GOD'S FORGIVENESS
And forgive us our sins, for we also
forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but
deliver us from the evil one."
(NKJV)
Forgiveness is the exclusive
prerogative of Christianity. The schools of ancient morality had four cardinal
virtues; justice in human relations; prudence in the direction of affairs;
fortitude in bearing trouble or sorrow; temperance or self-restraint. But they
knew nothing of mercy or forgiveness, which is not natural to the human heart.
Forgiveness is an exotic, which Christ brought with Him from heaven. As long as
He lived on earth, He forgave, and He left it as an injunction and example that
His people were to forgive even as they had been forgiven.
Our Lord does not mean that God's
forgiveness is measured by our own, or that our forgiveness is the cause of
God's. Neither of these is the true rendering of this clause; but that God
cannot forgive an unforgiving spirit. The only sure index that our contrition
and penitence are genuine is that we forgive those who have wronged us. If we
do not forgive, it proves that we have never attained that true position of
soul before God in which He is able to forgive.
How is it with you? Do you forgive?
Or are there men and women that you obstinately refuse to forgive? If there
are, it shows that your own soul is not right before God; your love to God is
gauged by your love to men; your relationship to God is indicated by your
relationship to your fellows. The man who does not love the brother whom he has
seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Discover where you are today. If
there is anyone in your life that you refuse to pray for and forgive, know that
your heart is wrong with God.
Do the first thing, begin to pray
for them, and say: "Forgive us both the one who has hurt me and the one
who has wronged me; he or she needs forgiveness, but I need it equally. We are
both in the wrong. I might have made it easier for him to do right if I had
done right." Second, ask for the opportunity to meet him. Third, claim
that when you meet, there may be in you the royalty of God's grace, that you
may bear yourself with that rare, gracious love which covers the multitude of
sins. Be willing that through your lips God's pitying mercy may pass forth in words
of human kindness and tenderness.
PRAYER
Forgive us, we pray Heavenly
Father; put away our sin, as far as the east is from the west. Remember it no
more; cast it behind You as into the depths of the sea. May we be kind one to
another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as You in Christ has
forgiven us. In Jesus name I ask it, AMEN.
God's Daily Promise
Promise
#127:
My Word will brighten your steps and light your
path.
Psalm 119:105 (WEB)
Your word is a lamp to my
feet,
and a light for my path.
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