Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today- April 28, 2013
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22
Sin’s offense hurts. There’s no doubt about it. It wounds indiscriminately, and it is no respecter of persons. Sin builds walls, as it separates and ravishes relationships. Just the sound of the word elicits negative emotion. It is deceptive, carnal, Christless, unfair, sad, and sometimes sadistic. Sin follows a process of desire, conception, birth, maturity, and death. James describes its diabolical development. “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). So sin is not to be taken lightly. Certainly its infliction of pain cannot be ignored for long.
Sin invites a response from the one it offends. One option is to fight sin with sin. This is messy and can be long and drawn out. No one (except Satan) really wins when sin battles sin. Sin is rampant, and no one is immune from its consequences. It divides, belittles, and brings on relational suicide. Nonetheless, when you are sinned against, you are to forgive. When someone’s sin assaults your attitude, you are to forgive him. When someone’s sin berates your work, you are to forgive him. When someone’s sin violates your trust or steals your joy or crushes your dreams or steals from you, you are to forgive him. This level of forgiveness is counter-intuitive and countercultural, but it is the way of Christ. Forgiveness is God’s game plan. You will lose if you don’t forgive, for unforgiveness is tortuous to the soul. It is unhealthy to the body and the emotions. Unforgiveness leaves hollow lives in its wake. However, forgiveness is able to let go and let God be the judge.
Forgiveness cuts through the varying degrees of guilt and erases the entire debt. True forgiveness comes from the heart of the one offended (Matthew 18:35b). Forgiveness is not a flippant acknowledgement. It is a sincere removal of anything that is owed. When the offended one forgives, he wipes out the expectation of an apology, the payback, or the change. It is forgiveness, clear and simple. Forgiveness is letting go. It is letting go of the hurt, anger, and shame. When you forgive, you are free. You are free from the shackles of sin. When you forgive, you trust. You trust God to judge others in His time. His judgment is fair and just. God can be trusted with the consequences of sin’s offense.
Continue to forgive others because your heavenly Father continues to forgive you. The Scripture teaches, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Without Christ’s forgiveness, you are lost and undone. Jesus does not deal in forgiveness quotas. The forgiveness of the cross was swift, full, final, and forever. Unlock your relational restraints with the key of forgiveness. Write a letter with tear-soaked ink that documents your forgiveness. Call or e-mail someone today and let them know that because you are forgiven, you forgive them. Set others free with forgiveness, and you will be free. There is freedom in Christ. Forgive fast and forgive often. The forgiveness of Christ is forever.
Taken from the April 30th reading in the 365-day devotional book, “Seeking Daily the Heart of God” volume 1… http://bit.ly/Tv6y9a
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© 2013 by Boyd Bailey. All rights reserved.
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This reading was so God given for me today. I live in Strongsville where the teachers have been striking and now an agreement has been reached. BUT I have watched them striking ( the school where my boys attend is literally in my backyard). I have been shocked at their actions and now my sons will be back in there classrooms on Tuesday and being a huge part of there school. I would love to walk in having fully forgiven them. Thank you so much for the encouragement for doing this.
Cassandra you are welcome! You are such an encouragement of forgiving in a difficult situation. Love in Christ, Boyd
I love your devotionals. They are truly spirit inspired. Though in today’s you miss quote Matthew 18:21-22. Jesus said to forgive seventy times seven, not seventy-seven times. This is an important passage in that it illustrates the depth of forgiveness we are to have for one another and it is important to quote the verse correctly.
I also feel as this was God given! Thank you for such great and thought provoking devotionals. May God continue blessing you.
I know we are suppose to forgive others, but how do you get past the hurt of it, how do you just forget it ever happened? I actually had a boss that literally cussed me out at work, even using the “F” word and made me to feel like a total failure, worth nothing, that I was just slow and lower than dirt. She did this in front of my two coworker’s! I just stood there and didn’t say much if anything at all. I was crying and very embarrassed. It was very demeaning. I basically just stood there and took it. She even invited me to cuss her back out right there and then so I wouldn’t be talking behind her back. I could have, and boy did I want too, but I thought, I’m not stuping to her level. Thankfully she is gone!! How do you forget and forgive something like that?
In Scripture, we are taught to confess, repent and accept His forgiveness. 1 Jn 1:9. Does the act of forgiveness, in this great devotional you’ve written, to one who has hurt a very close friend very deeply, betrayed a deep trust and almost destroyed a marriage all the while, sinning against God; is that person to be offered forgiveness even if she/he has never confessed, apologized or asked for forgiveness?
I just sent an e-mail to a co-worker,
who made a hatefull comment to me.
I said that the Bible, and Jesus tells
me to forgive this person.
I forgive this person, and I feel relieved.
Thanks for your timely and relevant
e-mail to me.
Blanket forgivness of unrepentant sinners is cultural, not Biblical. We are called to forgive others as God forgives us. God forgives us when we repent. Just a few verses in Matthew before the one used in this article, Jesus is telling His disciples that if a brother wrongs them they should rebuke him, and if he repents, they should forgive him. It is then asked, “how many times should I forgive him…”. This same story is related in Mark, but in Mark’s telling Jesus says, ” If he sins against you 7×70 yet turns to you and repents, you are to forgive him.” Blanket forgivness of the unrepentant is about making the forgiver feel better about themselves, nothing more. It isn’t scriptural. I’m not saying hate the person. You should pray for them and be ready to offer them forgivness at any time- when they’re ready to accept it.
Some of this is not scriptural. When we choose to forgive it is for US! Not the other person. Not forgiving others is like drinking poison and killing yourself. A lot of health issues are related to not forgiving others, anger and abundant stress in your life You DON’T call someone up and tell them you forgive them…they may not even think that they are wrong about anything….FORGIVENESS is about you and your relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior. When we choose to forgive, it unlocks the hands of Christ to work on the other person or persons in the situation and reveal to them where they need forgiveness…this is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Forgiving others is freedom for You!!! Read the word of God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to you and don’t just read something someone has said and say, yeah, that’s it!! Some people do not rely on the Holy Spirit..and he is the workforce of the Trinity!!!!!