WEEK 33 – DAY 1

FORGIVING AND LOVING LIKE JESUS

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Ephesians 4:32-5:2

When I was a small child I would try to imitate my father. In fact, I would stand on top of his feet; and we would walk together. When I wasn’t doing that, I was taking extra-long steps to keep up with him. My grandmother even told me once that I walked and ran bases just like my daddy. I loved my father, and I was confident that he loved me. That love made me want to be like him. How much more has our heavenly Father loved us? He desires that we follow in Christ’s footsteps like a child imitating a beloved parent. He tells us to love sacrificially and be kind and compassionate to our brothers and sisters in Christ. He specifically tells us to forgive each other just as Christ forgave us. Christ forgave us freely with no strings attached. He forgave us gratuitously. I looked that word up in The New Webster’s Thesaurus:

gratuitous – free, groundless, spontaneous, unfounded, unprovoked, voluntary, wanton.

In other words, the Lord forgave us because He chose to, not because we earned or deserved His forgiveness. I want to know that the other person is repentant before I forgive. In fact, I’d like to hear an apology and a promise to offend no more. But that would not be imitating Christ. Romans 5:8 describes the type of forgiveness Christ extends, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Father, help us to forgive whether the offender repents or not. Empower us to love and forgive others as You have loved and forgiven us.