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"For if ye
forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly
Father will also forgive you:
But if ye
forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will
your Father forgive your trespasses."
Matthew 6:14,15
Freely Forgiving
There's a sign
in a convenience store which reads:
"Check cashing
policy:
To err is
human. To forgive, $20.00."
That's a funny
way to recognize the fact that
we make
mistakes.
But it's also
evidence of the way many people
think about
forgiveness.
To forgive is
to accept within yourself
the
consequences of the sins of others.
It means to
accept the pain,
the problems
and the burden that comes
when someone
sins against you.
Forgiveness is
neither easy nor a frequent gift.
Look at what
God has done for us . . .
"Forasmuch as
ye know that ye were not
redeemed with
corruptible things,
as
silver and gold,
from your
vain conversation
received
by tradition from your fathers:
But with the
precious blood of Christ,
as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot:
Who verily
was foreordained
before the
foundation of the world,
but was
manifest in these last times for you."
1Peter 1:18-20
It wasn't money
or anything of wealth
or value in
worldly terms.
He gave His
Son!
Jesus took upon
Himself the burden of our sins.
Forgiveness was
freely given to us!
And if God has
forgiven us,
is it not time
that we forgive others?
For it is
better to forgive the injustices of the past
than to allow
them to take root
and add
bitterness to our future.
Forgive and
Live!
"Lord
Dictated Them"
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