Forgive One Another

By Sis. Lisa Eziokwu 

The theme of our Sold-Out Teens week is “Vessels of Mercy”, we are recipients of God’s mercy and have become people of God - 1 Peter 2:10 “who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy”  

Having obtained God’s mercy, let us also be merciful and extend mercy to others. 

Some synonyms of mercy are; clemency, leniency, forgiveness, etc. the focus for today is “Forgiveness”. 

Psychologists define forgiveness as “a conscious and deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness. 

As Christians, we are expected to forgive one an-other because Christ paid the ultimate price for our forgiveness. Jesus when He was on earth taught us the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6: 9-13, verse 12 says and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors”. 

He added in verse 14: “for if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. In order to really forgive someone, we must wipe their slate completely clean in the same way God completely forgives us when we pray for his forgiveness. 

A good reason to forgive others is so God will forgive you- Matthew 6:15. Two(2) keys that will make it easier for us to forgive one another are LOVE and PATIENCE. 

In 1 Peter 4:8, the bible says “above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” When we love someone, we forgive them easily. It is because of God’s love for us that He sent Jesus to die for us (John 3:16). 

Patience also is very important, let us be patient with one another as we strive for perfection in Christ. Colossians 3:13 admonishes us to “bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. 

Forgive as the Lord forgave you”. We pray that we all will be Vessels of God’s Mercy, in Jesus mighty Name. Amen. 

You will have good success this 2022. 

Remain blessed.  

Shalom