How many sins have you committed today? If you are reading your email or surfing the internet while still in bed – it’s early yet! You may not find this a particularly encouraging way to begin a daily devotion – but always remember: God taught it to me first! J
Worry is a sin. Disobedience is a sin. Pride is a sin. Gossip is a sin. Anger is a sin. A critical spirit “falls short†of God’s glorious love! Un-forgiveness is a sin. OK. The debt that I owe is getting ‘way too high!
Peter came up to the Lord and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?â€
Jesus answer: Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! Matthew 18:21-22 CEV
What am I holding in my heart that is creating a WEIGHT OF SIN that is too much to carry and crowding out the gifts of grace that God desires to put IN to me? How can I possibly pay the debt that I run up every day?
[Jesus continues] This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like: One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him fifty million silver coins. But he didn’t have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt.
The official got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!†The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.†Matthew 18:23-27 CEV
Take some time today and read the whole story, Matthew 18:23-35. The forgiven official goes on to “roust†another official who owed him money (much less!) and when the king found out about that – he called the forgiven official an “EVIL MAN!†and sent him to be tortured until he could pay back what he originally owed. Jesus ends by saying, “THAT is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don’t forgive each of my followers with all your heart.†Matthew 18:35, CEV
If there are sins in my life that I seem unable to forget, even forgive myself and let go of them, holding them inside, the first thing I need to do is allow the Holy Spirit to examine heart for any un-forgiveness of others. Yes, un-forgiveness of others will create a bottleneck inside my heart that will not allow God’s forgiveness, God’s mercy to wash me clean!
I am a Child of God that is given gallons and gallons of God’s grace every day. You may have heard it compared to God depositing His grace into my spiritual bank account and it become an asset! When someone lashes out at me, I can draw on that account and extend the credit to others. God EXPECTS me to forgive others with the same speed that I receive HIS forgiveness!
Forgiving someone doesn’t “let them offâ€. Forgiving someone allows GOD to be the only judge in the situation – since He is the only one righteous enough!
Take the steps to forgiveness one at a time. Stop speaking/thinking badly about the person. Stop recalling all the reasons why they deserve to be un-forgiven. Pray for them. That’s right, pray for them. That means speaking blessings of the good gifts of God over them.
At the end of the day, I choose to live with what will live inside of me. I can live IN forgiveness and WITH forgiveness – or not. God is here and more than ready extend His forgiveness TO me. God is here and more than ready to help me extend that V-E-R-Y same forgiveness to others. It’s my choice to sleep with the peace of forgiveness. It is God’s gift.
