“If you forgive those who sin against you, your Father will forgive you.” Matthew 6:15 NLT.
A forgiving heart offers love undeserved and unmeasured.
My thoughts and comments today are about “a forgiving heart.”
There will not be a shortage of offenses, nor a lack of opportunities – really necessities – to have and express a forgiving heart. “It is impossible that no offenses should come . . “ Luke 17:1 NKJV. Your personal experience will confirm that reality, and the Bible’s counsel is, “Get rid of all bitterness . . Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:30-32 NIV.
Relationships create an emotional proximity that occasionally results in misunderstandings, minor and major. When someone hurts or fails you, remember your own need for grace. When disappointed in a relationship, the grace of God is readily available to you; don’t depreciate God’s provision and nor delay claiming it. Pay attention to the Bible’s warning: “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15 NIV. The bitter fruit of an unforgiving heart is a disposition that colors your life, interpreting the past and projecting the future.
The time immediately following an offense is precarious. Don’t let moments become minutes which soon extend to hours, days, and longer until the hurt grows bigger in your thoughts and settles deeper in your feelings. Forgiveness, or unforgiveness, is not as complicated as people make them to be; it’s simple really. Jesus said, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your Heavenly Father will forgive you. If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Romans 12:21,Matthew 6:14-15 NLT.
The Kingdom of God sets a high standard but not an impossible one. An unforgiving heart imposes self-inflicted wounds to one’s spirit. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21 NIV. It has helped me to differentiate between forgiveness and pardon. Forgiveness is honest about hurts while releasing to God all rights of either retribution or pardon. People can forgive; only God can pardon. Only God has perfect knowledge and sufficient grace to pardon.
Forgiveness does not claim wrong to be right, nor does it deny guilt. A forgiving heart offers love undeserved and unmeasured, neither self-imposing consequences nor demanding God withholds mercy and grace. Such a benevolent act of grace releases God to pardon, if He wills. Paul understood the purpose and extent of grace; “God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.” Read Romans 2:1-11 NIV.
My prayer this day for you is that you will trust God to set wrongs right with others.