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my quivers full -> RE: forgiveness (8/18/2008 10:55:19 PM)
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For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Matt 6:14
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us
Luke 11:4
So watch yourselves.
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
Luke 17:3,4
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
John 20:23
For those who say we can't forgive people of thier sins, please read the passages from Jesus, who clearly stated that we can forgive someone their sins and that we need to do so. Jesus also sternly warned us that if we refuse to forgive someone, we place ourselves in great danger of not being forgiven by God the Father
Matt 18:23-35
23"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[g] was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[h] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.
29"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Sometimes forgiveness is hard, especially when that person has sinned against us horribly, but if you want to be like Jesus and to walk in the truth, He will help you with the issue of forgiving that person.
2 missionaries just return to the city in which I live after they had been brutally attacked in Africa by people with machetes. These 2 people were cut up very badly, had bones chopped amongst other terrifying things. Though barely alive, they have expressed forgiveness to thier attackers and plan to return to that country when they recover to express this forgiveness personally. Personally, I couldn't imagine the strength to forgive, but obviously the love of Christ is working through them. I can't say that I am perfect in this area of forgiveness either, but I'm working on it. Christ has commanded it
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