Forgiveness
Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
So in my first day of Seminary, I learned that forgiveness is mentioned more in Matthew more than any other New Testament book at 47 times.
If you read the Lord's prayer you will notice forgiving our debtors is the only part that entails our action. Everything else is supplication for God's intervention. Forgiveness requires our participation.
Having been forgiven, our first priority is to BE FORGIVERS.
The Greek Word for forgive in Matthew is "aphes" and is translated as: "to let go; to send away, to remit, cancel or pardon; to leave; and to let go, tolerate."
Looking at some of them:
Let it go.
Someone hurt you. Someone close. You need to let it go.
Send away.
Stop holding on to it. Whatever we rehearse we resemble. Resentment is a two-part word - "Re" - again and "sentiment" - a thought. All you are doing is reliving the pain over and over.
Sending it away is an interesting idea in Matthew. In the beginning of the Gospel we find the central theme of Christ's coming: In Matthew 1:21 the angel says to Joseph, "he will save his people from their sins.”
What a God we serve!
He has sent our disgrace away.
There are some hurts we need to let go of, there are a few we need to SEND away. Sending requires more effort and action. It takes more work to send something than to drop something. Jesus was letting a few people go, then carried the cross outside the camp to bear our sins. He was sent away from heaven to let us off the hook.
PRAYER:
Father I want to thank you for your forgiveness. I take it too lightly when I don't forgive others. I release them now. And as for those hurts I need to actively send away, grant me the power and strength to do so NOW.
In Christ's Name, Amen.
So in my first day of Seminary, I learned that forgiveness is mentioned more in Matthew more than any other New Testament book at 47 times.
If you read the Lord's prayer you will notice forgiving our debtors is the only part that entails our action. Everything else is supplication for God's intervention. Forgiveness requires our participation.
Having been forgiven, our first priority is to BE FORGIVERS.
The Greek Word for forgive in Matthew is "aphes" and is translated as: "to let go; to send away, to remit, cancel or pardon; to leave; and to let go, tolerate."
Looking at some of them:
Let it go.
Someone hurt you. Someone close. You need to let it go.
To leave.
Move your mind elsewhere. You won't forget, but you don't have to rehearse.
Stop holding on to it. Whatever we rehearse we resemble. Resentment is a two-part word - "Re" - again and "sentiment" - a thought. All you are doing is reliving the pain over and over.
Sending it away is an interesting idea in Matthew. In the beginning of the Gospel we find the central theme of Christ's coming: In Matthew 1:21 the angel says to Joseph, "he will save his people from their sins.”
In coming into the world through her womb through the Holy Spirit, the first person Jesus saves is His Mother! For Joseph thought her to be an adulterous being pregnant and was going to divorce her by sending her away. Instead, because of Jesus, her "disgrace" was sent away.
He has sent our disgrace away.
There are some hurts we need to let go of, there are a few we need to SEND away. Sending requires more effort and action. It takes more work to send something than to drop something. Jesus was letting a few people go, then carried the cross outside the camp to bear our sins. He was sent away from heaven to let us off the hook.
PRAYER:
Father I want to thank you for your forgiveness. I take it too lightly when I don't forgive others. I release them now. And as for those hurts I need to actively send away, grant me the power and strength to do so NOW.
In Christ's Name, Amen.
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