“But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:15 NIV
It can be tough to forgive. It presses us to the edge of ourselves where we are forced to acknowledge that God is greater than the wrong that has been done to us. When we choose to forgive, it keeps God’s power in perspective.
Someone may stop loving you, insult you, steal from you, or abuse you, but that person will never be able to destroy the love that God has for you or His sovereign rule over all that concerns you. God’s redeeming love is bigger than your enemies. This is what Joseph acknowledged after his brothers threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20 NIV).
Think about something someone has done to you that has demanded forgiveness. Do you believe God is bigger than the wrong? Are you convinced His love and His rule are redemptive? If so, let the person who has wronged you off the hook. Stop thinking that he or she has ruined your life and that you will never recover—because God is a redeemer.
Lord, when someone wrongs me, I may want to lash out or hold a grudge. Help me to remember that there is nothing that will happen to me that You cannot redeem for my good and Your glory. Help me to live in the freedom of this truth. Amen.
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Today’s reading was adapted from Daily Wisdom for Women: 2017 Devotional Collection with permission from Barbour Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reading was written by Shana Schutte.