Forgiving in an Unforgiving World

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13

     As Christians, we are called by God to forgive as He forgave us. What a difficult, but important task this is! We know it feels good when someone forgives us for something we have said or done. I know it makes me feel wonderful when someone that I have hurt by my words or actions forgives me and in turn I try to forgive, from the bottom of my heart, when someone has hurt me.
     But it’s hard to forgive sometimes isn’t it? Sometimes it is easier, and actually feels good, to hold a grudge. Why is that? Why is it hard for us to forgive? I believe that part of the problem is our society. We don’t live in a world that stresses a love your neighbor and treat others the way you want to be treated attitude. We live in a world that stresses a sue your neighbor for whatever you can get and treat your neighbor the way they treat you attitude.
     Another reason I believe it is hard to forgive and sometimes feels good not to is because the Devil wants us to fail. I know that may sound juvenile, but we have to realize that Satan is at work in our society. He wants you to be unforgiving and unloving so he makes it feel good to do the wrong thing. As women, we need to overcome this attitude for our children and ourselves. They need to see a spirit of forgiveness in us so strong that it counteracts our society’s attitudes and that pesky Devil’s plan (see 2 Corinthians 2:5-11).

     The bible is very clear that we are called to be forgiving in our nature. In the book of Mark, chapter eleven, verse twenty-five, Jesus says “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” This verse makes it clear that we are to be forgiving of each other so that God will forgive us. In the book of Matthew, chapter eighteen, verse twenty-two, Jesus tells Peter that he should forgive his brother seventy-seven times (NIV). This was Jesus’ way of saying there should be no limit on our forgiveness.
     Jesus continues in Matthew chapter eighteen with a story about an unmerciful servant. This servant went to his master with a debt that was so great he could never pay it off. He begged his master to be patient and the master forgave the entire debt. This servant then went out and found a fellow servant who owed him money and demanded payment. When the fellow servant begged for patience, the first servant refused to be merciful and had his fellow servant thrown in prison until he could pay the debt. When the master heard what had happened he called in the servant whom he had forgiven and had him turned over to the jailers to be tortured until he paid back his debt. Jesus then says in verse thirty-five, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from you heart.” If we expect our heavenly Father to forgive us, then we must forgive others. This very simple story tells us what will happen if we don’t.

     While it is hard sometimes to forgive others, I believe it can be even harder to forgive ourselves. You may have done something in the past that keeps dragging you down and making you think that you will never get over it. We have to let those things go and God will help. Psalm eighteen verses fifteen says, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” When you find yourself in the deep waters of unforgiveness, call out to the Lord. He will pull you out and give you the strength you need to overcome. He will rescue you because He delights in you (Psalm 18:19).

Lord,

Please help me to have a spirit of forgiveness. Help me to lovingly forgive others from the bottom of my heart. I want to be the best that I can be and I know that You will help me to achieve that. Help me to be aware of Satan’s schemes and keep me from falling victim to this world’s ways. You know the depths of my heart so please give me the strength I need to get rid of the past and carry on for you. Thank you for sending your son Jesus to die for me on the cross so that I may be forgiven and can one day fully enter into your presence. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Noodles are Noodles and God has Forgiven Us

     If you walk down the pasta aisle in your local supermarket, you are faced with many choices. There’s rigatoni, linguine, lasagna, penne, fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, pasta fusilli, thin spaghetti, and the list goes on and on. You can choose what your pasta is made from such as rice, whole grains, or even vegetables. The options are endless but when you boil it down (pun intended!), they are all still noodles.

     Sin is the same way. There are many different types of sin. They look different on the outside, but when all the labels are taken away, they are still just sins. God doesn’t differentiate between sins. In His eyes, a sin is a sin. He doesn’t look at sin the way we do. We sometimes think that one sin, such as murder, is worse than another sin, such as lying. We believe ourselves to be better than someone who has committed a sin that we think is worse.

     I would like to share a story from the Old Testament with you. It is found in the book of second Chronicles in Chapter thirty-three. It is the story of Manasseh. Manasseh became the king of Judah at the age of twelve and was a very evil man. He worshiped idols, and built altars to them in the Lord’s temple (verse four). He sacrificed his sons in a fire, practiced sorcery and witchcraft and consulted mediums and spirits (verse six). It is also believed that Manasseh had the prophet Isaiah sawed in half.

     In verse eleven it says, “the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him in bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.”  Ouch!  Can you imagine being marched cross-country with a hook in you nose?  I have to be honest when I say I think Manasseh deserved every bit of suffering the Lord put him through.

     Verses twelve and thirteen are where you will find my whole point in sharing this story. In verse twelve it says that Manasseh sought “the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly”. Verse thirteen tells us that God was moved so much by Manasseh’s prayer that he returned him to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Can you imagine God being humbled by this mans prayer?  After everything he had done as a king, he sought God so humbly that his prayer moved the Lord!

     For many Christians, the concept of being completely forgiven for all of our sins is hard to grasp. We sometimes think there is no way God can forgive us for what we have done. We harbor this fear in us that we have done something that is just too horrible for God to forgive us. I hope you realize that there is nothing God can’t or won’t forgive you for. He loves us so much!  Even before He sent His son to die on the cross for us, He loved mankind so much that a man like Manasseh was completely forgiven!  Colossians chapter two, verse thirteen tells us that God forgives us all our sins. Not just the small, seemingly un-harmful ones. He forgives all of them. 

Heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for forgiving us. Thank you for loving us so much that you sent your son to die on the cross so that we could one day live in your presence. Please help us to remember that sins are sins no matter what label we put on them and all we have to do is sincerely humble ourselves before You and You will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Amen