In this sermon Rosangela Atte explains how unforgiveness not only prevents God from forgiving us, but also blocks the flow of our spiritual gifts, worship, and material blessings. She cites Matthew 6:14‑15, Matthew 5:23‑24, Proverbs 14:30 and 17:22, and 3 John 2 to show that holding a grudge hinders our prayers, tithes, and offerings, opens an “open door” for the enemy, and leads to physical and emotional illness such as inflammation, depression, anxiety, and poverty. Atte clarifies that forgiveness is not about condoning the offender or maintaining a relationship; it is a personal act of release that untethers the believer, restores the Holy Spirit’s flow of mercy, grace, and protection, and enables the believer to fulfill their destiny in Christ. The message urges listeners to reconcile with those who have wronged them, to let go of bitterness, and to experience the health, prosperity, and spiritual freedom that follow true forgiveness.
Chapters
Receiving our prayers, receiving our sacrifices, and also receiving our blessings. Matthew 6:14-15 says, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So if we don't forgive others, God cannot forgive us. That is a very scary thought. Matthew 5:23-24 says, so if you're offering your gift at the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. So it literally hinders God from receiving our gifts. What is our gift? Our gift can be our praise and worship to the Lord, our prayers. The word gift in the Greek is doron. It means present. It means gifts offered in expression of honor, sacrifices, and other gifts offered to God. It also means money cast into the treasury for the purposes of the temple and for the support of the poor. So even when we sow, when we give our tithe, or when we sow into the kingdom of God, God cannot bless that seed He cannot multiply it because we have unforgiveness in our hearts. And I know that a lot of us think that forgiving means agreeing with what the person did or said, or it means that you're weak, or it means that you have to have a relationship with the person that you are forgiving. But that is not the case. Forgiveness is for you. It's not for the other person. When you are forgiving, when you decide to let go of the offense and forgive that person no matter what they did, You are breaking yourself free. You are untethering yourself from that person. You are breaking loose, and you are closing the door to the enemy because unforgiveness is an open door. It's an open door to the enemy. The Word says that we cannot have anything in common with the enemy, and unforgiveness is one of those things that will keep us bound. It will keep us from receiving God's blessings. And it will keep the open door to the enemy to come in and bring sickness, disease, poverty, depression, anxiety, addiction, anything he can to keep us from being free and fulfilling our destiny, becoming who we are in Christ. It grieves the Holy Spirit, and it cuts off the flow of mercy and grace and protection and favor from the Lord. Unforgiveness and bitterness Cause sickness to the body. Proverbs 14:30 says, "A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot." Resentment, bitterness literally affects the body, but peace brings life. Bitterness corrodes from the inside. It's scientifically proven that holding on to unforgiveness will bring inflammation into your body, and that inflammation will cause all sorts of sickness and disease. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." So a crushed spirit doesn't just feel heavy, um, you know, you become depressed and anxious, but it also weakens your vitality. 3 John 2 says, beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health as it goes well with your soul. Other versions say that you may prosper as your soul prospers. What does it mean?
