e-votional
a message to encourage and uplift from College Heights Baptist Church
Wednesday April 1, 2009
If you would like any of the previous e-votionals, just reply to this email and let me know. Likewise, if you would like to stop receiving them.
Tough Life-Big God, is still available. You can email us if you would like to reserve a copy (or copies), or just pick some up on whenever the church is open. Hopefully, Tough Life, Big God Volume 2 will be ready by next week.
Also, you can check out my blogs at www.docdeer.wordpress.com and www.rekindledliving.wordpress.com (our recent series on the Church and our studies in Amos are posted here). Each one is different, but both have things you might find helpful in your walk with God.
‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. – Matthew 6:12, NASB
Forgiveness is a tough bag. It’s hard to accept forgiveness when we’ve done wrong. It’s also hard to forgive someone when they have wronged us. But, that’s exactly what Jesus encourages us to do. In teaching His disciples how to pray, He instructs that we are to ask God for forgiveness, and then He seemingly connects God’s forgiveness to our own ability to forgive.
The point is that you and I have been the beneficiary of forgiveness. We in turn need to be willing to forgive others when they wrong us.
Jesus illustrated this principle in the story of the debtor who was forgiven, but in turn refused to forgive what was owed him (Matthew 18:23-25). Forgiveness received demands forgiveness given. We are to always be willing to forgive others when they have wronged us. Peter, like many of us, wanted to know how often we have to forgive someone. Jesus simply answered, “seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). His point was that we need to keep on forgiving, if for no other reason than we are always being forgiven.
This is very difficult to do in our own power. Our natural inclination is to be bitter and resentful. We harbor hurts and anger. On our own, we are brittle and frail. Thus, we need to ask for God’s help. When we fail to forgive others, our lack of forgiveness damages our relationship with God. Jesus fleshes this idea out a few verses later when He says, “”For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions”" (Matthew 6:14-15, NASB). An unforgiving spirit cripples our walk with Christ. It robs our lives of power and vitality. Eventually, all we know is bitterness. We can’t let go of it, and it won’t let go of us.
We all know from experience that when we fail to forgive, we are the one who loses. We lose the joy that comes with forgiveness, both received and given. We find ourselves imprisoned by feelings of past hurts and actions. When we fail to forgive, our walk with God is hindered. Our emotions and well-being pays the price. All the while, the culprit who hurt us goes on his way, oblivious to the heartache. Let’s learn to forgive so we can enjoy the full scope of God’s healing power.
Pastor Darrell
