BY SRH
Someone who is a Christian but doesn’t forgive is a contradiction in terms. It is not right to say that you follow Jesus Christ but still hold grudges against other people. Because of this, we can now talk about the last amazing truth for this week: when you forgive, you are more like God than ever.
It was Alexander Pope who said, “To err is human; to forgive is divine.” There is a big difference between us and God when we are willing to forgive, because God forgives. He makes this clear all through the Bible.
In Exodus 34:6–7, it says, “The Lord went in front of Moses and yelled, ‘There you are!'” The Lord! The compassionate and kind God! My temper is slow to flare, and I love and trust you no matter what. I give love that never ends to a thousand people. I forgive sin, wrongdoing, and guilt. But I don’t let bad people off the hook. He wants His people to know that He forgives them, so He puts the sins of the parents on their children and grandchildren. The whole family is affected, even children in the third and fourth generations. But we have to forgive too if we want to be like Him.
Many times during His ministry on earth, Jesus talked about the subject of forgiveness. A lot of His stories had this as a theme. In His private talks with His disciples, He brought up the problem over and over again.
“And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us” (Matthew 6:12 NLT) is what Jesus said when He showed us how to pray. In that way, God’s forgiveness and our forgiveness must be very connected. He also said, “May your Kingdom come soon,” in the same verse. “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (NLT, verse 10). What’s going on in Heaven? The praise of God, the honoring of Christ, and the forgiveness of sins. Because of this, we should worship God. We should praise Jesus Christ. Also, we should forgive each other.
It’s clear that God doesn’t play down the seriousness of sin or how it affects our connection with Him. But when we say we’re sorry, He chooses to forgive us and fix the relationship, not because He wants to, but because He really wants to. This is also how we should feel when we forgive others. Even when we’ve done bad things, God still wants the best for us.
