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How to Forgive Others
By Bryan | December 6, 2007
During the Christmas season, it is a great time of year to reflect on the past year and think about how you have lived your life. For many, you can say you lived a good Christian life and you generally acted the way Christ would have. How about those times that you haven’t? Or even better, how about those times when others haven’t acted so Christian-like towards you?
While asking for forgiveness can be an extremely hard thing for any person to do, forgiving someone and truly meaning it is even harder. However, Jesus taught us to forgive everyone and love your neighbor as you would love yourself. In fact, this was part of His greatest commandment, the one that supersedes even the Ten Commandments. So, do you think Jesus thinks forgiving others is important as well?
To start off here, I want to take a look at one Scripture verse here. This quote is from The Living Bible translation.
Colossians 3:13 says, “Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
That verse pretty much sums up what Jesus wants us to do. This was written in the very early years after Jesus so his apostale Paul, who was already trying to get people to remember Jesus. Even so close to His glorious presence, people were struggling with this very fact. So, how can we, followers of Jesus 2000 years later, forgive others easily?
It starts with Jesus and getting to really know and understand your relationship with Him. Just look at those words again. He forgave US! What have you done lately to forsake Jesus? How many times a day I should say do you do it? I know plenty of times a day that I do! But guess what? As long as you come back and truly try and change your ways, He forgives you! What a concept and what a guy. It doesn’t matter what the crime is, Jesus will always be there for you IF you reach out for Him. So, the next time you are having a problem with a person, just remember how many times that day you have turned and hurt Jesus.
There are so many wonderful verses that can be used on this subject really. The Bible is full of verses saying how the Lord will forgive you if you just ask. But where I want to go is an act of a man actually forgiving others when he faced death. This quote is from the New Living Translation, and is as follows:
Acts 7:59-60, As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And he fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.
Those are some strong words from a man facing his death. No cursing or anything like that, just doing what the Lord wanted him to do. How many of us could find ourselves in the same situation and be able to do that? I am sure it would be very hard for even the strongest Christian, but again, it is what the Lord wanted. Stephen was received with great favor from the Lord, as he forgave his killers as he was being killed! Jesus did the same thing, right? It is amazing what we can learn from the Lord.
In closing, this Christmas season is a busy one as always, and we will be faced with many tests along the way. Be sure to go out of your way to forgive others this season and make it the best.
Topics: Bible Study |