It was a weight on my heart I didn't even know was there until that night. The night when I fell hard, as God began to work through my heart, pruning all the weeds of bitterness and anger. That anger and bitterness what rooted deep in my heart, and it hurt as I began working through those emotions weighing on my life. The true roots of these crippling emotions- my failure to forgive.
Forgive.
There are multiple sides of forgiveness shown throughout scripture, but the beginning or root of it all is in God's forgiveness of our sins. Jesus died on the cross so that God would forgive our sins and give us eternal life. The big easter message we hear at church every spring. Through God's grace, He saved us all through forgiveness.
Isaiah 55:6-7 1 John 1:9
Seek the Lord while He may be found; If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
call to him when he is near. righteous to forgive us, our sins, and to cleanse
Let the wicked one abandon his way us from all unrighteousness.
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord,
so that he many have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
We didn't do anything to deserve God's forgiveness of our sins. We get His forgiveness because of his grace in giving us what we do not deserve. His forgiveness in unconditional. It's unconditional, because we are sinners. We will fail and fail again. And yet, every single time we stray from His calling and have to repent for our sins, He welcomes us back with open hands. There is no one more forgiving than Our God.
God will forgive us unconditionally for as long as we are His children, but what about how God calls us to forgive? Look at what He calls us to do:
Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness, anger, and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, alone with malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
God calls us to forgive others like he forgives us.
Forgiveness is not easy. I don't always forgive quickly and completely- like I should. Just this week I reminded of some weeds in my heart I needed to be pruned by the Lord. But, I believe with God's grace, we can forgive all of those who have wronged us. As we journey through this season of Lent, ask God what weeds of bitterness and anger He can prune and replace with the joy of forgiving others. He forgives us unconditionally, and that is one of the most precious gifts of all.
Verses about forgiveness I've been studying this week:
Forgive.
There are multiple sides of forgiveness shown throughout scripture, but the beginning or root of it all is in God's forgiveness of our sins. Jesus died on the cross so that God would forgive our sins and give us eternal life. The big easter message we hear at church every spring. Through God's grace, He saved us all through forgiveness.
Isaiah 55:6-7 1 John 1:9
Seek the Lord while He may be found; If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
call to him when he is near. righteous to forgive us, our sins, and to cleanse
Let the wicked one abandon his way us from all unrighteousness.
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord,
so that he many have compassion on him,
and to our God, for He will freely forgive.
We didn't do anything to deserve God's forgiveness of our sins. We get His forgiveness because of his grace in giving us what we do not deserve. His forgiveness in unconditional. It's unconditional, because we are sinners. We will fail and fail again. And yet, every single time we stray from His calling and have to repent for our sins, He welcomes us back with open hands. There is no one more forgiving than Our God.
God will forgive us unconditionally for as long as we are His children, but what about how God calls us to forgive? Look at what He calls us to do:
Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness, anger, and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, alone with malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
God calls us to forgive others like he forgives us.
Forgiveness is not easy. I don't always forgive quickly and completely- like I should. Just this week I reminded of some weeds in my heart I needed to be pruned by the Lord. But, I believe with God's grace, we can forgive all of those who have wronged us. As we journey through this season of Lent, ask God what weeds of bitterness and anger He can prune and replace with the joy of forgiving others. He forgives us unconditionally, and that is one of the most precious gifts of all.
Verses about forgiveness I've been studying this week:
- Mathew 5:44, 7:1-5, 18:21-35
- Ephesians 4:25-32
- 1 Peter 3:9
- Hebrews 12:14-15
- 1 John 1:9
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