Matt 18:34 And his master became angry and delivered him to the torturers until he would repay all that was owed. (35) So also will My heavenly Father do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts. Heb 8:12 For I will be propitious to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I shall by no means remember anymore.
We all must learn to forgive others, something that none of us enjoys doing. Deep within our heart, we do not want to forgive others. According to the Bible, to forgive is to forget. For us, to forgive a person may mean that we simply do not care about the particular offense. However, we still remember it. How difficult it is to forget an offense against us! Without the Lord's mercy and grace, we would remember others' offenses even in eternity. But when God forgives, He forgets. Hebrews 10:17 says, "And their sins and their lawlessnesses I will by no means remember any more." To forgive something absolutely is to forget it. Our Father in heaven considers us as if we have never sinned, for He has forgiven and forgotten our sins. But when we forgive an offense, we often remind others of it. For example, a sister may say, "The elders treated me very poorly; however, I have forgiven them. But let me tell you a little about what happened." Genuine forgiveness means that we forget the offense.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 604-605. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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