Posts tagged ‘forgiveness’
Portraits in Fellowship, Part 1
When we fail to forgive, we fall out of fellowship with them and God. In fact, we will remain there until we are willing to forgive. God will not fellowship with us if we are unwilling to forgive people who sin against us. While we cannot forgive them legally or judicially (only God can do that), we can certainly forgive them from the heart and even ask that God will not hold their sin against them.
Two Most Important Aspects of Fellowship with God
John’s clear point is very obvious. The Christian who claims to have fellowship with God but lives in a way that is contrary to God’s moral law, is not in fellowship with God at all. That person is lying and he is “not practicing the truth.” It is very much like the father and prodigal son of Luke 15. When the son left the father’s presence to enjoy a lifestyle of sin, there was no fellowship with the Father at all. It was only when he returned to the father having decided that his thinking had been wrong that he began to enjoy fellowship with his father. While away spending his money, living riotously, and even feeding pigs, he probably believed he was truly free, but he wasn’t. The most important thing he lacked was fellowship with his own father.
It Really Is All About Forgiveness, Part 1
God does not simply love people or His Creation. Yes, He certainly does that, but it doesn’t end there nor is the full definition of “love” exhausted by how God feels for humanity. God’s actions – all of them – flow from the fact that He is love, not that He simply loves. He loves because it is the very essence of who God is and true love – God-defined love – is seen in His actions toward humanity.
You Cannot Forgive More than God Has Forgiven You
Do you want fellowship with God? If you do, you will need to understand just how much your sin cost God. I have to realize the same thing. Friends, we cannot create that knowledge or feeling within ourselves. If you are serious about wanting fellowship with God, it is something He will show you about yourself. You will then see firsthand your sin compared with His love and forgiveness. It will be different for each Christian, but the results should be the same. We should then begin to truly know what love is all about. We will see that there is no love without forgiveness.
Fellowship with God Stems from Forgiveness
Folks, the level of love we extend to others is seen only in how much we are able to forgive them. It’s not “being nice” to people. It is how much we forgive. This is what Jesus is saying in the above passage. We all have our share of grudges and resentments that we harbor toward others, don’t we? We actually think we have the “right” to hold a grudge. After all we think, it’s just a little grudge and if I can show them my disappointment, then maybe that will help them understand that they’ve hurt me. If they understand that they’ve hurt me, then maybe it’ll open the door to them coming to me to ask for forgiveness one day. When that happens, then we can have honest communication.
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