For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:2.
We can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others. It is the love of God that draws us unto Him, and that love cannot touch our hearts without creating love for our brethren.
After completing the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus added: “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14, 15. He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which alone he can receive mercy from God. We should not think that unless those who have injured us confess the wrong we are justified in withholding from them our forgiveness. It is their part, no doubt, to humble their hearts by repentance and confession; but we are to have a spirit of compassion toward those who have trespassed against us, whether or not they confess their faults.
Nothing can justify an unforgiving spirit. He who is unmerciful toward others shows that he himself is not a partaker of God’s pardoning grace. In God’s forgiveness the heart of the erring one is drawn close to the great heart of Infinite Love. The tide of divine compassion flows into the sinner’s soul, and from him to the souls of others….
We are not forgiven because we forgive, but as we forgive. The ground of all forgiveness is found in the unmerited love of God, but by our attitude toward others we show whether we have made that love our own. Wherefore Christ says, “With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.”
Let Christ, the divine Life dwell in you and through you reveal the heaven-born love that will inspire hope in the hopeless and bring heaven’s peace to the sin-stricken heart. As we come to God, this is the condition which meets us at the threshold, that, receiving mercy from Him, we yield ourselves to reveal His grace to others.
The Faith I Live By p. 131
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for Ron that the doctors can figure out why his sodium is so low. Rose
—-My client Yvonne is going to be operated on this Friday. May 4. She is over 80 and will be put to sleep to do this procedure. This operation is serious. Please pray that it turns out well. Roberta
—-Please pray for my friend Maria. She will be having a open heart surgery this coming Friday. Maria
—-Need prayers for a young child, he’s about 11 years old. He’s the nephew of a friend of mine and his name is Yssa. He’s already lost his leg to bone cancer and now they’re removing part of his lung since it’s spread. Please lift this young boy up in prayer. Connie
Forgiven as We Forgive