September 23, 2024
Have you accepted God’s free offer of forgiveness for your sins?
The mercy of God is poured out on those who are willing to confess a need for forgiveness. Recognizing our need provides God with all that He asks or seeks to avoid His otherwise inescapable judgement.
God’s forgiveness extends to remembering our sins no more. He is “a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in faithful love”. (Nehemiah 9:17)
Once we have received God’s mercy and forgiveness, God then tells us to extend a like forgiveness to our brothers and sisters. By doing this we follow God’s lead.
As Charles Stanley puts it, we need to be “willing to place every hurt and injustice into the hands of God and trust Him to heal our hearts and deal with those who have wounded us.” We’re not expected to deny our hurts, but our forgiveness frees those who have harmed us from blame. Focusing on our hurts, past injustices and sins only creates hostility and bitterness. “Vengeance is mine”, says the Lord!
Are you up for receiving God’s forgiveness and aligning with God in reflecting His mercy to others?
