"Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses."
(Mark 11:25-26 NKJ)
Not long ago John and Georgina Brown celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary. On the day before, John talked to me about the lessons he'd learned during those years. But, with respect, I didn't quite agree with one thing.
It was this. "I reckon if a husband and wife quarrel today," said John, "they should make it up tomorrow." Well, there's nothing wrong with that. But I'd go further. I'd say if you quarrel today, you should make up today.
You see, time and again, I've known tomorrow to be too late. The young wife who made up her mind to say "Sorry" to her husband the next day-only to find he'd left her and wasn't coming back. The husband, too proud to say he was sorry, who came home the following day and found a farewell note on the table. The sweethearts who parted in anger because neither would ask forgiveness. For them, there was to be no happy tomorrow.
The Bible says, "Do not let the sun go down on your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26 NKJ). Sadly, the world is full of people who wish, with all their heart, that they hadn't.
-Francis Gay
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Never does the human soul become so strong as when it dares to forgive an injury.
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An evil act can be corrected only by a good deed. Love and forgiveness are the pillars of friendship.
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It is far better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember.
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Let's not be so self-righteous!
If you're going to be so self-righteous and holier-than-thou and hypocritical as to think you're better than somebody because they have sinned against you, but oh, no, you've never sinned, therefore you're not going to forgive them-then you're the biggest sinner of all! That self-righteous attitude in itself is the sin!-In fact, self-righteousness is one of the greatest sins of all!
We should take a kind, loving, sympathetic, and forgiving attitude toward others, and try to have mercy as we want mercy-to treat others in their errors as we want the Lord to treat us in ours. We must not only seek forgiveness of those we've wronged, but also forgive those who've wronged us and take them by the hand back into our circle of love and fellowship.
(Prayer:) May we all be more humble, more patient, more loving, more kind, more forgiving and more long-suffering with each other, Lord. And may we sincerely pray, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us" (Luke 11:4).
