Imitating God’s Forgiveness – Part 4
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
Why does God forgive? God forgives because each person has eternal value worth more than the whole world (Matthew 16:26) and He wants them to be saved. God so valued each person that he offered His only begotten Son as sacrifice. Romans 5:6-9 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Each person is at least as precious as the precious blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19).
God has offered forgiveness to all men, so we also must have an attitude of forgiveness. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph.4:32). “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” (Col.3:12, 13). And let’s not forget Christ’s words to Peter’s question about forgiving seven times in a day, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22).
We would do well to imitate God in forgiveness at each moment. For the child of God who stands in a relationship with God of having his sins forgiven, the opportunities for forgiveness are rich and deep.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley