Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
So I introduces us to this verse yesterday, and we actually discussed verse 31 yesterday
Ephesians 4:31
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Verse 31 tells us all the things that not forgiving will give us, and verse 32 tells us how we are supposed to act. I find that all to often Christians really can struggle with this. But really it's more like humanity in general. For some reason is someone is different from us, we have a hard time being kind and compassionate. We look at someone of a certain race or ethnicity and jump to conclusions. We judge instead of love.
God tells us here and all over Jesus' message is love.
The point of being a Christian is to try to be more like Christ.
Jesus=Love
So we may not want to be nice and kind and compassionate to the people that hurt us.
Romans 12 9-21
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
God is a far better judge and executor of punishment than you or I could ever be. Allow Him to heal you and take that away.
Whatever it is that you are clinging to. Whoever has hurt you that you are holding onto that pain ... let it go. Give it to God. Let Him take care of it. He can do much more than we can.
Lord, help us to forgive those who have hurt us. Give us strength to let it go and heal our hearts from the pain. Amen
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