Forgiveness

IOI CHRISTIAN MORNING MEAL

TOPIC: FORGIVENESS

Be willing to forgive: striving for grace (Micah 7:18; Luke 6:27-37; Luke 15:11-32).

Micah 7:18 gives us a statement on why God forgives: “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”

God forgives because He delights in showing mercy. God does get angry. He does have wrath. But that is not the way He wants things to be. God delights in showing mercy.
Do we?

Let me ask you to be honest with yourself and honest with God: When you release somebody-when you tell him or her that you forgive-do you walk away with steam coming out of your ears, or do you, yourself, feel released? If we really have forgiven, we will feel released as well. Now that may take time, but the decision to forgive will set us on the right path.

In Luke 6:35, Jesus sets the high
standard of kingdom living:
“Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Being merciful really happens-only when God’s character is impressed on the crookedness and hardness of our character.

Again Confront the problem:

striving for truth (Luke 16:3-4).
Often the letting go of forgiveness happens only after the truth of a problem has been confronted and put squarely on the table.
Confronting someone may not come easy for you, but it may be the most merciful thing you do for someone you care about. Jesus said in Luke 17: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

Now that’s the ideal situation we’d all hope for: a mistake, a confrontation, an apology and forgiveness.
And we should hope for the ideal, while realizing sometimes we’ll have to let go of someone even if he or she isn’t convinced he or she has done anything wrong.

LET US PRAY
MAY GOD GIVE US A NEW HEART TO DO HIS WILL IN JESUS NAME. AMEN

Share This Meal
Good Morning Friends