Daily Verse: Ephesians 1:7

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.

How far do we take forgiveness? Is there a point where we are faced with such an unpleasant act that we are incapable of forgiving? A point where we say “Nope, that’s just too much and it makes me too uncomfortable, I can’t forgive that”. I have read articles about individuals that lost a family member through a murderous action of another…and these individuals are somehow able to find true forgiveness for the person that took their loved one away…and many times they express this forgiveness directly to the offending party. As Christians, we are called to forgive for we have been forgiven…we are called to look directly in the face of sin and cast it aside, removing the sin from the person, and loving the person…as God loves them. Most of us have not been faced with trying to summon the incredible strength to forgive a person of murder…rather most of us are charged with forgiving others for much less. Yet we find it incredibly difficult at times…we conjure up all kinds of logical reasons why we should not forgive…instead of focusing on the one reason why we should forgive. When Christ was living his last few minutes on earth, nailed to a cross he did not deserve, he spoke the words in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”. Even as the offense was being carried out against him, he still had enough love in his heart to ask that they not be punished for their deeds…that they be forgiven by their Father in heaven. May we forgive as we have been forgiven…may we love as we have been loved…and may we truly live what it means to be a Christian…to be a follower of Christ. To God be the glory!