Forgiveness

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

  

Today I saw a huge billboard at an intersection advertising a law firm. It read in big bold letters:  “Been hurt by someone? Then hurt them back!”

God’s Word teaches us exactly the opposite.

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”  (Matthew 6: 14-15).

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18: 21-22).

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13).

My sinful nature urges me to say, “But, God, I cannot forgive them, look what they have done to my child, my spouse, my marriage, my job, my family, my reputation, etc. You don’t really expect me to forgive them, do You?” Then I remember those times of desperation when I have fallen on my knees in repentance pleading, “Oh Lord, please forgive me!!!!!!”

Bruce Larson wrote in Setting Men Free, "a cartoon in the New Yorker magazine showed an exasperated father saying to his prodigal son, ‘This is the fourth time we have killed the fatted calf.’ God does that over and over in our lifetime.”

I know I have caused the slaughter of herds and herds of God’s fatted calves. So my prayer is: Father, may my heart be as forgiving to others as Yours has been to me. I thank You and love You with a grateful heart.

Claudia Jackson