Freedom to forgive

Freedom to forgive

Bible: Matthew 6:5-14

Reading

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners

Christ died for us (ROMANS 5:8).

One Sunday after hearing a sermon about forgiving others, my friend Robin said, “Holding a grudge is like grabbing a sharp sword by the blade. The tighter you keep hold of it, the more you hurt yourself.” When we hold back from forgiving anyone who’s done us wrong, it hurts us as it brings distance into our relationship with God. Refusing to forgive is itself a sin. Jesus made this clear in His teaching. Immediately after sharing His prayer model (which also teaches forgiveness) with His followers, He said, “If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (MATTHEW 6:15). These words shock us, because forgiving others can be difficult. But what Jesus ultimately points us to is freedom. Through His death for us on the cross, He frees us from a debt we could never pay—the debt for our sins. Because we receive this generous gift out of His great kindness (and through no goodness of our own), it’s wrong for us to hold things against
others (18:33). Freedom to forgive others comes as we realise we cannot do it in our own strength—and as we ask God to help us. When we willingly choose to follow Him and forgive because He has forgiven us, God gives us strength to
let go of the past and walk forward with Him into uplifting, life-giving new places of grace and love.

FORGIVE AS THE LORD FORGAVE YOU. COLOSSIANS 3:13

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries