FORGIVE US, AS WE FORGIVE OTHERS

How many of us have fallen for the lie of the devil, that it is okay to have unforgiveness? How many of us have personally said, or heard another say, “you just do not know how wrong they did me” or “I hope God punishes them for what they did to me” or “they ruined my life” or countless other similar statements?

Let us seriously consider the heart of God on forgiving and being forgiven. There was a day when Jesus was approached and asked how we should pray. What is commonly known as the Lord’s prayer is recorded in two of the Gospels.

• Matthew 6:9-13 "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

 
It is also recorded in Luke 11:2-4. The very next words that Matthew recorded of Jesus saying, is a matter of life and death!

• Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

 
The message of the Lord pertaining to the seriousness of forgiving others, is recorded in other places. In the parable about the talents, Matthew 18:23-35, a man was “forgiven much” but refused to forgive another man “of a small debt legitimately owed him.” This resulted in the master saying unto him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." – Matthew 18:32b-35
 
Our Father, generously and with His whole heart, has given us His “mercy and grace” for a multitude of sins and He does not take it lightly when we “refuse to give mercy and grace to others.” And the Lord provided that forgiveness for us out of love, mercy and grace, before we ever asked or were sorry. How dare we think that we can hold a single sin or error done to us, or even a boatload of wrongs from someone, and that it is okay with God. Consider what the Lord told Peter in the following verses.
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• Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

 
This does not mean there is a limit of 490 times. It was a way of saying to keep on forgiving someone. When we pray “forgive us as we forgive us others,” it is very serious. In essence, we are praying, “to be forgiven in the manner, as we are forgiving others” and therefore if “we refuse to forgive,” our “forgiveness is refused also.”

• Luke 6:37-38 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

 
To think we can hold grudges and not forgive others, and still go to heaven, is a lie from the devil. If we believe this lie, we will still go to hell. The measure of mercy and grace we give, is the measure of mercy and grace, God gives us.

If we have ought with anyone and it seems totally justified and we refuse to forgive them, even if they never even ask for it, we must realize that it will cost us eternally. By “demanding justice” instead of “giving mercy,” we are “requiring justice” upon ourselves and voiding the mercy we could be receiving.

We can go to church, read our Bibles, pray and even do good works, but if we refuse to forgive someone, no matter how bad the wrong is, we better be prepared to pay the eternal consequences.

This message might seem harsh, but time is of the essence. Everyday wasted believing the lie of the devil, that it is okay and justified to not forgive, is robbing us of the mercy and life that Jesus has for us and if we die in such a state, eternal death and hellfire awaits us.

If you are struggling over an issue, ask the Lord for help. Get counselling if need be, but make the choice to forgive and ask the Lord to help you continue doing so. It is not a onetime thing. At some point, a word will be said, an emotional reminder will come up, and one has to choose to keep forgiving. Eventually, one will even be able to pray for the one that did them or their loved one wrong, just as Jesus did on the cross (Luke 23:34). This is the kind of love that can only come from God, agape love. And the Holy Spirit is with us to help us love in His manner. In our own flesh, I believe it is almost impossible, but with God, it is totally possible.

• John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

 
The Lord never asks us to do something that He is not willing and able to help us do! The Holy Spirit is with us to help us live the life that the Lord has for us. There is nothing like having the slate clean between us and God but it is natural from time to time to fall into a snare of the enemy and for us to have to realize it, repent and ask the Lord to help us get back to where we need to be.


Prayer: Lord, help us to never let anything come between us and You. Please forgive us for the times we seriously fall and the little times too. Help us to forgive, and even love, as You have forgiven and loved us. And please help us in the days ahead to keep forgiving. We need Your help in every way, every day. Thank You Lord for Your mercy and grace and for the opportunity to pass it on. In the Name of Jesus, amen.


Eli Cockrell

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