I think one sign of spiritual maturity in a Christian – is their ability to forgive others.
A lot of people say they can forgive others, but often their actions betray the true nature of their feelings. However, we should be careful not to put ourselves in risky situations with people who habitually hurt us in some way; but we should not even entertain the thought of ‘pay back’, for past wrongs. God will ensure that justice is carried out – in His Kingdom.
In today’s study, Selwyn continues his discussion on the need to deal firmly with our past so that we can put all our energies into serving God. He writes: “In addition to forgetting our failures and the sins that have already been forgiven, we must put from our minds the sins that others have committed against us. … whenever you hold resentment against another, it is like a poison you administer to yourself … “. Often forgiveness is a long, hard process but Jesus can and will help you to deal with this issue. It’s in His nature to forgive, He is an expert in this area – allow Him to guide you – whenever the anger and pain of the hurt arises in your heart – take it immediately to Jesus, in prayer.
God expects us to follow the path as mapped out by Jesus; and the parables in the Gospels provide insight into these expectations, including the special goal of being transformed into a brother or sister of Jesus. It is clear from Scripture, that forgiveness is important. The Holy Spirit, who dwells within us – has a heart for forgiveness; if we allow Him to transform our heart – then we too, will be able to forgive.
In these following verses, Matthew 18:21-35 (NLT), we read about the terrible consequences of going our independent way and refusing to follow God’s commandment – to love our neighbour. If you refuse to forgive then you are telling God that you don’t want to belong to His family.
“Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned – to pay the debt.
“But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
Poisoning yourself
I think one sign of spiritual maturity in a Christian – is their ability to forgive others.
A lot of people say they can forgive others, but often their actions betray the true nature of their feelings. However, we should be careful not to put ourselves in risky situations with people who habitually hurt us in some way; but we should not even entertain the thought of ‘pay back’, for past wrongs. God will ensure that justice is carried out – in His Kingdom.
In today’s study, Selwyn continues his discussion on the need to deal firmly with our past so that we can put all our energies into serving God. He writes: “In addition to forgetting our failures and the sins that have already been forgiven, we must put from our minds the sins that others have committed against us. … whenever you hold resentment against another, it is like a poison you administer to yourself … “. Often forgiveness is a long, hard process but Jesus can and will help you to deal with this issue. It’s in His nature to forgive, He is an expert in this area – allow Him to guide you – whenever the anger and pain of the hurt arises in your heart – take it immediately to Jesus, in prayer.
God expects us to follow the path as mapped out by Jesus; and the parables in the Gospels provide insight into these expectations, including the special goal of being transformed into a brother or sister of Jesus. It is clear from Scripture, that forgiveness is important. The Holy Spirit, who dwells within us – has a heart for forgiveness; if we allow Him to transform our heart – then we too, will be able to forgive.
In these following verses, Matthew 18:21-35 (NLT), we read about the terrible consequences of going our independent way and refusing to follow God’s commandment – to love our neighbour. If you refuse to forgive then you are telling God that you don’t want to belong to His family.
“Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
“No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned – to pay the debt.
“But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”