A Little Bit of Faith: Can You Forgive?

Most of us walking around are wounded people. We may have been hurt by a close friend, we may have been betrayed by a family member, or we may have been lied on by someone at work. Whatever the reason, we have been hurt. The problem comes, however, when we are unable to forgive those who have offended us.

We may think that we are hurting them.  But the longer we walk around carrying the weight of unforgiveness, we are really hurting ourselves. We may become gloomy, or we may constantly think about how we can get that person back. We probably have placed ourselves in a prison because we are not able to get beyond what was done to us.

Yet, the most important reason why we should forgive people is that our Heavenly Father has forgiven us of our sins.   In the book of John it says, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Plus, in the book of Matthew, it tells us that if we are willing to forgive others, our Father will forgive us too. “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14).

This is why it is so important to forgive people.  This doesn’t mean that you have to become best friends with them, hang out with them, and send cards to them for every holiday. It simply means that you are willing to forgive them of their transgression whether they ask you for forgiveness or not.

I know this is easier said than done, but if you give it a try, I guarantee that you will feel the weight of the world lift off of your shoulders.  Let’s see if we can forgive someone this week. Go ahead give it a try. It’ll be okay. Amen? Amen.