On Forgiveness

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:30-32 We can grieve the Holy Spirit by the way we live. Paul warns us against unwholesome language, bitterness, improper use of anger, brawling, slander, and bad attitudes toward others. Instead of acting that way, we should be forgiving, just as God has forgiven us. This is Christ's law of forgiveness that is taught in the Gospels. We also see it in the Lord's prayer - "Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors." God does not forgive us because we forgive others, but solely because of his great and awesome mercy. As we come to understand His mercy, however, we want to be like Him. Having received forgiveness, we should natually pass it onto others. Those who are unwilling to forgive have not become one with Christ, who was willing to forgive even those who crucified him. Forgiveness, like love, is a choice. We need to make a conscious choice to forgive and we must stick to that choice. We forgive others for two very basic and very important reasons: 1) because God demands it of us 2) because it frees us. We don't forgive in order to free the other person. The other person who injured you in some what has most likely forgotten all about the incident, all the while you are still seething with anger, unwilling to forgive. And who are you hurting? YOURSELF! We forgive in order to free ourselves of that burden, and get on with our lives, and renew and strengthen our walk with the Lord. And trust me, in this case, talking the talk and walking the walk are two totally different things. Pray hard for the courage and strength to forgive. Then forgive. Then let it go. For good. God Bless you, J.H