When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

John 11:43-44

The Gospel story is all about freedom. The Babe in the manger was born in Bethlehem to liberate the world by conquering sin and death through the Cross and the Empty Tomb. With His blood, Jesus paid the ransom so that dead men could live. In the 11th chapter of his Gospel, John gives a prelude to this in the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

It’s a familiar story. Jesus’ friend Lazarus became sick. Knowing what would happen, Jesus delayed his arrival until after he died. Jesus did this purposefully to display His resurrection power as a preview of what He would do for us through His own death and resurrection. After consoling Lazarus’s sisters, Jesus went to Lazarus’ tomb and commanded, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he did! The dead man came back to life. The cold heart started beating as the motionless lungs began breathing again. By His word, Jesus defeated death and His friend was suddenly alive again.

What’s interesting to me is what Jesus says next. “Unbind him and let him go.” Why did He say that? Lazarus was dead and now he’s alive. He’s been set free from the bondage of death. He was now walking again. Why did someone have to loose him and let him go? Because he wasn’t walking free! Someone had to help him get the grave clothes off. Sometimes, we all need help getting the death off of us—the things from our old life and from our past that keep us from walking free. We have found that one of the primary things that binds us and keeps us from walking free is the torment associated with old wounds. Forgiven people cannot walk freely unless they extend that forgiveness to those who wounded them. And most of the time, people need someone to help them forgive.

That’s why Forgiving Forward exists. Our job is to unbind them and let them go. And just as Lazarus was able to walk free when they took the grave clothes off of him, we get to experience people walking free when they choose to forgive. 95% of the people we coach to forgive, who walk into our office in bondage and torment, walk out free.

Recently, we shared with you about a man named Steve who I coached in March. At age five, Steve became a victim of the child pornography industry. For 60 years, he was tormented by the horrific abuse he had suffered. Even though Steve had come to faith in Jesus, he still was bound up by the deep wounds in his past. He had tried multiple Christian counselors, 12-step programs, and anything else he could find to ease the pain. Yet, when I coached him to forgive the horrific wounds he had suffered, including many he had inflicted himself, Steve found freedom. I asked him, “Steve, how’s your heart?” He said, “It’s unshackled. For the first time in my life, I feel like my heart is roaming free on a prairie.” It’s been nine months since that conversation. Last week, Steve and I shared his story with a group of men at a luncheon in Dallas. Steve told the guys, “The way you can tell that a ministry is a true Gospel ministry is because it sticks. It lasts. Everything I’ve tried before was just a Band-Aid—a short-term fix that quickly faded. But when I chose to walk through the Protocols of Forgiveness, I was unshackled and set free. And I am still free! This really works!” That’s the power of Gospel-centric forgiveness.

Steve is one of hundreds of people who have found freedom through the ministry of Forgiving Forward. Our job is to help unbind people from their past so they can walk in freedom in their future. Our passion is to help the body of Christ worldwide experience the freedom of the Gospel through the power of forgiveness. We are constantly amazed at what God does when we help forgiven people forgive. That’s why we have no hesitation in encouraging you to support our ministry financially. We’re simply inviting you to help us carry out Jesus’ command to “unbind them and let them go.”

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