We Can't Withhold
It!
"And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors."
Matthew 6: 12
The Bible is full of people who learned to forgive.
Esau forgave Jacob, and Joseph forgave the brothers
who sold him into slavery. Job forgave the friends who
ill advised him. Hosea forgave the wife who
betrayed him.
The prodigal’s father in Luke 15
is a model of forgiveness,
and Stephen forgave those who stoned him to death. Paul
forgave John Mark, who had deserted him, and Philemon
forgave
Onesimus. Whom can you forgive?
Our ability to forgive others is
proportional to our understanding
of how God has forgiven us.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “Whenever I see myself
before God and realize something of what my blessed
Lord has done for me at Calvary, I am ready to forgive
anybody anything. I cannot withhold it. I do not even
want to withhold it.”
When we forgive one who hurt us, it not only follows
Christ’s example, but it brings healing to our own souls.
The Lord alone can give us forgiving hearts, and
when
He does, we cannot withhold forgiveness.
"The degree to which I am able and willing to forgive
others is a clear indication of the extent to which I
have personally experienced God my
Father’s
forgiveness for me."
Phillip Keller