Quick to Forgive
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
The blessing, as we have discussed, is what Jesus came to give us. However, we often short-circuit the blessing from working in our lives due to how we respond to and treat others. Remember that all things related to the Kingdom of God work by faith, in love.
We must first believe what is available to us and receive it by faith. Many people have stopped there using the steps of faith as some kind of formula to get God to perform for them. First of all, the promises of God are already available. We don’t have to twist God’s arm or beg Him to bestow the blessing on us. He already gave us the blessing through Jesus. However, we tend to forget about the love part – especially forgiveness.
Jesus taught how to use faith in Mark 11:22-24, “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
I could spend a lot of time teaching how to use your faith from the scriptures above, but your faith will be unfruitful if you leave out Jesus’ instruction/warning in verses 25-26. He said, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
That is a sobering passage of scripture, but it’s the hard truth. Jesus forgave our sins and expects us to do the same to others. That doesn’t mean that you condone what they did (Jesus doesn’t condone our sin), but you make it possible for your life to be blessed by forgiving others.
Dear Lord, thank you for forgiving me of my sins. In return, I will purpose to forgive those who have wronged me. Give me the strength to forgive when my flesh is weak. Amen.
