Gaylord Diaz's Blog

THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVING 

The importance of forgiving others can be seen in the consequences of not forgiving them. If we don’t forgive those who’ve hurt us, we’ll  suffer dearly for it. The  greatest and gravest of these consequences is, GOD WON’T FORGIVE US. Matthew 6:14-15 reads, For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: {15} But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. The latter portion of Luke 6:37 similarly reads, forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Respecting our sins and forgiveness, God treats us the same way we treat others. If we forgive them, God forgives us. If we don’t forgive them, God doesn’t forgive us. Brethren, it’s important for us to forgive others because it’s important for us to be forgiven ourselves.

Here are two questions for you to ponder. As a prelude to my first question, we know that our forgiveness by God is conditioned upon repentance of our sin, confession, and a plea for forgiveness. II Chronicles 7:14 reads, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. In order for us to be forgiven by God it’s important for us to acknowledge our sin. I John 1:9 reads, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now my first question is this. If we confess our sins and repent of them, will God forgive us even if we haven’t forgiven someone else? If we didn’t forgive a person ten years ago when the crime or offense was committed, does that mean our sins for the past ten years have gone unforgiven by God? Are we unforgiven right this very moment? You tell me the answer and I’ll still tell you, GOD DOESN’T FORGIVE THOSE WHO DON’T FORGIVE. Friends, it’s really that important for you to forgive!

Now my second question is this: If we are good Christians and live the way Christians live, for the most part, and we’re exemplary and upright  for  the  most  part;  but  we  haven’t  forgiven  someone,  and consequently,  we  aren’t  forgiven  ourselves by  God; then  when  we  stand before the judgment throne in Heaven, will God kick us out of Heaven and cast us in Hell because we aren’t forgiven? Or will He quickly forgive us as we stand before Him and allow us to remain in Heaven? You see, the question is, if God doesn’t forgive us while we’re on this earth because we haven’t forgiven others, will He then forgive us when we get to eternity? If we haven’t repented of our unforgiveness while on this earth, will the Lord allow us to repent before the throne and thereby keep our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Tell me what you think and I’ll still tell you, GOD TREATS YOU AND YOUR SINS THE SAME WAY YOU TREAT OTHERS AND THEIR SINS.

Do you remember the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18? The servant had a huge debt, but his master forgave him. This same servant went out and found a fellow servant who owed him some money. The servant, however, couldn’t repay the debt, and so, the servant who had been forgiven by his master had him thrown into prison. Do you remember what the master said to this unmerciful servant? Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: {33} Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? {34} And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. {35} So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses (Matthew 18:32-35).

Brethren, it’s really that important for you to forgive! Forgive and you shall be forgiven. Be unforgiving and you shall be unforgiven. Now if your answer to my  second  question  should  happen  to  be,  “Yes,  even  though we’ve  been a  good Christian for the most  part, God will  still send us to Hell because we didn’t forgive others and so we weren’t forgiven ourselves,” then you must admit that living a good Christian on this earth will not help you one bit when you stand before the Judge: you’ll suffer the same fate as the people who are perverts, depraved, fornicators, drunkards, liars and criminals! Brethren, is your good Christian life now going to benefit you on judgment day?

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 3, I’ll look at some misconceptions that people have about forgiveness. It’ll be good, so don’t miss it.