For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
— MATTHEW 6:14-15 —
Dmitry S. | Russia
To call God Father is a great privilege. To be in God’s family means having access to many blessings and the special fatherly care of the Creator of heaven and earth. At the same time, it’s also an immense responsibility. To be a part of God’s family means we should resemble our Father—reflecting Him and His actions in the way we live. Jesus speaks of this reality in His familiar words from the Sermon on the Mount, yet to our ears these words are startling. If you find yourself struggling to forgive, consider the wrong done to you, and measure that to the wrongs you committed against God. Since God forgives, His children should—indeed, must—forgive. How can someone truly call Him Father, having experienced His forgiveness, and not extend forgiveness to others? To Jesus, this is unthinkable. As someone once said, “Forgiveness is the most God-like action a Christian can do.” Believers must forgive! If someone harbors an unforgiving spirit, they may come under the loving but firm hand of God’s parental discipline and correction (Heb. 12:4–11), or worse, they may not truly know God as Father. A lack of showing forgiveness can demonstrate a hypocritical life; for, how can someone pray to God, asking for forgiveness, and then refuse to forgive others? If this is the case, we have no right to expect God’s forgiveness but only His corrective intervention in our lives. Christian, you must be attentive in your walk of faith. You must be quick to forgive others, as God in Christ has forgiven you. If you find yourself struggling to forgive, consider the wrong done to you, and measure that to the wrongs you committed against God. Let that move your soul to forgive like your heavenly Father.
