Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seven times seven.
Forgiving others as God forgives us
How do we feel when others have done us wrong in life? When this happens, how do we deal with it? I feel it is safe to say that it is our human nature to get back at those people who may have hurt us in some way.
However, God says differently. How do we find it in our hearts to forgive?
Do we ever again want to speak to those who may have cast a dark shadow upon us, or just hold a grudge in our hearts towards them forever? Most likely, yes but Jesus does not see it that way. He makes it clear that if we do not forgive others, our Heavenly Father (God), will not forgive us. As Christians, our lives are to be displayed as an open book living for Jesus Christ while we are here on earth.
According to God’s Word, forgiving others should not even be an issue with us if we proclaim to be a true Christian. In this week’s scripture, Jesus told Peter that he was to forgive his brother, not only once, but seventy times seven. God’s Word teaches us that if we as Christians fail to forgive others, then we will not be forgiven. What is the definition of the word ‘forgive’? The Webster’s II New College Dictionary states that to forgive someone is to excuse for a fault or offense: to pardon. Does God pardon our sins when we ask forgiveness? Does He judge us for the way we treat others? And does He know our hearts and intentions before we even know them ourselves? The answer is “Yes” to all of the above. I am not an expert on the topic of forgiving others, but God has led me to write this week’s article on ‘forgiveness’. We all should search our hearts. Should we find a hidden grudge or an unforgiving spirit inside then we need to ask God to delete it. We cannot do these things on our own because we are only human and God knows our every weakness. To overcome those fiery darts that Satan throws at us daily, we must pray no matter where we are. God always answers knee mail, chair mail, standing room only mail, and while driving in the car mail. How wonderful it is that we do not have to pay for a lifeline to God like we pay our monthly cell phone bill! Just think; if that was the case, we all would probably be over our airtime minutes, or at least, I know I would be.
As a child of God, we can have an open, life-long communication line directly to Heaven. I believe that we all would be a lot happier if we keep God in our lives and put Him first.
Post a Comment
