DEVOTION – DAY 117

Psalm 103:11-12 “Learning To Forgive”

 

Psalm 103:11-12 “For as high as the heavens are above, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

 

King David wrote psalm 103 to give praise to God for His love and compassion towards His people. In v.11, David tried to give us a sense of how great God’s love is for His people – it is as vast as space, it cannot be measured, that is how high the heavens are from us here on earth. Because God’s love is beyond measure, He has chosen to forgive our sins. John 3:16 reminds us that God loved us and He gave His One and only Son, Jesus to come and die on the cross and whosoever believe in Him as their Lord and Savior, will not perish but have eternal life – God has chosen to forgive the sins of all who confess and repent of their sins.

If God is willing to forgive us when we repent, we should similarly be willing to forgive others who have wronged us. Yet, I have come across people who find it hard to forgive others for real and perceived hurts and wrongs committed in the past. A woman refused to forgive her husband for committing adultery with another woman. A man refused to forgive his daughter for marrying someone against his wishes. Another woman would not forgive her cousin for advising her to make a wrong investment that caused her to lose much money. These are just some of the many real-life examples I have come across where people choose to withhold forgiveness to others for past hurts. As a result, their unforgiving spirit have caused them to become bitter, angry and carrying their hurts sometimes for years. If only they remember this psalm that speaks of God’s love and compassion for sinners. God has forgiven us who have sinned and we must forgive those who have sinned against us. In fact, Jesus taught us to make this as a part of our daily prayer to God (Matt.6:12).

But is it easy to forgive people who have hurt or wronged us? It is not easy and in order to do so, we look back at Psalm 103 and are reminded to ask God to replace our hurts, anger and bitterness against the person we have problems forgiving, and to give us His love, love that is as high as the heavens. When we are filled with His love, we will find the ability within us to forgive the person who has hurt or wronged us. We will find the strength to choose to forget the past hurts and show love and forgiveness to others. And that is what Jesus teaches us to ask God every day to help us do, to forgive others with God’s help.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and grace shown to us when we confess and repent. Please help us to love and forgive those who have hurt or wronged us. In the precious name of the Lord Jesus we ask. Amen.

 

Questions

  1. Who do you know have withheld forgiveness to others and why? Discuss.
  2. How does unforgiveness affects each one of us? Discuss.
  3. What steps will you take to forgive someone who have hurt or wronged you?
  4. How can you thank God for loving and forgiving you of your own sins?