AUG 26

Ephesians 4:31-32
Memorise Ephesians 4:32
“…forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”

What if someone hits you for no reason and refuses to apologise? What if your classmate tells an embarrassing secret about you to everyone, so shameful that you can’t bring yourself to face your schoolmates anymore? What if your loved one is paralysed by a drunk driver who is never caught? Do you think you could ever forgive if things like that happened to you?

How about if you were totally innocent, but you were conspired against, betrayed, and sentenced to a cruel humiliating death for a crime you did not commit. Could you still forgive? Well Jesus did. For as He hung on the cross, He cried out, “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Instead of responding with anger, resentment or hatred, He had pity and compassion upon them, loved them and then He died for their sins and ours, and willingly forgave.

Now as Christians we are called to have the same spirit of lovingkindness and tenderheartedness that Jesus had for us. Paul instructs us in Ephesians 4:31 that we put away bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, malice and evil speaking. These are responses and emotions that really shouldn’t be found in Christians, no matter what terrible or emotionally scarring thing has been done to you. Instead, we are to take Christ as our example, “and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Therefore in the same way that God has forgiven us through Christ, we must exercise the same forgiveness to the people around us. After all, we have sinned such great sins against God, and yet He forgave us, for no reason other than the fact that He chose to love us. Having therefore freely received this love and forgiveness, it would be terribly ungrateful to not exercise the same grace and love towards all the people who wrong or offend us. This is what Christian charity is all about, of being the first to say sorry, and the first to forgive. It is unhealthy to hold grudges or to be angry at another person for extended periods of time, no matter how justified you feel about it. No offence done against us could be greater than the injustice that Christ suffered on the cross. Yet He forgave. Can you do the same, to everyone?

Thought: I must forgive others, just as Christ has forgiven me!
Prayer: Lord, grant me a kind and tender heart, that I would bear no hatred or anger, but instead show love, compassion and grace to all.