Take a big step toward the best year you’ve ever experienced.

The Lord wouldn’t have commanded you to do this one thing if it weren’t possible for you to accomplish it.

If, however, it does sound too tough for you, a similar command would prove much simpler to achieve and still contribute to your best year yet.

But let’s look at the tough command first:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44-45)

That’s pretty straight-forward. Problem is, our pride, our self-righteousness, our sense of justice, even our inherent need to play God, makes it difficult to impossible to do. We are angry, and we are not about to forgive, much less pray for our enemy. “Besides,” we reason, “they would never pray for me!”

If you are still in that “eye for an eye” frame of mind, and are not about to “let” the Lord handle matters his way (which is the best and only way), then consider this alternative. Remember the Lord’s words, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.”

He demands that we forgive, so let’s get back to that forgiveness concept.  Consider what Jesus Christ said:

“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).

How is it that most of us seem to overlook that passage? Is it because we believe we are willing to suffer the consequences? Is it because we think we can pay the price? Or do we blithely accept the doctrinal statements of our denomination’s favored theologians, and somehow find wiggle-room to ignore the plain words of our Lord?

Do we dare? Shouldn’t we strive to be absolutely free of any possible onus? Since the greatest command is “love,” and it’s the essence of Christ’s ministry, dare we ignore it? Do we really want to carry that guilt all the way through life and to the gates of heaven where we will then be judged for them.

“For every idle word that ye shall speak,  “ye shall be held accountable.” Those are not empty words.

Get forgiveness now, or suffer who knows what embarrassment or worse later. Still, I’m not talking about the white throne judgment” or any other fuzzy end-times theological discussion. My warning is more practical.

Jesus said, if you are not forgiving the other guy, I am not forgiving you. So…which of your prayers do you think He is about to answer? Are you trying to enter into some sort of arbitration with the King of Kings? He’s all-wise and all-powerful. Yes, he’s merciful, but he is also righteous and just. “Be ye holy as I am holy,” we are commanded.

When we know that we are failing him, well, “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” He won’t punish us, but he will discipline us, and often those two experiences appear indistinguishable to us. They hurt! So, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” (Psalm 66:18). This is one of the principle reasons for unanswered prayer. And not forgiving someone is a sin.

Consider this possibility: Many, and perhaps all of the trials you experienced this year may be the result of your failure to forgive others.

Do you remember those words of Paul, “We are more than conquerors through Christ who saved us….” What is being more than a conqueror? The concept is alien to a world which does not know Christ. To be more than conqueror, you don’t kill, enslave, or exploit others. You don’t “get even” with them. You don’t insist they see things your way. You pray for them, you extend Christ’s love to them, and you help them come to know him as their Savior. You promote their best interests. You do exactly what someone else did for you in order to help you find and follow Christ.

The Bible teaches that, “We love him (God) because he first love us.” Ask yourself this. “How are the unsaved, who cannot understand the concept of agape going to love us unless we love them first?”

When those we despise, our “enemies,” are converted and turn into “supernatural” human beings, into believers in Jesus Christ — each filled with his Holy Spirit, obedient to the heavenly vision, and full of good works — they join us in changing the world for the better. They begin to become friends who will stick closer than a brother.

That’s the blessing of forgiving. Your former enemy becomes your friend and ally and, as a side-effect, the Lord does not have to judge you for failing to forgive that person.

( I am not talking about people who would break into our homes to kill, or who would cross our country’s borders to murder our families and fellow citizens. Such enemies do not come to reason with us.)

But you may have experienced a hundred slights, a thousand insults through the years…and you may have been unwilling to set them right. On many occasions, even when I’ve recognized such, I’ve “swept them under the rug and forgotten them. That’s a bad decision!

Have you asked yourself whether you have contributed to the  problem, and may be even more at fault than the person you refuse to forgive?

Do you wonder why your prayers are not answered? If you have not forgiven your neighbor, Jesus stated emphatically that the Father is not now forgiving you! That’s horrific!

In order to live a more fulfilling life, you need to get out from  under that cloud of judgment and sorrow.

Instead of starting the new year by pulling out financial documents to prepare your annual taxes, try this: Pull out a pen and paper and start listing the people you are angry at. Make three columns. Column one, their names. Column two, what you have against them. Column three, what they have against you. Then, take care of business….God’s business!

Are they Christians? If not, why would you think they would try to make things right with you, or pray for you, or forgive you? If so, and you think you are more mature, and that you can judge them and remain unforgiving? Consider the Lord’s words: He who is greatest among you will be my servant. The greatest shall be the least.

“Not that I have attained!” The burden is on every one of us, my friends!

And if you are not a believer, it’s time to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, to clean the slate, to become a new creature in Christ, and to start 2016 off with a new life.

For, “When anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. All things have become new.”

Find Christ and forgive others. That’s the formula for making this your best year ever.

It’s up to you! The Lord will honor your loving obedience.

Happy New Year!

Frank