Colossians 3:13 says, “As Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Really, God? Begin the process of healing. How? Keep no list of wrongs. Pray for your antagonists rather than plot against them. Hate the wrong without hating wrongdoers. Turn your attention away from what they did to you to what Christ did for you. Outrageous as it may seem, Jesus died for them too. If He thinks they are worth forgiving, they are.
Does that make forgiveness easy? No. Quick? Seldom. Painless? Forgiveness vacillates. It has fits and starts, good days and bad. Anger intermingled with love. Irregular mercy. We make progress only to make a wrong turn. Step forward and fall back. But it’s okay. As long as you’re trying to forgive, you’re forgiving. It’s when you no longer try that bitterness sets in. So keep trying. Keep forgiving.
Vengeance is God’s. He will repay—whether ultimately on the Day of Judgment or intermediately in this life. God can discipline your abusive boss. He can bring your ex to his knees or to her senses. Forgiveness doesn’t diminish justice; it just entrusts it to God. He guarantees the right retribution. The God of justice has the precise prescription.
Forgive your enemies? That’s where you and I come in. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger,” Paul wrote, “and do not give the devil an opportunity” (Ephesians 4:26 -27). Don’t give the devil territory or ground. Bitterness invites him to occupy a space in your heart, to rent a room. Believe me, he will move in and stink up the place! When it comes to forgiveness, all of us are beginners. Stay the course!
By Max Lucado
Used by Permission
From: You’ll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Turbulent Times
To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/
FURTHER READING
The Power of Forgiveness | by Dr. Henry Brandt
How to Experience God’s Love and Forgiveness (3 parts)
Freedom of Forgiveness
The church is full of sinners. Some sins are well known and others are hidden, but God knows the hearts of each one of us,
God Forgave our Sins, Past, Present and Future
Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/
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