FORGIVENESS HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE LIVE

Colossians 3:12-13 “Put on therefore , as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”

The child of God must have a heart full of compassion, a heart that is sympathetic and considerate of others. There is absolutely no room in the heart of God’s child for a proud, haughty, unforgiving spirit.  Not only does Paul urge us to have a forgiving spirit, we learn a great lesson on this from our Lord in Mark 11:25-30 and Matthew 6:14-15.  I would emphasize here the fact that in the passage from Matthew, the Lord tells us that if we do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us. My friends, the command to have a forgiving heart is plain, clear and absolutely essential on our part if we are going to be pleasing to God.

Now, understand this, when we forgive someone, we then treat that person as if the offense had never taken place. Sometimes it seems that forgiveness is given with strings attached. Have you ever said or heard someone day, “I’ll forgive but I want forget”?  That’s like burying the hatchet, leaving the handle sticking out so you can grab it later and use it. I wonder, where would we stand today, what would be our hope of eternal security if that was God’s attitude toward us? It matters not what the offense might be, it matters not how heinous the offense might be or even how we feel about it, if an individual asks for forgiveness, we forgive. I take this a step further in that I believe that since we are to have a heart of mercy, kindness, meekness and long suffering, a heart that does not harbor evil thoughts about others, we will forgive even in the absence of a request to do so. We simply place the entire matter in the hands of God.

A final thought on forgiveness: it takes great character and faith for someone to ask another person to forgive them and by the same token, it takes great character and faith on the part of the one who is willing to fully and freely say, “I forgive you”. Forgiveness that is asked for and forgiveness that is granted will make us partakers of a divine love that will bring happiness and peace into our lives. True forgiveness asked for and given will leave a beautiful, warm feeling in our hearts.

Consider diligently Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:21-35, Mark 6:37, Mark 11:4, Mark 17:3-4, 2 Corinthians 2:1-11 and Ephesians 4:32.

Remember always, “FORGIVENESS HAS THE POWER TO CHANGE LIVES”.

Charles Hicks