“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:35
Jesus had just finished a parable about a man who was forgiven of millions of dollars, then went out and refused to forgive a man of a few dollars. This man was then thrown into jail until he could pay everything.
Talking about forgiving someone is very common with parents with little children. One child hurts the other. The parent tells the one who did the injury to apologize, then tells the injured one to forgive the other. Very often you may hear the child say “I forgive you, but I still hate you”.
This is an example of not forgiving from the heart.
As a believer, Jesus stated that you are to forgive everyone as many times as it takes. He actually said seventy times seven times.
Everyone loves to be forgiven of a debt that they owe or for a wrong they have done. Many plead to be forgiven in a court for a wrong that they had done. Very few, however, are willing to forgive a wrong or debt owed to them.
Forgiveness from the heart is one that will forgive and forget the wrong. It is very easy to state that you forgive a person, but not so easy to forget it.
How often do you remember all the wrongs a person has done to you? How often do people bring up the past wrongs in an argument or when something was done wrong again?
In life, you have done many things wrong against God. When you go to God and ask for forgiveness, He grants it. God does not, later, bring up that sin again. It is forgotten and in the past.
Every time you forgive someone, you must forgive in the same way. Let it go. It has been proven it will help you relax and live life better.
The main reason to forgive, though, is to think about how much God has forgiven you. Do not allow the hurt and pain to keep you from forgiving someone. If you do not forgive a person, God cannot forgive you. Live like Jesus did. He forgave when He was crucified.
I pray today that God will fill you with His love for people to forgive them; that God will show you how much you have been forgiven; that God will strengthen you to forgive; and that you will forgive from your heart, not just in words.
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