And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6:12
Throughout the Bible, debt forgiveness is not to be taken lightly. In Deuteronomy it calls for debt forgiveness every seven years. In Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes deeper and tells us to forgive those who have come against us. Forgiving a monetary debt is difficult, but forgiving others for their transgressions against us is even more difficult.
Someone steals from us, beats us, cheats on us, harms those we love and profits at our loss are hard to forgive. The list goes on.
Can you forgive that which you cannot forget? Can you move on after someone sins or has an ought against you? Can you make peace with painful memories and create a life that is beautiful again? Can you forgive what you cannot forgive?
You deserve to stop suffering because of what other people have done to you.
Have you ever felt stuck in a cycle of unresolved pain, playing offenses over and over in your mind? You know you can’t go on like this, but you don’t know what to do next. Forgiveness deals with the past while it heals the presence and puts joy in the future. We have to let go of bound-up resentment and overcome the resistance to forgiving people who aren’t willing to make things right or ask you for your forgiveness.
The Bible records many stories about “forgiving”. The Lord Jesus also taught us like this: when we forgive men when they sin against us, our heavenly father will also forgive us.
Jesus taught Peter to forgive seventy-seven times. Joseph forgave his brothers who sold him. Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery. Jesus prayed for the people who hurt him. Stephen cried out to the Lord for those who stoned him before death. King David forgave Saul who wanted to kill him. Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus.
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: “Today my best friend slapped me in the face.” They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: Today my best friend saved my life.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The other friend replied “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”
Who can you forgive today?
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
62 Million Babies Have Been Aborted in the U.S. in the 48 Years since Roe v. Wade: How did Abortion become thinkable in American culture? Abortion is the central sacrament of the political left.
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A surge in the number of U.S. residents who have died of a drug overdose — 81,230 in the 12 months ending in May — set a record for the most such deaths in a one-year span, according to a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug overdose deaths jumped by 18 percent from the previous year, with increases recorded in 46 states.
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The Washington National Cathedral recently came under fire for inviting evangelical pastor and author Max Lucado to speak. The reason: his biblical views on marriage.
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Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. Calvin Coolidge
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Religious Books Seized and Burned in Communist China,
Believers Given Jail Terms
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When deciding to make a financial purchase or not, the most common filter we use is, “Can I afford it?” Is there enough money in the bank (or room on the credit card) to cover this purchase? If so, we can buy it. From the home we live in, the car we drive, the vacations we take, the technology we upgrade, the clothes we wear, and everything in-between, most of us simply ask, “Can I afford it? What if we stopped to see how the Bible would advise us? If we did would our spending decrease? Fill your life with stories to tell, not stuff to show. The Minimalist
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
If being a Christian is a criminal offense, is there enough evidence to place you in jail or just enough for you to receive a warning ticket for acting like one?
Did you ever wonder what worship might look like if we began singing songs to God instead of just singing about God?
A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. Cicero
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another (John 13:34).
When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure”. -Peter Marshall
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SECRET SIN. Dan Shock
Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all. Alexander the Great
A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large. Henry Ford
Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. John F. Kennedy
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Abraham Lincoln