December 3, 2018 ● 18-7
Psalm 86:5: For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.
Eph. 4:32: Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Col. 3:13: bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
Forgiveness is not forgetting that something happened. People can act in terrible ways towards others, they can say the most hurtful words, and those words can wound and those wounds go deep and can last a long time, even a life time.
Forgiveness is a choice. I will either choose to forgive or I will choose not to forgive. Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. Something can happen in our lives, we did something we regret and we carry that around with us for years, and that is exactly what Satan wants you to do. The longer you carry that burden with you, the longer you refuse to forgive yourself and let it go, the more ineffective you are for the kingdom of God.
Forgiveness is not simply choosing to forget because some wounds cannot be forgotten. Forgiveness means you choose to not allow what has happened to control your life, to pull you down, to make you bitter. Forgiveness is choosing to let go of what is making you bitter against another person. I am not saying that forgiveness is easy because it is not. But what I am saying is that if Jesus on the cross of Calvary could forgive those who crucified Him and charged Him falsely and who deserted Him in his greatest hour of need, if He can do that, then as His children by faith, we should be able to forgive as well. Simply put, if God can forgive me, and He did, then I need to learn to forgive as well.