As we enter the season reflecting on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, the excitement is now in the air for the upcoming Resurrection Sunday—the pinnacle of every believer in Christ. We would have nothing to look forward to, after living our lives in a sinful world, if Jesus had not died for our sins. In essence, there may be one area in your life where you need to immediately resolve; a need to repent of your sins or ask someone to forgive you.
Forgiveness is not an option. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone and if God was to call your obituary date today, what a tragedy it would be to have unforgiveness in your heart. That one simple thing could jeopardize your salvation – years of being saved from your sins. There are two common areas in our lives where we may have need for immediate repentance: 1) our personal relationship with God or 2) our personal relationships with other people we come across day to day.
Our personal relationship with God
First of all, if you have not accepted Jesus in your life in the pardoning of your sins, you need to immediately ask God to forgive you. God has made this simple, but too often we make it difficult. For example, we may say to ourselves, “I’m just not ready yet; I need to live a little bit more. If I get saved now, I can’t have any more fun. I need to get myself together first then I’ll get saved. My sins are so bad there is no way God will forgive me.” Hebrews 4:7(b) tells us “Today if you hear His voice harden not your hearts.” John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” To ask Jesus to come in your life in the pardoning of your sins is just a simple but sincere prayer of forgiveness. Afterwards, you can live for Jesus the rest of your life.
Our relationships with other people
We have interaction with many people on a day to day basis: our family members, people on our jobs, people in the community, and people in our church. With that said, there is a very high potential that someone is either going to offend us or we are going to offend someone else because of our words or actions. So, there may come a time you may have to ask that person to forgive you or you may need to accept their forgiveness. Matthew 18:21-22 tells us, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee seven times but, until seventy times seven.” Here we find Jesus’ disciple, Peter, may have thought he was being generous by placing a number on how many times he should forgive someone, (with seven being the number of completion) or by keeping track of it. We must be quick to forgive others as soon as we are aware of it and resolve it quickly. Why? Harboring unforgiveness affects our relationship with God, it may sever our relationship with other people, it affects our prayer life, and it affects our praise and our worship to God. If someone has asked you for forgiveness, because they may have hurt you, or offended you, forgive them! Don’t hold them in bondage.
Forgiveness can be likened to a wound that creates a scar. It hurts very bad when it first happens, and although it might leave a visible sign that you may remember, over time the scar doesn’t bother you any longer. God created us with very complex minds and it may be difficult to simply forget when someone may have offended us. It may even take a little time to get over it – but forgiveness is not an option. Recall Job and his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. There came a point when Job had lost all he had they tried to analyze his situation and urge him to repent from his sins. His friends did more harm to Job than good. But Job’s turning point and restoration came with one simple gesture: he prayed for his friends. This proves he had forgiven them because it is extremely difficult to pray for someone if you have not. God gives us a stern warning in Matthew 6:15, “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Once we forgive others or accept forgiveness from others we are free in Christ again! Remember, forgiveness is NOT an option!