Rambling today about forgiveness…
- Do you ever wake up with things on your mind that seem like they might stick for the day? Or longer?
- As I got going this morning, I thought about forgiveness.
- Praise God! We have the opportunity to obtain forgiveness without earning it.
- Praise God! Jesus died to pay the penalty each of us would owe God for sinning against Him.
- Most people understand at some level the wrongs they have done.
- Most people have thoughts about how to resolve those wrongs.
- Some plans to resolve wrongs involve God, some do not.
- God offers forgiveness freely if we would turn from our sin and trust Jesus.
- God also commands followers of Jesus to forgive others.
- I am not going try to clear up the question regarding forgiving people who don’t ask for it. This important question will have to wait for another time.
- Questions today:
- 1) If you believe, do you marvel at the forgiveness extended to you?
- 2) Do you accept Jesus’ challenge to “Be merciful”? Put another way, does our marveling at God lead us to marvel at the possibility of others’ forgiveness?
- 3) Why does this break down? Why do people so freely forgiven develop such harsh attitudes toward people who would benefit so much from the same forgiveness?
- 4) Why does Jesus warn against this tendency that we offer less forgiveness despite experiencing such wonderful forgiveness?
- 5) Are you ready and willing to forgive others, especially those who have hurt you most?
- 6) Most importantly, have you responded to God’s offer of forgiveness through Jesus?
- Let these thoughts challenge you to search, ponder, worship, reflect, and if necessary…CHANGE!
- From Psalm 103:
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west - If you have questions about how to experience God’s forgiveness, please ask! I can be reached using messenger on Facebook or at burkholder.kevin@gmail.com