October 12, 2002

25. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.  Mark 11:25-26

On the surface this verse can give the impression that our Heavenly Father is purposely withholding something good from us (forgiveness), or that He is being manipulative.  But what Jesus is saying here is that there are truths that govern us and we need to abide by these truths.  This is a truth concerning what unforgiveness will do to you.

If you have anything against anyone and you don’t forgive, then what does that do to you?  When we are angry or irritated with a person (or persons), it hinders us in other areas of our life whether we realize it or not.  When we hold on to bitterness in our heart it’s an attitude that will carry over into other areas.

If you put a spoonful of dirt into a clean glass of water you can’t stop the dirt from mixing in with the whole glass.   In the same way you can’t keep unforgiveness in your heart contained to just a certain person.  It will mix in with the rest of your relationships.  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump! (1 Cor. 5:6).

The reason Jesus said forgive so our Father may forgive us is because if we continue in unforgiveness we are not ‘walking in the light.’  We are walking in darkness because we are choosing to continue to hang on to that sin of bitterness.  How can He forgive us and cleanse us from something we won’t let go of?  We have to be willing to let the offense go.  We have to be willing to forgive.  We have to want to give up the unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, anger, vengeance and whatever else goes along with it.  As long as we don’t forgive we are continuing to hang on to bitterness in our heart.  It’s an on-going thing and it does no good to take a shower until you get out of the mud!

7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."  1 John 1:7

When we walk in the light we are being continually cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.  We don’t want to get out of the light and start walking in darkness or it affects our own forgiveness!  It’s not God doing it to us, we do it to ourselves.

We often look at what a person has done to us and as wrong as that may be we have to be willing to let it go.  We need the Lord to help us with this.  In the natural we can’t walk in love and forgiveness towards everyone (And forgiving them doesn’t mean you have to hang out with them!).  But we can make a choice to do what God says to do and ask Him to help us abide by our decision to walk in forgiveness.  He will help us.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!  (Phil. 4:13).