A Sample From Lord, I’m Broken: A 90-Day Devotional.
Day 39 A Picture of Forgiveness ~Page 77-78
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.
Matthew 6:14 NKJV
“Would you forgive the debt?”
The person who asked me this question owed thousands of dollars.
Everything in me wanted, needed them to pay me. Yet, when they asked the question, something moved deep within my spirit.
I didn’t answer them right away. I asked for time to think about it. And after praying, and talking with my husband, I felt I was supposed to forgive this debt.
As far as I was concerned, they didn’t owe me the money anymore. There was no way they could pay it back.
As I went through the process of forgiving this monetary debt, I was struck with the understanding that this is a picture of what God has done for us. In the sins of our past, we racked up quite a debt. But when we come to the Lord, and ask Him to forgive our debt of sin, He wipes the slate clean through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:9). We don’t owe that debt anymore. It’s been forgiven.
And then, God showed me this is also what it looks like to forgive others the wrongs they have done to us. When someone wrongs us in any way, whether it be a small slight or something that has cost us great pain and loss, we want them to pay.
We in a sense, have charged them with the debt of the wrong they have done to us.
That person, whether they are sorry or not, cannot give us back what was stolen. They can’t give us back the dignity that was taken. They can’t make up for the heartache, sorrow, and grief they caused.
They can never give it back.
They cannot pay the debt.
We can spend our lives in bitter disappointment, trying to get something back from that person or someone else we’ve deemed should pay; or, we can choose to forgive, and trust God to make it up to us.
It doesn’t mean they get away with it. It doesn’t mean what they did was ok. It means you are not going to try and collect that debt anymore. You understand they cannot pay it back to you.
If you choose to forgive, you will be able to heal from the wounds that were inflicted, and you can ask God to make it right, to give you a double blessing for each of your troubles (Zechariah 9:12).
Prayer
Lord, I choose to forgive ______________for ______________. I realize that ____________ can never repay me for what was done. _______________ can never give me back what was stolen. I break spiritual ties with _______________ right now. I release all the anger, hatred, bitterness and resentment I feel towards _____________, and I ask Father, that you would heal my heart. I ask for a double blessing for each of my troubles. In Jesus name, Amen.
© Carolyn Rice 2016
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