July 28, 2020
Morning Devotion
| Preacher Rick | x |
| Thomason, Ricky L <rthomaso@utk.edu> | Tue, Jul 28, 9:21 AM |  | |
| to Alicia, Amanda, Amber, Amber, Amy, Beverly, Blake, Bob, Chanda, Chris, David, Diane, Dianne, Edward, Ethel, Evan, Faron, Travis, Hugh, Jennifer, John, Johnny, Jonathan, Jonathan, Josh, Julian, Kevin, Laura, Lee, Lori, Mary, Ora, Ray, Recruitu24@yahoo.com, Richard, Samuele, Tammie, Tammy, Teresa, wilson_kim24@yahoo.com, youncer_3@yahoo.com, Yvonne |
Brothers and Sisters,
(Matthew 6:14-15) 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.
Forgiveness is something we all expect God to give us when we mess up. I’ve always heard “if you mess up, fess up”. I John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all righteousness. So, if we are willing and choose to confess our sins before God, he says that he will forgive us of our sins. This is a promise that we all rejoice in because we have used this verse so many times in our Christian walk of life.
Now we see in our text this morning found in Matthew chapter 6 as Jesus was preaching the sermon on the mount that he gives us a condition if we want our sins to be forgiven. Here Jesus says that our Heavenly Father will forgive us if we forgive others, however, if we don’t forgive others neither will our Father forgive us. I find that to be a very powerful statement and have often thought about it down through the years.
Have you ever found it difficult to forgive someone who has wronged you in some way? Maybe you are still carrying around a “grudge” over something that happened years ago. Someone said something about you or did something to you and you just can’t get over it. You may not think about it every day, but when you see the person who did you wrong or even hear their name brought up in conversation, your mind immediately goes back to that time when they treated you wrong.
I hear people say, “Well I would forgive them if they would only come to me and ask for my forgiveness”. What if they never come right out and ask for your forgiveness? Is that an excuse for not forgiving them? I don’t think so. You can actually forgive someone without them asking you for your forgiveness. It’s not easy and it will require the Lord’s help, but with his help you can forgive others for what they have said or done to you. Actually, the other person may not even know that they have offended or wronged you in some way, so you are only hurting yourself by carrying around a “grudge” against them. This thing may have been eating away at you for years without the other person knowing anything about it. So, the best thing to do is seek the Lord’s help and forgive them in your heart.
I’m sure if you take time to think about it we have all had situations in our lives where we were on both sides of this issue. I have had people come up to me out of the blue and ask for my forgiveness for something that they said or did to me when whatever was said or done hadn’t affected me at all. And then I have discovered that people have been upset with something I’ve said or done to them when I certainly didn’t mean anything by it at all, but I when I found out that they were offended I’ve had to seek their forgiveness.
Being kind and forgiving one another is a characteristic that all born again Christians should have. (Ephesians 4:32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
So, search your heart this morning and if you have been weighted down with a spirit of unforgiveness, please seek the Lord’s help and forgive others so that you can have a clean heart when seeking forgiveness for yourself. Carrying around a root of bitterness will only damage your own life and not the person who you are staying mad over. (Hebrews 12:14-15) Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Bro. Rick
