[Thursday's Devotional] - Forgive Us as We Forgive Others

And forgive us our sins

As we forgive those who sin against us.

 

For me this is always the most difficult part of my prayer.

 

The first line is giving us a chance to humbly accept our faults and ask Jesus for forgiveness.  It’s not easy admitting we are wrong.  

 

Recently my eldest "stole" a Snickers bar out of the fridge and ate it.  Disregard the fact that this was a 60 pence chocolate bar (My chocolate bar, I might add), but when challenged she denied everything about it.  I asked our youngest (who couldn’t possibly reach the top shelf of the fridge) - she denied it.  My wife, who had left early had not had it and I then doubted myself.  Did I get up in the middle of the night to satisfy a hunger pang?  Had I forgotten about this mini fridge trip?  

 

Hours later, I was tidying up in the living room, and my eye caught something badly stuffed behind the radiator.  Behold, an empty Snickers wrapper!  I was angry, and again I challenged my eldest, presenting the evidence.  I was tempted to lie and say I could send the wrapper to my food laboratory and find out if her DNA was on the wrapper, but this seemed a little too much like CSI and it was only a Snickers…

 

She came clean, confessed, and was punished more harshly than she would normally have been, since she was given the opportunity to admit the theft several times and denied it.  God knows we sin, he can see it, despite our attempts to cover it up and hide it, yet God offers us redemption from this sin, all we have to do is admit it.

 

The second line offers us a challenge. But the two lines are linked.  Just as God forgives us our sins - which he does, we are challenged to turn this around and offer forgiveness to others, should they sin against us.

 

This is, I think, even more difficult than the first challenge of asking for forgiveness. If you have been hurt emotionally or damaged physically, or robbed of something by others, then you can feel an overwhelming anger never to forget and never to forgive.  However, this can cause many problems down the line.  God forgives us the moment we ask for it, regardless of how we have treated him.  Regardless of how hard it is, forgiving somebody can release a stubborn barrier to your happiness.

 

Lord, thank you for forgiving me my weaknesses. Please help me to show the same compassion you show me to others who hurt me.  Amen

 

Steve Fogo