Monday, November 13, 2017

November 14, 2017

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Matthew 6:12

There is one  phrase I always work into my wedding ceremonies and it is this, "And never forget that marriage is the union of two good forgivers."

If you were to interview 50 couples who have been married for 25 years or more there would be five or six common denominators that they would attribute the longevity of their relationships to and one of those attributes would forgiveness.

Imagine a scenario like this. Things have been a bit tense between you and your spouse recently and to prevent it from escalating you apologize saying, "Please forgive me I have been hard to live with lately."

Your spouse replies, "No!"

"No? What do you mean, no?"

"No, I won't forgive you!"

"Really?"

"Really! I will not forgive you! I can't forgive you!"

Where can that conversation go from there?

For that matter, where can a relationship go from there?

Christianity is not a religion it is a relationship with a loving and living God! It is a relationship that was made possible through forgiveness. That forgiveness is made possible by the blood of Jesus Who paid the penalty for our sins by His death on the cross.

So, a relationship born out of forgiveness requires continued forgiveness to sustain it!

No wonder Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."

Forgiving is hard but Jesus says, "You have a prayer!"


















No comments:

Post a Comment