The Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1-4)
'Forgive us our sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us'
Forgiveness is one of the most difficult subjects to learn in the Christian life. It affects us spiritually,
psychologically and physically. In the verse above, there is a condition. For forgiveness to work out in our lives both parts of the verse must agree, i.e. since God has forgiven our sins we must also forgive those who sin against us. We usually find no great difficulty with the first part but we often are unable to practice the second.
The Bible declares that God has forgiven our sins because of the work of the Cross-without any reservations. This is the forgiveness that brings to the heart of the sinner who is saved peace, so that he can live a life with God. Psalm 32:1 says, 'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered'.
But let us turn to the subject which troubles us so much. Why do we find it so difficult to forgive those who wrong us? Though we want to forgive them, nevertheless we find ourselves, repeatedly, not able to do so. I believe this is mainly because of the wounds suffered to our personality from all kinds of relationships we have in our lives. Our character and personality play a big part in this matter. We find it difficult to forgive because deep in us there are roots of bitterness that poison our being and resist our willingness to forgive. If we do not take care to deal with this problem we shall end being slaves to the person we do not forgive and severing the bridge that leads to reconciliation. God calls us to forgive. Why? Because if we do not our whole life is negatively affected.
Enmity, guilt and refusal to forgive will create in us psychological, mental and physical disorders. Apart from these problems, unforgiveness will push us into a cell where we shall be imprisoned by the enmity against the person we do not forgive. The Parable in Matt.18:23-25, tells us about the servant who did not forgive his fellow servant despite the fact that his Lord forgave him an enormous sum he owed him. His Master delivered him to the tormentors until he paid the debt. The same punishment will meet us if we do not forgive from our hearts-tormented by bitterness and hate. We shall become slaves to the hate and bitterness in us forever, until we learn to forgive. In addition to being slaves, God's hand will cease to rest upon us. The result will be a sterile life, unable to minister effectively to those who are in need.
We have a perfect example of forgiveness we need to imitate: our Lord Jesus Christ. To those who crucified Him and mistreated Him He said, 'Father forgive them....'
'Forgive us our sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us'
Forgiveness is one of the most difficult subjects to learn in the Christian life. It affects us spiritually,
psychologically and physically. In the verse above, there is a condition. For forgiveness to work out in our lives both parts of the verse must agree, i.e. since God has forgiven our sins we must also forgive those who sin against us. We usually find no great difficulty with the first part but we often are unable to practice the second.
The Bible declares that God has forgiven our sins because of the work of the Cross-without any reservations. This is the forgiveness that brings to the heart of the sinner who is saved peace, so that he can live a life with God. Psalm 32:1 says, 'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered'.
But let us turn to the subject which troubles us so much. Why do we find it so difficult to forgive those who wrong us? Though we want to forgive them, nevertheless we find ourselves, repeatedly, not able to do so. I believe this is mainly because of the wounds suffered to our personality from all kinds of relationships we have in our lives. Our character and personality play a big part in this matter. We find it difficult to forgive because deep in us there are roots of bitterness that poison our being and resist our willingness to forgive. If we do not take care to deal with this problem we shall end being slaves to the person we do not forgive and severing the bridge that leads to reconciliation. God calls us to forgive. Why? Because if we do not our whole life is negatively affected.
Enmity, guilt and refusal to forgive will create in us psychological, mental and physical disorders. Apart from these problems, unforgiveness will push us into a cell where we shall be imprisoned by the enmity against the person we do not forgive. The Parable in Matt.18:23-25, tells us about the servant who did not forgive his fellow servant despite the fact that his Lord forgave him an enormous sum he owed him. His Master delivered him to the tormentors until he paid the debt. The same punishment will meet us if we do not forgive from our hearts-tormented by bitterness and hate. We shall become slaves to the hate and bitterness in us forever, until we learn to forgive. In addition to being slaves, God's hand will cease to rest upon us. The result will be a sterile life, unable to minister effectively to those who are in need.
We have a perfect example of forgiveness we need to imitate: our Lord Jesus Christ. To those who crucified Him and mistreated Him He said, 'Father forgive them....'
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