And Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”] ~ Mark 11:22-26
We’re all happy that God forgives our sins; otherwise we would end up in Hell for sure. But we usually don’t think our sins are as bad as those of people who have hurt us. We may feel such deep pain that we believe what was done to us is unforgivable, but nothing is unforgivable to God. Jesus told us that if we do not forgive, God does not forgive us. We may protest that what So-and-So did hurt too much to forgive. But Jesus took our sins on him to the cross. He suffered and died the most horrible of deaths to atone for our sins. All He asks is that we accept Him as our Lord and forgive others as He has forgiven us.
Heavenly Father, forgive me for being unforgiving. Give me a fraction of the love and compassion of Jesus. Remind me that no one has as much to forgive as You—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—yet You freely forgive all those who come to You. You not only want but You require us to do the same. Give me the love and mercy to do so. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
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