"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." - Matthew 6:14-15
Jesus delivered a sermon well known as The Sermon On The Mount. During the sermon, Jesus pointed out many things that impact our lives even today. Jesus gave us a prayer we could model our prayers after. He showed us the importance of worship, humility, and forgiveness when we pray.
Forgiving someone is essential because for our Father in Heaven to forgive us, we must forgive others. Forgiving others is one of the behaviors the Holy Spirit guided me into when I received the gift of Salvation in 2004. I was sitting in my apartment, and I started thinking about some incidents when I was mistreated. I had read this passage a short time before, and it came to my remembrance. I wanted to forgive everyone who hurt me in the past. So, at that moment, I forgave people, even if I didn't know how to contact them.
When we forgive people, we not only do what the Lord has told us we must do, but forgiving also releases us from the bondage associated with unforgiveness, and it is our first step toward healing. Unforgiveness weighs us down with bad memories of the past and sometimes manifests into hatred.
Father, I pray this post will address someone who is hurting because of someone else's actions. Please help them to forgive so that they can live. In Jesus' name - Amen.
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