Forgive Them

Forgive (Written by guest writer David Peterson)

Jesus and His disciples were walking from Bethany to Jerusalem one morning, and they passed the fig tree that Jesus had cursed the day before. Peter mentioned that the tree had withered, and Mark 11:22–26 records this:

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.

Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him.

Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses.

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your offenses.”

While the withered fig tree represents God’s judgment on Israel, Jesus’ point was that His followers should trust God to remove anything that hinders fruitfulness in their lives. In this instance, Jesus instructs them to forgive others and maintain a forgiving attitude.

Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones once wrote:

“So the Cross does not merely tell us that God forgives, it tells us that that is God’s way of making forgiveness possible. It is the way in which we understand how God forgives. The Cross not only shows the love of God more gloriously than anything else, it shows His righteousness, His justice, His holiness, and all the glory of His eternal attributes.

Lloyd-Jones reminds us that God is love and that He forgives. Jesus accomplished this through His work on the cross for all of us.

Rosamond E. Herklots wrote in her hymn “Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive”:

“Forgive our sins as we forgive,

You taught us, Lord, to pray;

But You alone can grant us grace

To live the words we say.”

Herklots beautifully reminds us that God provides His grace so that we can forgive others.

Let us pray:

Dear Jesus, our strength, teach us to forgive others. Provide the courage we need to forgive, and grant us the serenity that can only come from You. Amen.