It is hard to forgive!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, `I repent,’ forgive him.
(Luke 17:3b-4 (NIV))

It is hard to forgive!

Just what is it about forgiving someone that is so difficult? Is it a characteristic of the person that you do not want to forgive? Is it simply that they do not deserve forgiveness?

Let’s face the truth! None of us deserve forgiveness:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
(Romans 3:23(NIV))

Could it be that we are too proud and arrogant to offer forgiveness even though it was freely offered to us? Perhaps human ego plays a bigger part in this than we truly care to admit. Take a look at the words in Luke. Not only are we to forgive each other, but we are to do it freely and without hesitation. Forgivenss is not something that is earned. It is something that is given. If we are to be truly like Jesus, then we are to give of ourselves.

One of the greatest ways to freely give of ourselves is to forgive others, for that places our desires, goals and feelings below those of the one whom we forgive. If we choose not to forgive, then we have wrongly elevated ourselves to a position of authority over the other person. The only person who has ever walked the earth who has that authority was Jesus, and He freely gave it up to obey God the Father.

Have you given up your authority over others?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Have you accepted your freedom?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
(1 Peter 2:16-1 (NIV))

We have just celebrated another July 4th. It is a day of celebration for the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. It is a day that we celebrate the resolve of our founding fathers to break the chains that tied them to a king and country that did not see them as equals.

What was done by our founding fathers was great, but I want you to think about what Jesus did.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(Romans 3:23 (NIV))

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 (NIV))

God the Father had the resolve to break our captivity to sin. Jesus the Son had the resolve to do what was needed to break our chains of bondage. He willingly went to the cross so that we could be free; so that we could have salvation. He freed us from a far greater bondage than any physical oppression. He freed us from sin!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
(Romans 8:1-2 (NIV))

Please think about the fact that nothing in this world lasts. It is possible that something will happen and we will lose some or all of our freedoms that our founding fathers fought for.

The freedoms that are given through the Blood of Jesus can never be taken from us. We, in our human frailty, can turn our backs on the freedom from sin, but Jesus will never take it from us.

Jesus has broken every chain that can bind us to the law of sin and death!

All that you have to do is accept it.

Have you accepted your freedom?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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