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It is a great thing to have a forgiving heart. We have all fallen short
at one time or another and just as we would love to be forgiven for our
shortfalls, we should also extend that same forgiveness towards others.
What we must realize is that life is short and if we go through our days
holding grudges and refusing to forgive what someone has done to us, we
are in essence tying up our own life and keeping it from progressing to
greater heights. We must forgive because it is to our benefit as well as
to the recipient. We forgive others because God has forgiven us. We
would be hypocrites to receive forgiveness, but not offer forgiveness.
Forgiveness heals, forgiveness helps us move on, forgiveness shows the
purity of our own hearts. When we forgive we show with our forgiveness
the greatness of our inner man. We show that we know we must forgive
because we ourselves have been forgiven for even greater sins against the
Lord. Be encouraged to move on with your life and don't hold on to
grudges. Be quick to forgive and remember that you must because at one
time God forgave you for all your wrong. Live your life in freedom by
choosing to forgive everyone for everything. That is when you know you
have fully realized who you are in Christ. (Matthew 6:14-15) (Luke 17:3-4)
I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to see the greatness
that comes with forgiveness.
A VERY HUMAN THING TO DO
Someone made the statement: “To err is dysfunctional, to forgive
co-dependent.” Sometimes I think I operate that way - afraid to err and
slow to forgive.
Of course, we've all heard Alexander Pope's famous assertion that to err
is human, to forgive, divine. But I don't agree. I think that to forgive
is one of the most human things we can do.
A number of years ago, Hildegard Goss-Mayr of the “International Fellowship
of Reconciliation” told this true story. In the midst of tragic fighting in
Lebanon in the 1970's, a Christian seminary student was walking from one
village to the next when he was ambushed by an armed Druze guerrilla
fighter. The Druze ordered his captive down a mountain trail where he was
to be shot.
But an amazing thing happened. The seminarian, who had received military
training, was able to surprise his captor and disarm him. Now, the table
was turned, and it was the Druze who was ordered down the trail.
As they walked, however, the student of theology began to reflect on what
was happening. Recalling the words of his scripture, “Love your enemies,”
“do good to those who hate you,” “turn the other cheek,” he found he could
go no farther. He threw the gun into the bushes, told the Druze he was
free to go and turned back up the hill.
Minutes later, he heard footsteps running behind him as he walked. “Is
this the end after all?” he wondered. Perhaps the young man had retrieved
his weapon and meant to finish him off. But he continued on, never
glancing back, until his enemy reached him, only to grab him in an embrace
and pour out thanks for sparing his life.
That was a very human thing he did - foregoing the impulse to strike back.
It took a strong spirit. Yet every time we decide not to get back at
somebody who hurts us, we exercise one of our greatest powers - the power
to choose a better way.
Somebody else put it better than I can: “Life is too short for drama and
petty things, so, kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly and forgive
quickly.” It's one of the most powerful and human things to do.
By Steve Goodier
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour,
and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Luke 17:3-4 Jesus declares “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother
trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if
he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day
turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”
Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 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.”
1 John 4:10-12 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at
any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is
perfected in us.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: AFTER THE RAIN
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem84.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: A BETTER WAY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony22.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
