So many people in this world have difficulty forgiving others for what was done to them. If you are one of those people, what I will reveal to you today will change the way you think about forgiveness forever!
First, I want you to consider the many times you sinned and made mistakes and committed wicked deeds against others.
You may feel bad about these things but don’t you want to be forgiven for them?
Of course you do!
Who does not want mercy?
Next, consider the many times you may have cried out to God ‘Please forgive me!’.
God, in His great Mercy, forgave you and did not hold the sins against you.
You may have committed the sins again and again but then you cried to God again and again to
forgive you and He did.
Now, imagine that every single time you sinned, it is like you borrow money from the bank. For every single sin you committed, you added more and more debt to your account; debt that you will one day have to pay back.
At this point in your life, you may have accumulated a lot of debt!
Let’s say you have one million dollars of debt.
Then you cry out to God: ‘God I know I have done evil; I know I have hurt people and I have hurt You, but please forgive me!’
God responds to you with ‘I will forgive you but one condition: you must forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. If you do not forgive them, I will not forgive you.’
In fact, that is exactly what God says in the Bible:
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister
from your heart.” (Matthew 18:32-35)
‘Wow!’ you may say, ‘That is a hard saying.’
Really?
Think about this: your debt is one million dollars and you want it forgiven, but what your brother or sister may owe you is very small in comparison, maybe say, one hundred dollars.
Do the math: How does getting forgiven for one million dollars of debt compare to one hundred dollars of debt your brother or sister owes you?
It does not even come close!
So, my friend, don’t you see that it is ‘enlightened self-interest’ for you to forgive your brother and sister?
Not only that, if you truly want revenge over your foes, do this:
Walk in the ways of the just. This will give you vengeance over your enemies because they will be grieved by your good character and your good name and they will mourn when they hear a good report about you. But if you do ugly deeds, your enemies will rejoice in your dishonor and shame and in this way they will be taking revenge on you!
The Bible explains this in an even more powerful way:
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)
God is just. He sees your deeds just as He sees theirs, and if you forgive them, God will judge in your favor and punish those who hurt you; but if you take revenge on them, God may judge in their favor and punish you!
How do you feel about forgiving others now?