Nov 14

God Forgave You

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31, 32

When God sent Jesus to redeem us from our sins, we were forgiven. Notice the past tense: “God FORGAVE you.” It’s a fact, it’s a given, it's a part of history. There is nothing we need to do to earn that forgiveness. It is a gift: an act of the Almighty’s compassion and kindness toward his children. Kindness and compassion go hand in hand with forgiveness. It is the right thing to do to pass on this forgiveness to each other. Surely our sins against the Father are far greater than any sin committed against us by our fellow man, and if this is the case, then we must respond as He did, with kindness and compassion, forgiving each other. It cost God the death of His own son to forgive us. It costs us nothing to forgive our fellow man, save perhaps our pride. Do we enjoy the pity party when others wrong us? Do we wallow in the pain? There is an alternative: we can forgive and know the joy of the Lord. Forgiveness is a deliberate act of the will, it is a choice we make to love rather than to hate, to forget rather than to keep a count of the wrongs inflicted upon us. It is a godly act, an act that gives much pleasure to our Father in heaven. It makes Him smile when we copy His example of forgiveness. Let’s be like our Father, let others say of us, “he’s a chip off the ol' block.” Let us follow the example of our Father, forgiving each other with kindness and compassion, just as in Christ, God forgave us. By doing this, we will not only bring glory to God, but we will be changed in the process and the joy of the Lord will fill us beyond measure.

Father, help us to forgive like you forgave. Help us do away with our pride and be godlike to others. Give us a forgiving heart: one that is compassionate and kind like yours. We ask this in Jesus' name, the name that brought us forgiveness. Amen