Why We Must Forgive!

The other day I was thinking about my past and how certain things have shaped my thinking and my behavior! I realized that forgiveness has played a major role in my life. I realize that I have done, said and thought so many horrible things about people, and I also realized that their forgiveness was the only thing that sustained and renewed me. On the flip side, many terrible and devastating things have been done and said to me, and it is only through God's love and grace that I have been able to forgive!

As Christians, we sometimes lose sight of what God's grace and forgiveness are all about. We may realize that God has forgiven us for all our our sins and short comings through Christ's sacrifice on the cross but we fail to dig deeper into this a realize that we are commanded to do the same in our small sphere on influence. What do I mean? I mean that only when we truly forgive someone are we properly showing the love of Christ! To do less than offer complete forgiveness to the person who has wrongs us is to cheapen God's grace and to make a mockery of His name. If you are truly a follower of Christ and a representative of Him, you must also have to capacity to want to forgive all those who have wronged you. I am not saying this is easy because it's not, but being a Christian is not easy. Forgiveness goes against the grain of who we are and what our culture emphasizes. We forgive, but with conditions. But Christ's forgiveness is without conditions. He didn't say on the cross "I will forgive you if you do or say something!". He forgave us when we didn't even realize we needed forgiveness!

So I challenge you to think about you own relationships! Think about those who have wronged and hurt you. Then think about your own sins and shortcoming. Does God deem you worthy of forgiveness? Did he not give EVERYTHING in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we could be forgiven of everything, past, present and future? I'm not encouraging you to do the easy thing but the hard. Extend forgiveness, even if it is not asked for. By doing this, you will demonstrate God's love and your witness for Him will be more powerful than any other thing you could do!!

Pastor Steve