The Importance Of Forgiving In The Bible

The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. Daniel 9:9

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 6:14-15

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

The Bible has much to say about forgiveness. These verses are a small sampling of what’s available in the Bible about forgiving. We tend to harbor hatred and unforgiveness against

It could be that our friends are mad at this person so therefore, we must be angry also—to keep with the “in” crowd; or that we would have to let go of our ego (i.e. our conceit, self-importance). It is very difficult to forgive someone whom has hurt us or someone we love.

Truthfully, the answer about unforgiveness is very simple, we are prideful people. Forgiving someone, means that we would have to let go of the grudge that we’ve been holding onto and reach out to someone that we’ve been angry with to show them love. By love, I don’t mean that ooey gooey love that one feels for their spouse or a loved one. It means to reach out to someone and show them God’s love.

God knows a little—more like a lot about forgiveness. One could say that He’s the expert on forgiving. He forgives us on a daily basis for the many ways we are disobedient to His commands, His will for our lives, for our rebellion and for our unforgiving and judgmental attitudes toward others. Think about what would happen if God did not forgive us. What would our lives be like if He held a grudge against us for taking for granted the fact that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for us? To me, this is unfathomable. Thankfully, He is a gracious God and does not hold this against us. He gives us heaping helpings of love and forgives us for taking His gift for granted. The most amazing thing is that He forgives us when we are ungrateful

What does it mean to deny ourselves? It simply means that we must follow Jesus’ example of being selfless.

We are all selfish people. We tend to serve ourselves and the desires that we have for our life. We are all about getting and doing whatever it is that makes us happy or makes us look/feel good. By serving ourselves, we are not able to serve God or the people around us. In fact, Matthew 6:24 states, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Simply said, serving anyone or anything but God is bad news.

Jesus served and loved those who mocked him, scorned Him and even those who screamed for Him to be crucified. He also loves us even though we go about living life ignoring what God would have us to do. He went to the cross and died for all of us. That’s true selflessness.

As followers of Christ, we must deny ourselves the wants and wishes that we put first in our lives and take on the same heart that Jesus had. We need to serve God and