DEVOTION – DAY 457

Mark 11:25 “Forgiving Others”

Mark 11:25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Christians have a great privilege. They are able to approach the Almighty Holy God and submit their prayers to Him. God hears their prayers on the basis that He had forgiven their sins because of Christ’ death on the cross. The way is open for Christians to approach God in prayer. But a barrier may exist when Christians harbor unforgiveness in their hearts against others. Unforgiveness is a sin. Since Christians have been forgiven by God, Christians are expected to have the same attitude of forgiveness towards others. It does not matter how badly we have been hurt by others. We must forgive others because God had first forgiven us. 

Many people struggle with unforgiveness in their hearts. We know of children who would not forgive their father for failing to be a good provider, forcing the whole family to face hardship. We know of a father who would not forgive his daughter for wanting to marry a man who is of a different race. He refused to attend his daughter’s wedding. We know of siblings who refuse to have anything to do with each other because they could not agree on how to distribute the estate of their deceased parents. We know someone who would not forgive her colleague for stealing her work idea and taking credit for it. We know of a wife who would not forgive her husband because he had a secret love affair with another woman. She was deeply hurt by his betrayal.

It is so easy to allow unforgiveness to rule our hearts. But Jesus teaches us to forgive others because we have received God’s forgiveness. We have been forgiven in Christ even though we did nothing to deserve forgiveness. God had set us an example by forgiving us. Jesus forgave His enemies. Jesus even prayed for His enemies. Thus, we do not have a right to not forgive others. Unforgiveness would only cause us to be bitter, and our hearts to become hard and cold – attitudes that are unworthy of us as children of God. We are required to forgive others and to love them instead. 

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for loving us and forgiving us of our sins. Please help us to have the grace to forgive others just as you have graciously forgiven us. Please help us to replace our hurt and unforgiveness with love for others. We humbly pray this in the wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Questions

1. Is there anyone you harbor resentment and hurt against? Will you forgive this person instead?
2. Why do so many people find it hard to forgive others? Discuss.
3. What have you learnt about forgiveness from this verse and this devotion?
4. What steps can you take to begin to forgive those who have hurt you? Will you take these steps?