In Philippians 2:5, Paul wrote, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” Bottom line is “Our heart should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…” Jesus had a loving, caring, serving, and a forgiving heart. All of us are to have a forgiving heart as well. Alexander Pope once said, “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” That is true. We do sin and the Lord forgives. If we are to have a heart like Jesus, He is one who forgave. Jesus had a forgiving heart and the same should be said of His children.
I have often said and truly believe that forgiving others is easier said than done. We are quick to accept the fact that God can, will, and does forgive us of our sins. But we are not quick to forgive others when they do us wrong. Jesus was one who had a heart that forgave. He didn’t come to earth to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). He came to redeem us from sin and death. He was the only perfect, sinless person to ever walk the earth.
He doesn’t have to forgive; He could condemn us. He has the right to because of who He is. I like the song in our books, “I Keep Falling In Love With Him.” One of the lines goes like this, “He keeps cleansing me over, and over and over, and over and over again!”
I keep sinning and He keeps forgiving! I am imperfect, but the perfect one has forgiven me numerous times. When I come to Him and ask for forgiveness, He doesn’t condemn but forgives because He loves me. We need to learn to have the same attitude that Jesus had.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could forgive like Jesus did? He wants us to develop a forgiving heart like He forgives. Let me read what Paul wrote in Colossians 3:13 which says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
The Message Version says, “Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.” I love the verse in Ephesians where Paul talks about forgiving one another. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
From time to time, we sin against others and need to be forgiven. Sometimes others will do wrong to us, and we need to forgive them. When someone does us wrong, one needs to acknowledge their sin and seek to be forgiven.
Biblical forgiveness is where the wrongdoer confesses, “I have singed against you, and I need you to forgive me.” The one wronged will either forgive the person or not. The truth is you have the choice to forgive someone or not.
You own the choices you make in life. Hopefully, Lord willing, we will forgive others as God in Christ as forgiven us. Thankfully, God has dealt with our sins through Jesus.
He has shown grace and mercy towards us in taking our place on the cross. For that, we should be eternally grateful. In love, God forgives us and removes the debt of our sins. He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west Psalm 103:12.
To forgive others is a decision to drop the offense and to let it go. Forgiveness involves releasing the guilty party from the guilt of their sin. God, when He forgives, declares us to be not guilty. When we forgive someone else, we are declaring them to be not guilty as well.
There is a benefit in forgiving others. When we forgive others, we get rid of the bitterness that can eat away at our souls. Relationships can be restored with others as well. But when we forgive others, we are doing that which God commands and therefore, glorifying God. Shouldn’t we desire to glorify God in all that we do?
Forgiving others is part of the Christian life. We need to remember how much God has forgiven us in Christ. We don’t deserve His grace and mercy, but He shows it to us anyway. We deserve judgment, but we receive forgiveness and love.
Let’s say we are sitting in the theater, and we are about to watch the latest movie that we have been wanting to see. Instead of the movie we want to see, the movie is an unedited, undeleted story of or your entire life. How many in here want to see that movie version?
I would say that not many of us want to go back and relive some parts of our lives. This movie would contain everything you ever said, every unclean and impure thought, and all the things you ever did in secret that nobody knows about. The things you thought you got away with.
I don’t want to see that and thank God, that doesn’t exist. When I look at the sins I have committed, God throws my sins into the depths of the sea never to be brought up again.
Having been forgiven so much from God above, He commands us to forgive other people who do lesser sins against us. In third grade English, the one who wrongs us is a sinner in need of God’s grace as well. Be kind and forgiven towards all.
Think about the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15! Just because the other person hasn’t asked to be forgiven, you can do as my friend Zach Neal posted on Facebook the other day: “You can forgive someone even if they don’t ask for forgiveness.”
General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley, “I never forgive and I never forget,” and John Wesley said, “Then, sir, I hope you never sin.” Because we all sin, we all need forgiveness and we all need to forgive, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.
May we all seek to have a heart like His!
I have often said and truly believe that forgiving others is easier said than done. We are quick to accept the fact that God can, will, and does forgive us of our sins. But we are not quick to forgive others when they do us wrong. Jesus was one who had a heart that forgave. He didn’t come to earth to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). He came to redeem us from sin and death. He was the only perfect, sinless person to ever walk the earth.
He doesn’t have to forgive; He could condemn us. He has the right to because of who He is. I like the song in our books, “I Keep Falling In Love With Him.” One of the lines goes like this, “He keeps cleansing me over, and over and over, and over and over again!”
I keep sinning and He keeps forgiving! I am imperfect, but the perfect one has forgiven me numerous times. When I come to Him and ask for forgiveness, He doesn’t condemn but forgives because He loves me. We need to learn to have the same attitude that Jesus had.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could forgive like Jesus did? He wants us to develop a forgiving heart like He forgives. Let me read what Paul wrote in Colossians 3:13 which says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
The Message Version says, “Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.” I love the verse in Ephesians where Paul talks about forgiving one another. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
From time to time, we sin against others and need to be forgiven. Sometimes others will do wrong to us, and we need to forgive them. When someone does us wrong, one needs to acknowledge their sin and seek to be forgiven.
Biblical forgiveness is where the wrongdoer confesses, “I have singed against you, and I need you to forgive me.” The one wronged will either forgive the person or not. The truth is you have the choice to forgive someone or not.
You own the choices you make in life. Hopefully, Lord willing, we will forgive others as God in Christ as forgiven us. Thankfully, God has dealt with our sins through Jesus.
He has shown grace and mercy towards us in taking our place on the cross. For that, we should be eternally grateful. In love, God forgives us and removes the debt of our sins. He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west Psalm 103:12.
To forgive others is a decision to drop the offense and to let it go. Forgiveness involves releasing the guilty party from the guilt of their sin. God, when He forgives, declares us to be not guilty. When we forgive someone else, we are declaring them to be not guilty as well.
There is a benefit in forgiving others. When we forgive others, we get rid of the bitterness that can eat away at our souls. Relationships can be restored with others as well. But when we forgive others, we are doing that which God commands and therefore, glorifying God. Shouldn’t we desire to glorify God in all that we do?
Forgiving others is part of the Christian life. We need to remember how much God has forgiven us in Christ. We don’t deserve His grace and mercy, but He shows it to us anyway. We deserve judgment, but we receive forgiveness and love.
Let’s say we are sitting in the theater, and we are about to watch the latest movie that we have been wanting to see. Instead of the movie we want to see, the movie is an unedited, undeleted story of or your entire life. How many in here want to see that movie version?
I would say that not many of us want to go back and relive some parts of our lives. This movie would contain everything you ever said, every unclean and impure thought, and all the things you ever did in secret that nobody knows about. The things you thought you got away with.
I don’t want to see that and thank God, that doesn’t exist. When I look at the sins I have committed, God throws my sins into the depths of the sea never to be brought up again.
Having been forgiven so much from God above, He commands us to forgive other people who do lesser sins against us. In third grade English, the one who wrongs us is a sinner in need of God’s grace as well. Be kind and forgiven towards all.
Think about the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15! Just because the other person hasn’t asked to be forgiven, you can do as my friend Zach Neal posted on Facebook the other day: “You can forgive someone even if they don’t ask for forgiveness.”
General Oglethorpe once said to John Wesley, “I never forgive and I never forget,” and John Wesley said, “Then, sir, I hope you never sin.” Because we all sin, we all need forgiveness and we all need to forgive, just as God in Christ has forgiven us.
May we all seek to have a heart like His!