Monday, 23 August 2021
“Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.” – Matthew 6:12 TPT
Remember Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the earth (Revelation 13:8), He was slain for our sin before we were born, He was killed for our sin before we were sorry for it, and He took it, He took all of it. As I stand today, anything I do wrong now, anything I do wrong in the future (which I don’t have to do) is already forgiven in Christ. If I sin (which I don’t have to) I have an Advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus, who will not yet do something but has already done something to redeem me. Anything I do wrong now was known to GOD before I was born, it neither surprises nor shocks GOD. But this is one of the cornerstones of the Kingdom, forgiveness. Without forgiveness there’s no forward movement, we can’t be useful or fruitful because we’d still be outside. But GOD took care of that first from the foundation of the earth, He took care of it then, knowing that the second we are born, sin would lurk, and sin would be the only thing that would stand between us and Him, He removed that which made us His enemies, and now here (Matthew 18:21-35), He commands us to forgive others just as He has forgiven us, just as He has made provision for what we would yet do, He commands us to take care of that which separates us as brethren, anything someone has done, anything someone is doing and be ready to forgive anything someone might do.
I am forgiven of all my sin and now the LORD requires that I forgive others no matter what. Because of the gravity of the forgiveness I have received, the height, the width, the depth of the love GOD has demonstrated towards me, there shouldn’t be anything I cannot forgive. The truth is, I don’t know anyone more flawed than I am. I can never know where someone else is with GOD, I don’t know when someone else is right or wrong in God’s sight. What is wrong for me is not necessarily wrong for someone else, and what is right for me is not necessarily right for someone else and vice versa (James 4:17). So in light of this, I will never be aware of someone with the need for forgiveness more than me, because I know exactly what I need forgiveness for and I know that I am forgiven. Which gives me no leg to stand on in being unforgiving towards anyone for anything. The minute I have a hard time forgiving someone, at that moment I myself need forgiveness more than I realize. Indeed the process of our perfection is underway, Philippians 1:6 until that work is complete, no one can stand on a pedestal and point fingers at others. Even when others do that, the right thing to do is be merciful towards them as they are misguided in those moments (I write here about myself). Everyone needs to forgive and everyone needs to be forgiven, let us give grace one to another, forgiveness is a two-way street!
Everyone needs to forgive and everyone needs to be forgiven, let us give grace one to another, forgiveness is a two-way street!
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