“And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…..For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
If we are honest with ourselves we will agree that we sometimes wish Jesus had not said the words printed above on forgiveness. However, they are there in black (or red) and white in the Holy Bible. Let’s just admit that there are times when we would like to hang onto our unforgiveness for awhile. At these times we need to remember that Jesus is not telling us to hang onto unforgiving spirits. This kind of thinking could only come from Satan. Forgiveness is indispensable in our lives. Let’s begin with the most important aspect of this: We should be forgiving because we have been forgiven. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:13, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Paul did not make this a suggestion to the Colossians but as a command. Because Christ has forgiven us, we must forgive one another. In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus told the parable of a man who had been forgiven a ten thousand talent debt by the king. (This would be millions of dollars today.) After the man was forgiven this great debt, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him “an hundred pence,” a mere pittance. He would not forgive this small debt. When his fellow servants saw what he did, knowing what he had been forgiven, they reported to the king, and the man had to pay the penalty for his great debt. Like all of Jesus’ parables, He was not just talking about this man but about us as well. In verses 34-35, Jesus said: “And his lord was wroth (angry), and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.” The point is that since we have been forgiven the great debt of our sins, Jesus expects us to forgive others. Let’s admit that forgiveness is not always easy. Some things are easily forgiven, but others are not so easily forgiven. If what was done to us was like a small pin prick, we can easily forgive. But if what was done to us hurt deeply, we do not find forgiving so easily done. I know this from experience, and so do you if you are honest with yourself. Jesus said, however, that we are to “forgive everyone his brother their trespasses.” This means that we are to forgive every trespass. In the hard cases we will have to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us forgive. We will have to remember the depth of Jesus’ forgiveness from the cross when He prayed: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” The Jewish and Roman authorities put Jesus through a false trial, beat Him unmercifully, drove nails into His hands and feet and stretched Him out on a cross to die. Yet He forgave all who did this to Him, including us, for our sins put Jesus on the cross too. There have been times when I have had a difficult time forgiving, that I have said to myself: “They did not nail me to a cross,” meaning that they have not treated me as badly as Jesus was treated. Jesus set the example for us. It behooves us, then, to forgive one another. Remember that in order to be in good fellowship with God and fellow Christians, we need to forgive “everyone his brother their trespasses.” Go ahead and forgive now. There is no better time than the present. You will be a better person for it, and your life will be better for it. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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