Christian Living

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Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive [them], and ye shall have [them]. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:24-26

I love Mark 11:24, don't you? It sounds as though whatever you want, if you pray, believing, you will get it. WooHoo! So we spend lots and lots of time trying to whip up our faith to get those things we want. I've done it, have you? But that isn't what is on my heart today.

It's the following two verses that I'm thinking about today. And I wonder, are those as dear to your heart as the first? I would have to admit, I probably don't quote them as often. I don't hold on to them in faith, and I sometimes wish I didn't know them. (Like last night, when I was mad at my son.)

Interestingly, it doesn't say that if someone has something against you, go and apologize to them and make it right. That can be relatively easy compared to this. And Jesus does deal with that in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:21-24) But here it says, "If you have something against someone," you are to forgive them.

Boy, I know, it can be so hard to apologize to someone you have mistreated in some way. It can be hard to humble yourself and ask for forgiveness. But sometimes it seems even harder to forgive someone who has hurt or offended you.
It is like everything in you rises up to protest. (That is your flesh, by the way.) We want our apology, we want them to humble themselves before us and ask for our forgiveness. We want them to explain what could have possibly led them to hurt us so.

And, it is even worse if they won't apologize, or if they are seemingly unaware that they have hurt us? (How could they not know?) All that is within us wants our feelings to be justified by their apology and an explanation as to why they hurt us.

And God tells us to forgive, even as we are praying, we are to stop and forgive. If we are holding something against someone, we are to forgive them, without an apology, without an explanation, without a confrontation. We are to forgive.

Actually, the last verse is really rather frightening if you think about it. "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." What? If I don't forgive, God won't forgive me? I'm not making this stuff up, it is in the Bible. We can probably try to argue it off theologically or something, but it appears to be a clear statement.

Funny how I expect God to forgive me because Christ died for me and paid the penalty of my sin. But then I feel totally justified in not forgiving the one who has hurt me. Boy, I want them to fix it.

Is it worth it? Is what they have done really worth not forgiving them? Is it worth inhibiting my relationship with God? Is it worth inhibiting my prayers? Last night I could feel my prayer inhibited by my self-righteous anger over such
a little thing. (Thank You, God, for allowing me to feel it.)

I'm going to add one more thing, if someone has hurt or offended you, don't carry it around. You need to forgive them. In some cases, you may need to talk to them about it. One of the things I have found is that I am sometimes offended by my PERCEPTION of something said or done. Offenses are often the result a misunderstanding. So, sometimes it is a good idea to ask for clarification. (I know how scary that can be, but it is worth it to restore a friendship that has been damaged by the lies of the enemy whispered into our hearts and minds.) In love and a spirit of reconciliation, go to the person and try to clear up any possible misunderstanding. Of course, as I said, this MUST be done in love. You cannot approach such a situation in a spirit of blame and accusation.

As I said, unforgiveness inhibits your relationship with God (no matter how you try to convince yourself that it doesn't), and it inhibits your prayers. NOTHING in this world is worth that. By the way, I did forgive my son, and looking back on it, it was such a silly thing to be upset about in the first place.

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