Daily Devotional For Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Good morning everyone! It is a Wonderful Wednesday! If you have been reading these daily devotionals, you know we are making our way through Jesus’ famous sermon – The Sermon On The Mount. You can read this in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. We have finished Matthew 5 and we are currently in Matthew 6. We just finished looking in depth at what is traditionally called The Lord’s Prayer. As I told you repeatedly, many Bible scholars call it The Disciples’ Prayer, since Jesus gave this prayer to His disciples as a model to follow.
This means we are now looking at Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (15) But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (NASB). These words by Jesus come after similar words He gave us in The Disciples’ Prayer in Matthew 6:12a, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (NASB). These words by Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15 remind us also of the two following Bible passages:
- Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (NASB).
- 1 John 2:1-2, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; (2) and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (NASB),
Jesus’ point is that when our hearts are willing to forgive others their sins, offenses, and hurts against us, our heavenly Father is willing to forgive us. Notice to receive forgiveness from God is conditional on us forgiving anyone and everyone who has sinned against us. As disciples of Jesus, we cannot and will not experience the fellowship of the Lord with grudges and resentment in our hearts against anyone who has hurt us. For some disciples, they simply do not care to receive the Lord’s forgiveness and fellowship. They would rather nurse and hold a grudge because they believe that is their right. And if that is you, in the words of Jesus, “You have your reward.”
The Greek New Testament word Jesus uses here for “forgive” is [ἀφίημι, aphinmi]. This word literally means “to hurl away.” Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:
“If we withhold forgiveness, grace, and mercy from people in our horizontal relationships, God will withhold the same in our vertical relationship with Him. This isn’t about our eternal salvation and right standing with God before the court of heaven. It refers to our day-to-day fellowship and communion with God” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Bible Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1 A, p. 114).
Christian author Stan Toussaint reaffirms this here when he writes this:
“Judicial forgiveness is not in view (Acts 10:43) but fellowship (1 John 1:5–9). It is impossible for one to be in fellowship with God as long as he harbors ill will in his heart” (Source: Stan Toussaint, Behold The King, p. 111).
.Jesus gave a startling warning about forgiveness: If we refuse to forgive others, God will also refuse to forgive us. This does not refer to salvation because salvation is not dependent on anything people can do. God’s willingness to forgive us is based on His character because the death of Jesus on the cross is enough to pay God the Father’s price for our sin. We do not forgive others in order to earn salvation or to keep it. But because we constantly sin every day, we are in need of His forgiveness every day. Holding grudges and resentment against others proves and shows that if we do that, we do not appreciate the merciful forgiveness nor the cost Jesus paid for our forgiveness. To refuse to forgive others bluntly is telling Jesus what He can do with His forgiveness to us.
This is why the Apostle Paul reminds of this in the following Bible passages:
- Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (NASB).
- Colossians 3:13, “Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” (NASB),
Even Jesus told a whole parable on the price we will pay if we refuse to forgive others. It is called The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:23-35. This parable came as a result of a question from a disciple named Simon Peter in Matthew 18:21-22, Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (22) Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (NASB). Jesus’ point is forgiveness is to be infinite towards anyone who sins against us no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
You can’t read the New Testament and not see that forgiveness shines all through the New Testament. We see a good example of this in a first century disciple who was martyred for his faith in Christ. As he was dying we are told that Stephen said this in a prayer in Acts 7:60, “Then falling on his knees, he (Stephen) cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep (died)” (NASB). Stephen’s words echo the words He knew Jesus had said on the cross in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (NASB).
When we fully accept the Lord’s forgiveness of us, we are no longer so quick to fix blame on others. That is one of the points Jesus makes in Matthew 18:23-35. When I was a teen, we sang a song in our Youth Group titled, “Pass It On.” The first and third lines of that song goes this way:
“It only takes a spark, To get a fire going. And soon all those around, Can warm up in the glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love, Once you’ve experienced it, You’ll spread His love to everyone. You’ll want to pass it on . . . I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I’ve found. You can depend on Him, It matters not where you’re bound. I’ll shout it from the mountain top, I want the world to know. The Lord of love has come to me, I want to pass it on” (Source link: https://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/pass-it-on/).
You can’t pass on to anyone what you have been defiant to do for the Lord. Let me say in a different way what I said above. None of us probably cannot imagine of telling the King of kings and the Lord of lords what to do with His command that we are to forgive others, but when we refuse to forgive anyone 70 times 7, or infinitely, that is what we are saying to the Lord we claim we love and are thankful for all He has done for us. Someone once said, “Refusing to forgive others, holding onto a grudge or resentment is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.”
As I wrap up with two more illustrations. I close with this from New Testament scholar Leroy Lawson:
“Imagine, if you can, an unforgiving neighbor whose memory has stored up every wrong or imagined wrong the man next door has ever done to him. Then listen to him recite the Lord’s prayer: “O God, I have sinned against Thee many times; I have been often forgetful of Thy goodness; I have broken Thy laws; I have committed many secret sins. Deal with me, I beseech Thee, O Lord, even as I deal with my neighbor. He hath not offended me one hundredth part as much as I have offended Thee, but I cannot forgive him. He has been very ungrateful to me, though not an hundredth part as ungrateful as I have been to Thee, yet I cannot overlook such base ingratitude. Deal with me, O Lord, I beseech Thee, as I deal with him. I remember and treasure up every little trifle that shows how ill he has behaved to me. Deal with me, I beseech Thee, O Lord, as I deal with him” (Source: Leroy Lawson, Unlocking The Scriptures For You, “Matthew,” pp. 96-97).
Here is the second. It is from British pastor and author John R. Stott:
“Once our eyes have been opened to see the enormity of our offense against God, the injuries which others have done to us appear by comparison extremely trifling. If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offenses of others, it proves that we have minimized our own” (Source: Quoted by Bruce B. Barton in The Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 117).
Questions To Consider
- When it comes to forgiving others, are you quick to do it or slow or not at all? Why?
- Jesus makes it clear that His willingness to forgive us is based on our willingness to forgive others. What are the implications and ramifications of this for you personally?
- Since the word Jesus used for the Greek word for “forgive” means “to hurl away.” What grudge and resentment towards someone do you need to hurl away? When will you do it? Jesus said refusing to forgive others proves we are ungrateful for Him forgiving us. Does this in any way describe you? Why or why not?
- The forgiveness that Jesus wants to give to you, He wants you to pass it on to others as well. If you refuse to forgive others, then why can’t you pass on His forgiveness to others? How does the last part of John Stott’s comments above apply to you: “. . .If, on the other hand, we have an exaggerated view of the offenses of others, it proves that we have minimized our own”?
- In the story above that New Testament scholar Leroy Lawson told, how in any way does this relate to you and your willingness to forgive others? As stated above, are you one who “drinks poison” hoping the other person has something bad happen to them? If so, why?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 18:32-35, “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. (33) Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ (34) And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. (35) My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, Whew! This is an area I really need help with from You. I really do not want to be ungrateful to you. I do not want to be handed over to the torturers. Instead, I want you to hand me over to Your tender caring and forgiving hands. Jesus, please help me to pass on to anyone who has hurt me or someone I love what You have passed on to me from our Father, who art in heaven. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly