FATHER FORGIVE THEM.
THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO
Let us join the prophet Isaiah in proclaiming that Jesus, our Savior and Lord, “was pierced for our offences, crushed for our sins; and upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole. By his stripes we were healed” Isaiah 53:5
WE ARE FORGIVEN!
We need a Savior and what a great one we have, God himself. God emptied himself even to death, death on the cross, that we might have life, life everlasting!
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:23
REPENT AND BE SAVED
As Lent approaches, (February 14) we may examine our consciences for areas that we need to repent. Conversion, is an essential part of the Lenten rite.
We need to be forgiven and to forgive others, maybe ourselves.
Seeking forgiveness and forgiving others is impossible without God’s grace. “With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible!” Matthew 19:26
Today, the Church, Jesus founded, is the custodian of conversion, forgiveness of sins, absolution, and reconciliation. It is God’s will that none be lost. I Timothy 2:4
The evening of His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to his Apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” JOHN 20:21-23
Today, God the Father of mercy awaits our return home. Let us return in the words of the Prodigal Son. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son… Luke 15:18-19
I WAS LOST AND NOW I AM FOUND
LUKE 15:31
Our Lord Jesus taught us to pray “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Literally, I am asking God to forgive me like I forgive others? Let me ponder that for a while….
Do I forgive injuries, real or perceived??? Have I forgiven those who have hurt or offended me? Or do I hold on to old hatreds and grudges?
Forgiveness is not the same as “forgetting! There are some things that we cannot forget, but we can choose to surrender that hurt, that painful memory, over to Our Lord Jesus, to ask Him to help us to let go of that hurt, to not to let it have power over me anymore.
But what if we continue to have negative feelings toward the person who hurt us? It doesn’t matter! Feelings are just that…feelings and nothing more! Negative feelings are not sinful, unless we deliberately foster them and choose to feed them.
When our negative feelings emerge, pray for the person who hurt us, then our feelings will eventually begin to change and to heal.
Clinging to our hurt and anger, understandable though it may be, only harms us. Anger, hurt, and nursing grudges all sap us of strength. In calling us to forgive, God is offering us the gift of freedom from a costly emotional state that robs us of our joy and strength
Some may think forgiveness requires that you stay or resume a poisonous dysfunctional relationship. It does not! Sometimes relationships are poisonous for both parties involved and to be avoided.
Forgiveness is a work of God within us, whereby He acts to free us from the poisonous effects of bitterness and grief that often accompany the harm that was inflicted upon us.
Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners
Matthew 9:12-13