We need forgiveness as much as we need to forgive the people that have sinned against us

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ! Welcome to „Daily Word for Spiritual Edification”! Until now we have talked about the benefits of forgiveness, how we are forgiven in God; we have discussed that sincere repentance is a prerequisite of forgiveness and how we can restore our relationships with other people. Today I would like to start talking about the other side of forgiveness – about how we need to learn to forgive our debtors just as we are need for our debts to be forgiven: 
«And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors»(Mathew, 6:12).
 We need forgiveness as much as we need to forgive the people that have sinned against us. It is important to see that forgiveness towards our debtors is a prerequisite for us to continue receiving forgiveness from God. The way we treat other people that are how God treats us. God uses the same measure we measure with. I would like to point out that the verse above doesn’t say: «Forgive us because we have forgiven others»; it says:«Forgive us AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS». In other words, the channel of God’s blessings is blocked until we forgive our debtors, our brothers and sisters. It is also the only condition mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer: 
 « Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen .» (Mathew, 6:9-13).
 In order to avoid any misunderstandings, Jesus added right after giving the example prayer: 
 « For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses » (Mathew, 6:14-15).
 Jesus treats us the way we treat other people. The very same principle is reflected in other verses of Scripture. 
« Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (..) You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgement.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift » (Mathew, 5:7, 21-24).
 
« And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespass » (Mark, 11:25).
 
«If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear» (Psalm, 66:18).
  Based on these verses we can see that it is impossible to worship God until the relationships with other people are in order. Also worship is impossible if we have unforgiven sins in our hearts: «If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear» (Psalm, 66:18). I once read what one general said to John Wesley: «I will never forgive!» John Wesley answered him:« I hope you have never sinned, sir». If you need forgiveness, then you can’t risk and afford to live in unforgiveness. Quite often we behave like the servant from Jesus’ parable who did not forgive his debtor even though he was just forgiven so much (Mathew, 18:21-35). Jesus told us this parable to show us how important it is to forgive those that have hurt or offended us. Tomorrow we will talk about it in detail! Be blessed! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Support us so we can do more

We’ll get right to the point: we’re asking you to help us support our Church online minisry. We’re a nonprofit that relies on support from people like you. If everyone reading this gives €12 monthly, Spirit and Truth city Church can continue to thrive for years.

Similar Posts

  • Follow me and I will make you!

    Do you know that you are not all you could be yet? Only the Lord knows who you are created to be and He wants to make you become who you are really created to be. That is why He said “I will make you”.Peter and His brother were created to be Fishers of men, but they did not know that until they started to follow Christ.The bible said they straightway left their nets, and followed him. Their destiny was changed that very day. That was the point the Lord began to make them into who they were created to be.
  • Purpose for living II

    Let’s look at the steps that Solomon took in order to find the meaning of life. We will see what conclusions Solomon came to. The first thing Solomon turned to was acquiring of wisdom and knowledge. «I communed with my heart, saying, „Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow» (Ecclesiastes, 1:16-18).
  • Don’t ever allow anything or anybody to stop you from serving.

    Friends, no matter how badly people or life itself has treated you, if you want to move ahead in life you have to learn how to focus on the right thing and chose the right life position. If despite all the odds of life you can still focus on using your gifts and talents; if you can still continue to serve people, then you will soon be able to change your status. That was exactly what happened to Joseph. As he served these two officers of pharaoh instead of concentrating on the offences of others, the door to his throne opened to him easily. Pharaoh sent for Joseph and fetched him out of the prison.
  • All true ministry begins in the presence of God

    The only way to see what the Father is doing is to spend time with the father. If you don’t want to just go about doing your own things in your own way, please follow the example of Jesus. Place yourself in a place where you can receive the love of God and allow Him to show you what He is doing now around you, so that you can join Him in His works.
  • In our lives we must reflect the life, the power and the nature of Christ

    You should not forget that you are God’s ambassadors on earth. When you face a problem or a difficult situation, think of what Jesus would have done if He were in a similar situation. This will help you. Christ is the One we represent on this earth. Think of what He would say, how He would solve the problem, how He would go through the situation you are facing today. If you think about like Christ thinks and you develop or grow in the nature of God, then you will become a strong and influential ambassador of God in your sphere of influence; you will ‘salty’ and you will be bright light in this world.