Forgiveness
Having a week dedicated to writing about Jesus and not diving into forgiveness would seem impossible!
Jesus is the ultimate forgiver. He gave up His life for all of us and took on all of our sins! ALL of them!!
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17
We are forgiven and loved because of Jesus no matter what but even better we are saved if we believe in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit and eternal life with Him in Heaven! 
“…forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”
Matthew 6:12
In this scripture from Matthew, Jesus teaches us how to pray…then gives us a clear and startling warning of what will happen when we don’t forgive others.
“If you forgive those who sin against you, your Heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14
Another part to forgiveness while on earth is we also must forgive others. Back in 2018, this verse was sent to me by a dear friend. I had been on a 5 month journey of really forgiving someone I loved dearly and it was not always an easy road. But…Jesus always has the answers and I did follow His ways, I forgave. (Get in your Bibles to learn His ways!).
Forgiveness is something we NEED to do as Christians. We must be more like Jesus. Because He has forgiven then we need to forgive others. It is written.
Paul was very clear in Ephesians 4:31-32 about forgiveness and our actions, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Once we learn about His great mercy we will want to be more like Him. We will be filled with the Holy Spirit when we are saved, the Holy Spirit will guide us, transform us, and give us the strength and courage to forgive.
Have you been through a situation where you have been hurt and treated unjustly and are just done with someone? I am sure you can answer yes, we all have had this happen in our lives. You can stay bitter, angry, block people on social media, cut people out of friend groups, gossip, spread rumors or you can FORGIVE and love.
If you are a Christian who refuses to forgive someone… have you become one with Christ and completely surrendered? He was willing to forgive on the cross those who were killing Him, we can forgive someone who has gossiped about us!
“Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
Christ’s way is to forgive, when we don’t forgive others we put ourselves above Christ. Well… spoiler alert, we are not above Christ our King! We need to humble ourselves, remove our ego’s, and forgive from our heart the person who has hurt us.
This week as we lead up to Easter and celebrate as Christians what Jesus Christ did for US, think about that person you REFUSE to forgive.
Jesus is encouraging us all through His teachings to be more like Him!! His way is not always the easiest way but it for sure is the PERFECT way.
Stay Rooted,
Lisa and Heather
