Joel M Bradshaw

2And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.–Matthew 6

 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)

Think of forgiveness like a camp fire. And you are holding two different jars. On jar has gasoline. The other water. Which are you going to pour on the fire?

Many people say that they put out the fire, but still keep the embers glowing. As if they can stay bitter and keep the anger going to flare up at a moment’s notice.

No, pour water on that fire and fully extinguish it. That is forgiveness.

If you go in to the bank to make the final payment on a loan, you want the final payoff amount. You want to leave the room with nothing left to pay. Imagine if you thought you paid your debt just to find out that the interest was still rolling on! Many say they forgive, but in their heart they are still letting the interest accrue against the other person. That is not forgiveness.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. This is serious. You expect God to fully extinguish His fire and to not leave the embers burning or the interest running. Imagine if God did otherwise? We would all have no hope! So do the same with the one who sinned against you, my friend.

When you forgive, you no longer bring up the matter to three people. To yourself, to the one you forgave, and to other people.–JMB