DAY 12 – Forgive! | Planetshakers

Devotion

This is a deep one! A HUGE key for victory is the power of forgiveness.

We should think every day about how God has forgiven us because of Jesus’ blood. It’s so powerful. But what’s also powerful is when we choose to forgive other people too.

To be honest, we’re going to need to get good at forgiveness for the rest of our lives because we will get hurt and let down by people - not just bad people who want to hurt us, but good people who love us. And we will let them down too. Nobody is perfect. That’s just life, but choosing to walk in grace and forgiveness can heal!

When someone hurts us, it can feel like they owe us something- like they stole money from us and now they need to pay us back. But it’s not actual money, it’s deeper than that. It’s in our hearts. We have to decide we’re either going to hold to the offence and make them ‘pay,’ or let it go and generously forgive. Forgiving is like wiping the debt clear. They owe you nothing. It’s a fresh start.

The truth is, choosing not to forgive someone actually only keeps you hurt and angry. But when you do forgive them (and sometimes you have to do it over and over again) you let go of what hurt you and you can actually move on. Sometimes this is really hard to do because people do some really horrible things, but when you’re feeling hurt and let down, remember the cross! Remember the price that Jesus paid for you!

When you remember the debt that you once owed God, it makes more sense to forgive the debt that someone else owes you!

Scripture

Matthew 18:21-35

Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt. “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”