Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors . . . For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
— Matthew 6:14-16
We’re on one topic today and we’re not getting off it till I’m sure you get it.
Nothing will cut a swath of devastation across your soul like unforgiveness. It is the absolute opposite of the life God calls you to live.
I know someone has hurt you and I’m sincerely sorry for that but you don’t have to prove you were right.
You don’t have to demonstrate the superiority of anything.
You’ve got to let it go.
Matthew 6:14-15 says, “If you don’t forgive, my Father won’t forgive you.”
Living in unforgiveness is a barren, tortured existence. Even those of us who have experienced God’s love and forgiveness need to be reminded about what we have received. It’s so easy to slide into a self-centered mess of unforgiveness.
Contrary to what some might think, unforgiveness isn’t private. People will seethe in silence, insisting, This is just between me and him. But that’s not true. It’s also destructive to innocent people around you. How many people in your life have suffered because of an unforgiveness issue in your heart that has absolutely nothing to do with them? It seeps into the tone of all your conversations. It leaks out in your impertinence and impatience, your short temper and rashness. People who you love, who have done nothing wrong, suffer because of the unforgiveness that you’re holding over someone else.
Unforgiveness is sin. It will eat away at your being until you choose the crisis and commit to the process of forgiveness. But that can all change.
This could be an awesome day–you have the choice to change. You have the chance to choose. I wonder if heaven is leaning over you and wondering what choice you are going to make. Your destiny depends on it.
To clarify, you are not saved by forgiving, but forgiving is what saved people do. This is one of the litmus tests for reality. Making the choice to forgive is one of the things that prove you truly belong to God.
Father, it must grieve Your heart even more than ours to live in such a dark world where people say things and do things that wound so deeply. But by Your grace I can forgive. I can simply release the pain to You and let it go. I choose by an act of my will to trust You and Your Word. I’m not going to hold it over the person who hurt me anymore when I have to see him or talk to him. I’m not going to go over it in my mind anymore. I want to handle it as You would. I want to be a forgiving person.
Forgive me for my pride, my anger, and the pointed comments that reveal the woundedness in my heart. Cover me with Your love. Let Your grace displace all that is ugly and angry and unforgiving in me. By Your grace, I choose to forgive.
In His name. Amen.
James MacDonald – Walk in the Word 2008
On this day...
- The Desperate Personal Search - 2008
- INSTANT IN SEASON - 2008
- The Arrow of Infinite Desire - 2008
- Living at a Fever Pitch - 2008
- Refuges of Lies - 2008
- John 1:7 - 2008
- Psalms 91:5 - 2007
- Acts 5:31 - 2007
- Born After Midnight - 2007
- Psalms 62:8 - 2007
0 Comments