"The Value of Forgiveness"

Scripture: "If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." -Matthew 6:14 & 15, CEV

As we live this thing we call life, we find ourselves having gone through some rough situations and circumstances with people. There have been times where people had made you the grunt of every joke, thus causing an emotional scar on your brain, or the fact that you have someone that cannot respect you correctly due to the way he/she talks to you, and other things. At the end of the day, we, as men and women of God, must find room in our hearts to forgive them. Jesus prayed to His Father while hanging on the cross by saying, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing". If truth were told, we ought to have this same prayer on our lips for those who have done us wrong, for those who disrespect us, for those who lack empathy, and anything else. Through forgiveness, there's a value that comes along with it. Today's text will illustrate the value of forgiveness.

Today's focal book comes from the Gospel according to Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector and wrote his Gospel account similar to those of Mark and Luke. From these three Gospel accounts, Matthew contains the largest amount of chapters, twenty-eight. Within this sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus is doing some teaching. As He is doing this teaching, Jesus discussed several subjects: worry, giving, prayer, light, worshipping God by not eating (fasting), money, and treasures in Heaven. Today's main scripture falls into the subject of prayer.

Matthew 6:9 - 13 is considered by scholars and us today as the "Lord's Prayer". This prayer was given by Jesus as a model prayer in how one should pray to the Father. Upon completion of the Lord's Prayer, Jesus goes on to discuss this thing we call forgiveness. He gives us the rationale of why we should forgive. He tells us that "If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in Heaven will forgive you". What a powerful and yet simple statement! If you do not remember anything else I have said on today, remember to forgive people because you desire that God forgives you! Even when your child lashes out at you for no reason, forgive them! Even when your husband/wife has hurt your feelings, forgive them! Even when your church member said something out of the way to you, forgive them! Even when your brother or sister hurts you unintentionally, forgive them! When you forgive them, God will forgive you and when He forgives you, He wipes your slate clean! Peter poses the question in Matthew 18 after Jesus told a parable. He posed the question, "How many times are we to forgive our brother? Seven times? … Jesus says, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times." In other words, no matter how many times you are wronged, you need to forgive them!

Jesus concludes the text by letting us know this: "But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins". We tend to, from time to time, go to bed, angry at our spouses, children, family, friends, etc. because of something they said. Ephesians 4:26 gives us some great advice. It tells us, "In your anger do not sin" : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry". In other words, exercise your anger and spill out what is angering you. In other words, do not hold grudges for so long that you are impeding the blessings God has for you. Do not be the type that because ______ has not paid you some money back that you are angry with them for the rest of your life. Do not be the type to not forgive your sister because she slept with your man or friend. Do not be the type to not forgive your spouse when they cussed you out or hurt your feelings. When you do not forgive, God does not forgive you! When He does not forgive you, He has blessings with your name on it, but He needs to see your trust in Him to forgive your brothers and sisters! One thing I have come to realize is that you do not need to avenge the person/people who have hurt you, God will avenge them for you! He tells us in two instances that "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay" and "Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm". You have all the right reasons to forgive and the wrong reasons not to forgive!

In closing, I know that many of you have been hurt. People have done you wrong, made you an outcast, talked about you like a dog, and the list goes on and on. Isn't it a blessing to know that God still wants you to forgive? Not only that, but there's a value in forgiving those who have wronged you? I encourage you today, my brother and my sister, if someone has wronged you in the past, speak forgiveness into the atmosphere and go on with your life! When you do that, watch God erupt with blessings for you!