Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
As you read the end of the fourth chapter of Ephesians, you can see that Paul tells us to forgive others as Christ forgave you. It is a simply profound statement and a profoundly simple statement all at the same time.
The basic reason why you ought to be a forgiving person is because you are a forgiven person. Only forgiven people are really motivated to forgive. You forgive because you are forgiven. You are forgiven because Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead so you could be forgiven.
You will never be able to forgive someone else until you remember how God has forgiven you for what you have done to Him. You will never forgive anyone if you always focus on the one who has hurt you. You will only forgive the one who has hurt you if you begin to focus on the one who died for you.
That is the motivation of forgiveness, but what is the method? How are we to forgive? How has God forgiven us? God forgives us freely. Jesus Christ didn’t charge us anything when He died for us. He didn’t extract a pound of flesh. He didn’t take His revenge first. He didn’t say, “Pay me what you owe me.” He didn’t say, “Clean up your life and get it together and then I’ll die for you.” He died for us so that we could be forgiven freely. The way He forgives us is the way we are to forgive others – freely with no strings attached, no fine print at the bottom of the contract and no conditions.
Dear Lord, thank you for offering me forgiveness free of charge. It is a gift I don’t deserve, so thank you for your grace and mercy. I pray that you would help me to forgive others in the same way, with a gracious and merciful heart, so that I might become more like you. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Topics: Forgiveness
