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- Apr 25, 2006
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Simples!
'... forgiving one another ... even as Christ forgave you' Colossians 3:13
'I hate her!' 'Did you see the way she looked at me?' 'You are so gonna regret this!' 'This time you have gone too far!' How often do you say and think stuff like that, instead of, 'I forgive you'? Revenge tactics seem to automatically kick in. We'll even hold a grudge against someone we don't know because of something we might have heard about them.
When we've been wronged, we want to get back at that person and we'll choose the most public of places to do it. Facebook, YouTube, texts, gossip in the school canteen - we'll use any way we can to bring them down. What is that about? Why is it we always want to do the opposite of what God says, 'forgiving one another... even as Christ forgave you'? I mean it's not like that's too difficult to understand, is it? OK, some bits of the Bible can just wreck your head with complicatedness! But not this bit: 'forgive as Jesus forgives me'.
Simples! When we don't do what God asks us, it's like we're saying, 'I don't trust you, God. My way is better than yours'. In Luke 6:37, Jesus says, 'Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.' (NIV) If we want to be forgiven then we need to forgive. So don't question it, ignore it or forget about it. Just do it! Simples.
written by Bob Gass
'... forgiving one another ... even as Christ forgave you' Colossians 3:13
'I hate her!' 'Did you see the way she looked at me?' 'You are so gonna regret this!' 'This time you have gone too far!' How often do you say and think stuff like that, instead of, 'I forgive you'? Revenge tactics seem to automatically kick in. We'll even hold a grudge against someone we don't know because of something we might have heard about them.
When we've been wronged, we want to get back at that person and we'll choose the most public of places to do it. Facebook, YouTube, texts, gossip in the school canteen - we'll use any way we can to bring them down. What is that about? Why is it we always want to do the opposite of what God says, 'forgiving one another... even as Christ forgave you'? I mean it's not like that's too difficult to understand, is it? OK, some bits of the Bible can just wreck your head with complicatedness! But not this bit: 'forgive as Jesus forgives me'.
Simples! When we don't do what God asks us, it's like we're saying, 'I don't trust you, God. My way is better than yours'. In Luke 6:37, Jesus says, 'Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.' (NIV) If we want to be forgiven then we need to forgive. So don't question it, ignore it or forget about it. Just do it! Simples.
written by Bob Gass
