For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Jesus. Matthew 6:14, 15. Hi, it’s Nathan, and this is Day 8 of 30 Days on the Mount of Blessing, PT 2.
Do you mean to tell me that God is standing back with his arms crossed, refusing to forgive until we do our part to forgive? Well, actually no. Paul, writing to the Corinthian believers, indicated forgiveness toward us is an already-accomplished reality in the heart of God. Our actions toward him or others does not move him to forgive us. What Jesus teaches us is that there is a direct relationship between our capacity to experience God’s forgiveness and the level to which we grant forgiveness to others. When we hold back forgiveness, we literally close our hearts against experiencing God’s forgiveness. But as our hearts move toward his, we are also drawn to forgive—when we refuse to do so—we push back from him. But, when we allow his forgiving heart toward us to move us to forgive—we open our own hearts to be flooded by the forgiveness of God toward us that’s already bursting in his own heart. Being forgiven is not about moving God to be forgiving—it’s about aligning our own hearts to receive the forgiveness he already holds for us.
