Sid: My guest by way of telephone is RT Kendall, I’m speaking to him in his home in Key Largo, Florida. RT is the former Senior Minister from Westminster Chapel in London, England. He holds a PhD from Oxford University. But as far as I’m concerned this book I’m holding in my hands is a key to have you change your whole destiny, your whole life. The title “Total Forgiveness” subtitle “When Everything in You Wants to Hold a Grudge, Point a Finger and Remember the Pain God Wants You to Lay It All Aside.” What did Oral Roberts say when he read this book?
RT: Well, I was almost overwhelmed. He said he’s 80 years old he said “It’s one of the best books that he’s read in his whole life and that if he had a choice between a fortune and this book he would choose this book.” Now that’s what he said. What has been so thrilling is to have endorsement of a man like Oral Roberts who’s on one end of the theological spectrum and then D. James Kennedy at the other end.
Sid: Well I’m going to read his quote “This is a book that should be read around the world.” D. James Kennedy.
RT: And then Tony Campolo has just sent in a endorsement that will come in a future edition and I was just thrilled at what he said “This is a book that crosses denominational and theological lines. Because I don’t care if whether you’re a Calvinist or a Charismatic nearly everybody that you’ve run into they’ve had some problem at sometime forgiving somebody.”
Sid: Let me ask you a question before time slips away something when I was just having conversation with John Arnott the pastor from the Toronto Church where I was speaking a few weeks ago and he was telling me about how forgiveness is a key for healing and he told me a story and something just exploded inside of me something I didn’t personally do that I needed to do. And that was before I was a believer and even after I was a believer when I sinned I repented and God completely forgave me and I knew it, however I really was beating myself up I hadn’t forgiven myself.
RT: Hm.
Sid: And I immediately when I found this key if you will I held up these sins that I knew I was forgiven for from the past, I knew that God didn’t remember them anymore and I asked God, I told God “I choose to forgive myself” and I could feel layers coming off of me.
RT: Well I have a whole section in the book “Total Forgiveness” on forgiving yourself.
Sid: Now tell me a couple of keys.
RT: Well the key is realized God wants you to forgive yourself and if God wants you to do it and you don’t forgive yourself you’re in disobedience. And it’s a form of self-righteousness as if you’re going to punish yourself for doing it, He’s not punishing you. What are you trying to do atone for your own sins…
Sid: (Laughing)
RT: For not forgiving yourself? So it’s a selfish thing we think it’s kind of unselfish but it’s the opposite and it’s counter-productive and another point of total forgiveness it’s not total until you have forgiven God, you’ve forgiven them, and you have forgiven yourself.
Sid: Now you know some thing that concerns me is that’s when you just said “Forgiving God.” There are many people that falsely blame God for circumstances that they’ve triggered by their own actions or the devil has done and it’s such a misunderstanding I don’t see how anyone in their right mind could be angry with God it’s a lack of knowledge that causes this.
RT: Well they have to forgive God nonetheless that he let it happen and a lot of people their bitterness is ultimately directed at God Himself they don’t realize it at first.
Sid: You have an acrostic in your Chapter 4 “Playing God.” It is sooo important, explain that.
RT: An acrostic is a word when you spell it it will summarize a premise a major point. For example this acrostic is need n-e-e-d so when you get ready to speak ask will saying this meet the other person’s need so you put it through:
First – Is it necessary?
Second – Will it encourage?
Third – Will it edify?
Fourth – Will it dignify that person?
Need – necessary, encourage, edify, dignify.
And if we can have presence of mind to remember those four things every time we open our mouth: Is it necessary to say this? Is this going to encourage? Is this going to edify? And will it dignify that person? We would say maybe 1/10 of what we might have said and it will help curve our tongue as much as anything I’ve come across. It’s just a little acrostic to say the Lord gave me that I don’t want to push it that hard but it certainly been a blessing to people and I’ve had people come up to me and say “That’s the best thing they’ve ever come across” to help them in their daily lives when they’re getting ready to speak to avoid the unguarded calm action “Will it meet a need in that other person? Is it necessary? Will it encourage? Does it edify and does it dignify that person?
Sid: You many times when I’m speaking I’m praying about the “What do You want me to say Lord?” I’m talking about when I’m speaking publically and then I’ll have a thought about something and then I’ll have an immediate thought “It doesn’t edify.” And I…even though what I saying is true I shouldn’t say it I get checked.
RT: Exactly. Well I think at the end of the day the ultimate proof that you’ve totally forgiven is when you ask the Lord to forgive them and bless them as though they didn’t do anything at all. And when you can say “Father forgive them” and mean it. You know Jesus didn’t say “I forgive you.” He said “Father You forgive them You let them off the hook.”
Sid: In other words when you say “Well I’ll forgive them,” but in our heart we hope God will send down His…
RT: Yeah.
Sid: His lightning on them. (Laughing)
RT: That’s it so when you ask God to do it He…one day it was kind of like the Lord said back to me RT do you really want me to bless them, you want me to bless them as though they didn’t even do anything? And I had to think “Woops hang on…second.” We sometimes say “Lord bless them but we hope He doesn’t.”
Sid: Well the ultimate to me is of course Jesus but the one that I’m thinking of is Steven he’s being stone to death and he saying “Don’t hold this sin against them.” How could he have even done that?
RT: You just touched one of my heroes. The key to the anointing of Steven that shine on his face he looked like an angel.
Sid: Right.
RT: He had totally forgiven those people he had totally forgiven them that’s why he had that anointing. And when they pray for people they say “Lord I just commit these people to you. That’s not good enough God wants us to say “Lord do forgive them, do bless them.” And that’s when they’re set free, we’re set free, we set God free.
Sid: RT we just have a couple of minutes left I want to redeem the time. The most important that the Holy Spirit could present on this subject please tell us.
RT: The way not to grieve the Spirit is never to point the finger. In my own personal life I read Luke 6:37 every day of the year “Do not judge and you will not be judged, do not condemn and you will not be condemned, forgive and you will be forgiven.” I read it every day because I want to be sure that every day all day long I do nothing to grieve the Spirit because I just want a greater anointing. And I know that when I speak against people, when I gossip, or when I point the finger the dove the Holy Spirit will flutter away it’s the last thing I want. So the bottom line to keep the anointing and to see the anointing increased it’s a lifestyle of total forgiveness.
Sid: That is the thought, we still have a little time but you know a big one that I notice RT is when someone hurts someone that I love I might take up a greater offense than the person they even hurt.
RT: You know Sid you’re about to open Pandora’s box right at the end of this week but I need to tell you the hardest time that I ever have in forgiving is when they’ve hurt our children. And we’ve seen eyes of our kids hurt I remember one day one Sunday and I looked at the congregation and there was a person that had hurt our daughter I mean hurt her deeply. And I thought “How dare that person come into this church like that.” And it was like the Lord said to me “Wait a minute you’re praying for revival. What if revival were withheld all because you want me to condemn that person?” And I just immediately it took all of grace I could come up with. It was like you know the story of Cory Ten Boone when she saw the man that had been so cruel to her?
Sid: I do but unfortunately we don’t have enough time.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth