursue being reconciled. And I’m going to give you some practical steps on how to do so:
Step one: Contact this person. Now, it may have been several years since you’ve last had contact with this person, but that’s okay! We can try and reach out. Maybe it’s a text message, maybe it’s a phone call, maybe it’s an email—whatever it is, try to break the ice and have contact with this person.
Step two: Arrange to meet up with this person. If it’s appropriate, perhaps you can meet in a public setting such as a cafe or restaurant. If it’s a bit difficult to meet up—perhaps they live out of state or in another country—try to figure out a way that you can communicate. Perhaps it’s FaceTime or Skype—whatever you need to do to connect with this person.
Step three is to create an atmosphere of goodness, as John already mentioned. You want to go in there prepared to forgive with the purpose of reconciliation. Don’t go in there pointing the finger and reminding them of all their wrongs and mistreatment of you. Rather, go in there in a spirit of humility, ready to forgive, ready to apologize.
Finally, step four: Ask for forgiveness. Again, your intention in meeting up with this person is reconciliation. Remember, don’t go in there pointing the finger; you want to be at peace with them. So ask them to forgive you for what you have done wrong.
Finally, don’t forget your steps to freedom, steps 26 to 30. We are believing with you that as you have journeyed through these steps of freedom, you are indeed experiencing freedom from offense and will remain free from offense.