Forgiveness

14“For if you forgive others their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. 15But if you don’t forgive others,  your Father will not forgive your offences."

                                                                     Matthew 6:14-15  CSB

God is not pleased when we refuse to forgive other people their sins against us and yet, expect to receive forgiveness from Him. Let us not forget, that He died on a cross for each one of us - to cancel our sins and give us the hope of eternal life. By giving Jesus our lives and receiving Him into our hearts, we are then committed to obeying His will.

Holding un-forgiveness in our hearts is not good for us; it leads to bitterness and the only places that bitterness can dwell is in our hearts and memory. The only power it can have over us, is the power we  give it. Think about that.

We give bitterness and bad memories the power to disable us. Some days, it is all we think about. Other days, we are ok but, the memory is still within us - that root of bitterness and certain things we encounter can be reignited and brought back to life. Ask yourself: 

Is this the best for us? Is this what God wants? Are we in error? Read v15 again: 'But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offences.' Now, that is a disturbing thought.

When we fail to forgive someone, we are carrying sin around with us; and this means we are not in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Sin is blocking the way. This is a bad situation to be in. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:10-11: 

10Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven — if I have forgiven anything — it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, 11so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes. We have to be careful that we don't open the door to Satan. He is only too willing for you to let him into a situation and, refusing to forgive someone, he will have a heyday with. In just a very short time, if you're not careful, he will have caused chaos and division. He has done this with numerous churches and Christian people throughout the world. Don't give him the chance. Whatever it is - Forgive!

Just remember, when we forgive, Jesus forgives us too and that means all of the inner things that no one knows about, that go on in our life.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now:

Lord Jesus, I have sinned   

I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today.

In Jesus' Name. Amen'

Copyright 2024 Grahame Howard.                                

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