By Lisa Wilmore
My Christian Friends,
What is keeping you from forgiving the person who wronged you? If you have an old wound but still carry the fresh pain from it, this may indicate that you have not forgiven or even extended grace to the individual (s). Please be encouraged on today to forgive and let Jesus take the pain away.
As we consider what God did for us because of our sin-the ways we wronged Him, we must be willing to forgive others of what they have done to us. In fact, forgiving is what we all must do in order for God to forgive us of our trespasses. One of the principles that Gary Inrig wrote in his book, Forgiveness, is “Forgiven People Must Be Forgiving People”. He noted, “We have been forgiven a massive debt by a holy God through the work of Christ, and although others may be guilty of serious sins against us, their debt is trivial compared to what we have been forgiven by a holy God” (Inrig, 102).
Remarkably, God’s grace sets us fully free from our sins. Who would not serve a God like that! He takes our sins and drowns them: “You will again have compassion on us, you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depth of the sea” (Micah 7:19 NIV). He erases our sins: “I, even I, am he who blots out [wipes away]your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25 NIV). God forgets our sins: “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).
If we are to be a forgiving people, then we must imitate the model that God sets before us through His Son, Jesus our Savior. Our sins were nailed to the cross: “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us, he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13-14 NIV). Therefore, if someone has wronged you, you must cancel the debt as if it never happened.
God’s penalty for sin died with Christ on the cross. I was taught in Sunday School and Bible class that we have been “Justified”-declared not guilty through Jesus Christ. Therefore, if we imitate Gods love for people, we must declare them guiltless, also.
Christian Friends, we do not have a choice, “forgiven people must be forgiving people.”
