Week 5 — Wednesday: Praising Through Forgiveness
Matthew 6:12; 18:23-35
As Jesus continued teaching the disciples to pray In Matthew 6:12, He said, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Forgiveness is central to the Gospel. Jesus died for us so that we could be forgiven. It is fascinating that Jesus doesn’t just tell people to simply ask for forgiveness and move on. He implies here that we must first show forgiveness to others. If you are a Christian, then you have already been forgiven. The implication here is that if God can forgive you and me, then we should be able to show the same level of forgiveness to others. Jesus tells a great story about this that you can read in Matthew 18:23-35.
When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for every sin we have ever committed—past, present, and future! Not only did He pay for our sins, but the sins of countless others who have done all sorts of unspeakable evils. If God can forgive them for all those things, can’t we forgive those who sin against us? Forgiveness is at the heart of God, and He wants us to follow His example. Forgiveness can be challenging but also freeing. Paul writes this encouraging verse on the same theme:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, andpatience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:12-13)
When you pray:
- Allow time to reflect on the previous day and see if there is anyone you need to forgive or anyone you need to seek forgiveness from.
- Take time to ask the Lord for forgiveness.
- Pray for a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, and love toward others.
—CONTRIBUTED BY SCOTT ELLIOTT, BVCS CAMPUS PASTOR—
Christine Pence
October 5, 2023 at 12:07 amI apologize for being so late on getting caught up on this I actually forgot all about it I am so so so sorry I had to do a lot of repenting today and forgot about some stuff even while ago but I just started reading the parables and the scriptures just before midnight so now I’m done now I’m doing the journal you know when it was talking about the debts tax collector and other things and forgiveness this is one of the reasons why I pay payments on my debts I do my best to pay everyone back everything I owe them financially it is to glorify God but it’s also to do the right thing and it is the Christian thing to do I always do my best to pay my debt collectors to pay my rent to my landlord to pay for my bills to pay for other things even money I owe people even if it’s in payments I do my best I know God’s got my back as a faithful witness to know that I do it right I know that some people just don’t believe that but God is my witness and I don’t need other people to tell me what’s not true because I know the truth because I know God has my back when it comes to things like that and I have forgiven people in my life I remember I forgave an ex years ago who really hurt me we were together for about five and a half years almost 6 years and I thought we were going to get married and that relationship epically failed and there were so many red flags and it was just not meant to be but long story short after all those years wasted I realized something I had a lot of pent up anger towards my ex and I forgave him eventually and I told him and he said that meant a lot for me to forgive him even though we are no longer together and he’s moved on and got married and I’m still single I now think about things doesn’t mean the things that happen to me don’t hurt but I definitely understand that God loves my ex too also during this time this is before Christ called me back to him between 2015 and 2016 and I start to see a demon in my house in the sky and it was following me around and it scared me I don’t see it anymore praise God but I used to see that shadow in my house and I physically saw it it was the most terrifying thing I ever saw it had a black robe but you couldn’t see its face and it floated in the air that was the most terrifying thing I ever saw and this was after I went through the worst break up of my life with my ex boyfriend I don’t date anymore I don’t have a love life anymore I’m just single and celibate for Christ but I will tell you if God has a special man out there for me it would be wonderful to have but then again I ain’t looking I’m just hoping and praying that God will lead that person to me and that they’ll love me for me even though I am obese and I am disabled but long story short I’ve learned a lot about forgiveness I have been known to hold grudges for years and stay angry at people for a really long time as it runs in my family you can even call it a generational curse I’ve broken some of those by doing it God’s way like I have family members that can’t say they love me because my our mother could not say that she loved us growing up she just could not believe that telling her kids that she loved them anything my mother told me that she loved me one time when I was 15 years old written on a piece of paper till this day it was the one time my whole life my mom said she loved me on paper but I tell everyone I love them because I do I even tell my animals I love them I told God I love him because I broke that curse because I forgave and I let go and I trusted God in it all glory to God hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven but yes give us the state our daily bread and forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not temptation but deliver Us from evil God is a good god he is holy and precious and an awesome and there’s all the honor glory and love that he can get but God has taught me a lot about forgiveness but I will not lie I do struggle with it sometimes and I say the Lord’s prayer every single day because it’s a reminder to myself on my Christian walk that I have to forgive others God bless you and may God bless you with a wonderful day tomorrow and all of us in Jesus Christ was holy name I pray and say thank you Father God for all things we love you hugs God bless Jesus blessed bye