Oh God, I Will Forgive

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and
forgive whatever grievances
you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

• Forgiveness is not forgetting.
• Forgiveness is not reconciliation.
• Forgiveness is not condoning.
• Forgiveness is not dismissing.
• Forgiveness is not a vague notion of ‘tolerance’.
• Forgiveness is not pardoning.

Forgiveness is an act of faith.

By forgiving another:

• We are trusting that God is a better justice-maker than we are.
• We release our own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out.
• We leave in God’s hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy.

We simply forgive others and leave them to God.

Let us leave fairness and justice in God’s hands.
Let us obediently forgive others just as the Lord forgave us.

Oh Lord,
grant me the faith to trust You with
the offenses committed against me.

Oh God, I will forgive.

Can You Forgive Others?

Do you easily forgive people when they apologize?
Do you need time to ponder and consider?
Will your relationship with them be the same as before after they apologize?
These and many more related questions seem to haunt and torture many of us these days.

A trivial and innocent mistake is easily forgiven and forgotten. Over the years we have so many of these that we used to talk and joke about them later in our life and have a good laugh.

How about grave and serious mistakes that have hurt you so much? Will you readily forgive those who have wronged you? Will you forget the damage done?

Many times we have to consider and reconsider the apologies before we are happy and ready to forgive. We want to know whether those who apologize are sincere in their apologies. We want to know whether they do it on their own free will or they are coaxed to do it to preserve peace and harmony. An insincere apology will not be accepted since it doesn't come from the bottom of the heart.

Sometimes people apologize, but then they continue to do again. And they will come repeatedly to you with the same apologies : 'I'm sorry' and 'I'm sorry I did it again.' Will you forgive them because they come 'sincerely' to apologize? Now, how many times do you think you will forgive them before you say 'No'?

It will be good if we have a forgiving heart and we can readily forgive people in advance even before they come to apologize. We really need to pray for a soft heart ready to forgive others.

Do you think you can readily forgive others? Please share your views. thanks.