Bible Reading: Isaiah 24-26; Ephesians 4
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31-32 (KJV)
As believers and children of the most high God we are admonished to walk in love, and in order to do this we must learn to forgive others and forgive ourselves.
True believers in Christ make peace with one another.
Many people are going through diverse kinds of betrayals day in and day out acting as if all is well but are hurting deep down within. The smiles on their face says all is well, but the hurt in their hearts are crying out for relief from the pain of unforgiveness by their offender.
Our today scripture, exhorts us to forgive others and ourselves by letting go of bitterness, anger, wrath, clamour, evil speaking and malice. The truth is forgiveness is more beneficial for us more than it is for our offender. Yes, we must forgive them, but in doing so, we are set free from the offense in our hearts and the weight of anger, bitterness, hatred and unforgiveness is released. In other words, forgiveness allows the heavy burden and weight in our hearts to be lifted.
We are also called to be kind to one another and tender hearted, as we put the love of Christ that is within us into action by forgiving one another as Christ has forgiven us unconditionally. It’s time to walk in love! God commands it for He declares in His Word that …if we do not forgive one another, our Father in heaven will not forgive us (Matthew 18:38).
In this world, we cannot avoid getting hurt for it is a part of life. The question is how will we respond? God wants us to respond with a heart that forgives. We can choose to harbor pain and hate, we can choose to retaliate or we can choose to forgive. The choice is ours.
Chose God’s word and put the devil to shame and flight today by forgiving those who have wronged and offended you.
Prayer: Father, engrace me to walk in the love of Christ and forgiving others truly from the heart.
Pastor Alfred Samuel