Unforgiveness is like a poison we take in small doses every day, but it eventually ends up poisoning us. It's so easy to hold onto those hurts, isn't it? But think about it: the Lord calls us to repent of our sins and seek His forgiveness. He also urges us to forgive those who offend or hurt us. It's a two-way street.
As children of God, we're called to practice forgiveness constantly. Imagine bringing your offering to the altar and suddenly remembering someone you've wronged, or someone who has wronged you. What do you do? Leave the offering right there, go and reconcile, and then come back and worship. It makes you think, doesn't it?
It's hypocritical to say we love the Lord but can't stand the people we see every day. Think about that for a second. God wants us, as the body of Christ, to practice the same kind of love He has for us – the kind of love that led Him to sacrifice His Son. That's powerful stuff.
Holding a grudge can be toxic, you know? It can eat away at you. Bitterness toward someone in your church isn't a sign of maturity, it's a sign that something needs to change in our hearts. We need to repent of any hypocrisy, drop the pretense, and be the unified church Jesus is coming back for: a pure church, without spot or wrinkle. That's what the Lord wants, and it's what we should strive for, too.
And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.}\par
above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins:
But if ye forgive not men {\i their trespasses}, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.\par
And judge not, and ye shall not be judged: and condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: release, and ye shall be released:
And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.}\par
Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Jehovah, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the peoples, Where is their God?\par
Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times?Jesus saith unto him, {\cf6 I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if ye forgive not men {\i their trespasses}, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.\par
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice:and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.\par
and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.\par
Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye:
Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
For judgment {\i is} without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.\par
in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye:
Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.}\par
And if thy brother sin, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, {\i I say}, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses;
shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,\par\tab He also shall cry, but shall not be heard.
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love;\par\tab But he that harpeth on a matter separateth chief friends.
And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.\par
And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.}\par
Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath {\i of God}: for it is written, {\b Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense,} saith the Lord.{\b But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head.}Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.\par
He hath not dealt with us after our sins,\par\tab Nor rewarded us after our iniquities.For as the heavens are high above the earth,\par\tab So great is his lovingkindness toward them that fear him.As far as the east is from the west,\par\tab So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
If therefore thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee,leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
As far as the east is from the west,\par\tab So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
But to whom ye forgive anything, I {\i forgive} also: for what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes {\i have I forgiven it} in the presence of Christ;that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices.\par
Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;
So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.}\par
Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.
And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son.But the father said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:and bring the fatted calf, {\i and} kill it, and let us eat, and make merry:for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
And if thy brother sin, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.But if he hear {\i thee} not, take with thee one or two more, that {\b at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established.}And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican.
for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities,\par\tab O Lord, who could stand?But there is forgiveness with thee,\par\tab That thou mayest be feared.
not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive,\par\tab And abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon thee.
But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
{\b For I will be merciful to their iniquities,\par\tab And their sins will I remember no more.}
{\cf6 Judge not, that ye be not judged.For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
{\b For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.}\par\par\tab Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:\par\tab According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,\par\tab And cleanse me from my sin.
But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation;
Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing {\i I do}, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before.I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper:\par\tab But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy.
And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, {\i I say}, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses;having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross;
{\b {\i A Psalm} of David.\par\tab Maschil.}\par\par\tab Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,\par\tab Whose sin is covered.Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity,\par\tab And in whose spirit there is no guile.
Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
And Jesus said, {\cf6 Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.} And parting his garments among them, they cast lots.
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen.And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.\par