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THE DANGER OF UNFORGIVENESS
To forgive mostly benefits the forgiver. Jesus said
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:12).
Note that we are forgiven exactly the same way we forgive others.
"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12).
How many times should we forgive? This is the question that Peter asked the Lord Jesus.
"Then Peter came to Jesus and asked: Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered: I tell you, not seven times but seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:21).
Jesus continued and gave a story of a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants:
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owned him ten thousand talents (millions of US$) was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. "Be patient with me", he begged, "and I will pay you back everything". The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debts and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owned him a hundred denarii (a few US$). He grabbed him and began to choke him. "Pay back what you owe me" he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back". But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. The master called the servant in. "You wicked servant" he said [wicked is the qualification given to someone who does not forgive], "I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owned.
Note that this man was thrown in jail for huge debts that were cancelled for him by his master. Now let us read carefully what Jesus commented on this story:
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart" (Matthew 18:22-35).
Jesus is saying that if we do not forgive, God will bring back to the surface what He had forgiven us!!! This is scary. I would not like to see my past. It is better to forgive. I have chosen the route of forgivess. Nobody owns me anything! [Pastor Celestin].
THE GREATEST TRAGEDY
These words by Dr Myles Munroe are very powerful and edifying. He describes the greatest tragedy in life as follows: "The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but life ..... life that fails to fulfill its purpose and potential. Move beyond the familiar patterns and experiences of your life to dreams and plans and imaginations that wait within you to be fulfilled. You will begin to see the marvellous being God created you to be". On this satement of Dr Munroe, what I can add to it is that all peopel are the same, only the size of our visions and dreams differs. I always ask God to teach me how to dream and to have visions. [Pastor Celestin].
A REALITY CHECK FOR REAL "CELL PHONE vs BIBLE"
A friend of mine sent this edifying message to me. I was challenged by the content. I decided to put it on the website hoping that someone somewhere will also be edified like me. The message is about the Cell phone versus the Bible. There we go:
I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone? What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets? What if we flipped through it several times a day? What if we turned to go get it if we forgot it? What if we used it to receive messages from the text? What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it? What if we gave it to Kids as gifts? What if we used it in case of emergency? This is something to make you go .. hmm. Where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think "where are my priorities?" No rejected calls! No flat battery! No "pls call me's" coz He will call on you all the time!