[Weekly Scripture] Psalm 51:1–2 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Matthew 5:23-24 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
What is keeping you from forgiving someone who has hurt you?
After reading the above scripture, what is keeping you from forgiving others?
Pray that you will forgive as you have been forgiven.
E-devotion by Will Burnham (Middle School Pastor)
“This is a tough one. How often do I assume I have forgiven someone and yet still harbor resentment in my heart? Often.
I can say it with my lips, maybe even directly to them, but the memory of the hurt will continue in my mind. How do I battle this? How can I truly forgive and go about the process of reconciliation and trying to forget?
First of all, I must remember that anyone who has wronged me I have wronged God all the more… and yet he still loves and forgives me. How amazing is that! In this I have the clearest picture of forgiveness that I should strive for: to remember that I have wronged God more than anyone will ever wrong me. This is a good start.
Next, I must repent before my God of any sin in my life because of the hurt someone has caused me. This is a very humbling aspect of the process… to focus on my sin instead of the wrong someone else committed against me.
Next, from that day forward I must take every thought captive. As the Apostle Paul challenges us in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “… and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” This aspect shows the maturity of a believer. No doubt there will be days and seasons of our lives when we will remember past hurts. Take that thought captive and make it obedient to Christ! You have to “Make” it obedient. This is a verb/action we have to commit to. It will be a process. But we must persevere! Because of our ability to persevere in forgiveness we Christians will shine like light in darkness.
As an example of living this out: In 1956 five missionaries were martyred in their attempt to evangelize the Waorani people of Equador. Among them were Jim Elliot and Nate Saint. In 1958, just two years after the massacre, Jim’s wife Elizabeth and Nate’s sister Rachel returned to the Waorani tribe to continue the work the men had started. Today, the vast majority of Waorani tribesman are followers of Christ! What a great testimony to lives living in constant forgiveness to those around them. Rachel Saint spent the rest of her life living among the very people who killed her brother. Nate Saint’s son was even baptized by one of the very men who killed his father!
Where forgiveness abounds… grace abounds. Where grace abounds… the Gospel is proclaimed.”