“…bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Colossians 3:13
November 16, 2022
The Scriptures are clear on this. We are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. This is no easy task. That old monster, the sin nature, fights against forgiveness with tooth and claw. When that moment of truth arrives and we know we need to ask someone’s forgiveness, we have to think in the following way. (1) When it is I who has sinned, I must first of all repent of that sin to God. The Greek word for forgiveness is different here than in Ephesians 1:7 (yesterday’s Morning Minute). It is a word that comes from the word “grace.” It means “to act graciously, to show grace.” We forgive because we want to, not because we have to. (2) I must go to the one against whom I have sinned and ask for their forgiveness. (3) I must forgive those who have repented and who ask for my forgiveness. In so doing I release them from the sin debt against me and do not hold it against them. I promise not to bring up the sin again. This is like an act of cleansing as when I wash chocolate ice cream from around a child’s mouth. Tomorrow we will address some commonly asked questions about forgiveness. In the meantime, is there someone I need to ask for forgiveness. Maybe I accused someone of being a liar without knowing the facts of the matter. Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and lay bare any sin that needs attention. How sweet forgiveness is, both for the forgiven and the forgiver. H
“He that demands mercy, and shows none, ruins the bridge over which he himself is to pass.” Thomas Adams