Heavenly Father I praise You for the forgiveness that Christ offers us with the gift of salvation. It is a forgiveness I will never fully understand or appreciate. I praise You for the safety of my drive with our first real snow and ice to endure. I praise You for helping me to connect with the next generation and give them advice while learning from them too. Help me take command of my morning today so I can shake all the evil, sin, and temptation from it and protect myself with my spiritual armor.
Holy Spirit right after Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, he said: For if you forgive men for their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men for their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins. [Matthew 6:14-15] Help me today to start to grasp the full meaning of forgiveness. As Christ is our example and on the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” [Luke 23:34] This was after they arrested Him, falsely accused Him, pulled his beard, spit on Him, flogged him with the cat of tails, pounded a crown of thorns on his head, beat him, mocked him, nailed him to a cross to be raised for public spectacle naked before all of his countrymen, loved ones, followers, soldiers and those who hated him. Yet he forgave them. What do you face that is more serious than that? He didn’t just say the words, He meant it from the bottom of His being. Forgiving someone does not mean we excuse them from their actions. What it means is that I give my right to hate, be angry, or want revenge for what someone did. I give it to God to handle it and I am free to go on in life not chained by bitterness, hatred, anger, or fear. It also does not mean I become a doormat for that person either. I may in some instances have to put barriers in place to protect me or my family. But that release is the key to freedom and a continued relationship with God. Help me to grasp this, understand it, and be wise enough to forgive so that nothing interferes with my relationship with You, God.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 5:6-11