Skip to main content

Radical Forgiveness

    To fully follow Jesus Christ is a radical decision. It is something that forever changes us and our lifestyle. We no longer view things anything like the world, but the opposite. We see with our spiritual eyes. Yet when it comes down to a wrong suffered, we feel justified in holding back the love of Christ from those people or offering them any kind of compassion. However, this is a mentality of the world. With Jesus Christ and the grace He provided, we are to live in compassion and love for others and not condemnation and spite. 

    The Bible is explicit about this issue. If we withhold our forgiveness and love for others, then the Lord will treat us the same way. If we are to truly be like Jesus and show Him to others through our lives, we need to stop ourselves from holding grudges and living in bitterness. Such is human nature to think that we are "owed" something when someone mistreats us. So we treat them poorly in return and they never get to experience the love and grace of Christ through us. 

    As Christ followers, we need to actually live out what we say we believe. It is our job to change the face of Jesus and Christianity! It starts here. Forgive those who have wronged you. Forgive them over and over again, as Jesus forgives us, lest you fail to receive the same from Him. Love those who hate you and pray for them so that one day they may wake up and recognize where your love comes from. 

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (ESV)

Mark 11:25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (ESV)

Matthew 6:15 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (ESV)

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. (ESV)

Colossians 3:13 Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (ESV)

Luke 6:27 But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (ESV)

1 John 3:14-15 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. (ESV)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1 2 3, Count on Me

     I am thankful to say that for the first time in my life I am surrounded by friends and a community who I know will always build me up and point me in the right direction. More importantly, I know that they will always be honest with me. Honesty is a rare trait these days and I think it to be (combined with love) the most important thing to have in any relationship.    The Bible instructs us to speak life and truth into one another. To be honest and point each other to Christ when we are failing to see straight. I cannot emphasize how much I have grown since having access to that kind of community. Being in close friendships where I am able to be completely honest about my life, my struggles, my thoughts without fear of rejection or judgement is monumental alone. But take that a step further. I have been blessed to have friends that I can not only share my most intimate thoughts with, but they additionally are on their toes looking out for me and honest wh...
4 comments
Read more

Don't Read This!

     It's amazing to me how God so often uses moments in our daily lives to teach us something instead of the moments we might expect (in church, through Christian friends, etc.). I'm a big believer that God can use anything and anyone to teach us something (See Numbers 22:28 where God actually used a donkey to speak to Balaam). This last week, something a coworker said to me in casual conversation really struck my heart and has had me thinking since then. She told me that she quit smoking by buying herself cigarettes and keeping them with her and telling herself, "you can have one if you want. But do you really want it?"      I found this passing statement proved a brilliant point about human nature. I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that we as humans want what we are told we can't have. Tell a kid he can't have the cookies in the cookie jar and all he's going to want is those cookies. But I believe this concept is particularly...
2 comments
Read more

A Life of Servitude

   When we are living in the Kingdom of God, we have to abide by a completely different lifestyle than that of the world. The word tells us that to the world, the wisdom of God seems like foolishness. It is completely counterintuitive! Today, I think of this in the context of leadership. To the world, to be a great leader you are often taught to assert yourself and do whatever it takes to get on top. In the Kingdom we are taught that being recognized as a leader means putting yourself below others and letting God raise you up as He chooses to. Luke 14:11    For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (NLT)          So what does that look like? Well, it looks a lot like Jesus. During His life on earth, Jesus never asserted Himself over anyone-- even though He is the true King over all!! That's crazy humble. The mere fact that He even came down to earth in the form of a man is mind-b...
2 comments
Read more