Thought of the Day: #22 "Forgiveness"

            There’s a great song by Toby Mac that’s entitled “Forgiveness.”  It has to do with how we are forgiven by Christ.  We love to sing about forgiveness.  We love to know that we’re forgiven by God.  We love to read verses in the Bible about God’s forgiveness.  What we don’t like so much is when it’s our turn to forgive others.

            Grant it forgiveness comes easier for some but, for others it does not.  I have experienced being forgiven by others and not being forgiven as well as forgiving others myself.  I have to admit, I have been tempted to not forgive, especially when what was done to me hurt me or someone that I love but, God was not pleased with that.  Conviction hit my heart; I turned to Scripture, asked God to help me forgive and then forgave.

            Its way too easy to forget that we are forgiven by God because of what His Son did on the cross for us!  We gladly accept God’s forgiveness but begrudgingly forgive others.  There’s a parable that Jesus taught about this very topic that can be found in Mathew 18:21-35.  The parable is about a man that owed, in our money today, about 10 million dollars to the king.  He begged the king to forgive his debt and the king forgave him! “The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” Matthew 18:27 (NIV) Do you know what this forgiven debtor dared to do?  There was someone that owed him money.  In fact, what was owed was about a day’s wages, a whole lot less than what he had owed the king.  Do you think he forgave the debt?

            Not only did he not forgive the debt, he threw the man in prison!  When the king that had forgiven him learned of this he became very angry.  “…‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.’” Matthew 18:32-34

            We know that if we ask with all our heart to be forgiven by God we will, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV) We need to forgive others as well. “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV) When we are faced with a need to forgive lets pray about it. God will give us the ability to forgive and the ability to let it go in our hearts. 

Just in case you’re curious about Toby Mac’s song here’s the link from You Tube: http://youtu.be/xfkhqpl81NA

 

Thank you for reading! God bless you my dear friends!

 

If you or someone you know would like to read my devotionals in Spanish please visit my Spanish blog at www.MinisterioReflejandolaVerdad.blogspot.com