The Bread of Life
Daily Devotionals - Prayers - Spiritual Growth - Words of Wisdom
 

Today's Devotional

Why Jesus Commands Us To Forgive Others? (Ephesians 4:30-32)

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”(Ephesians 4:30-32.)

Forgiveness is a gift God offers us in His mercy and grace which He asks us to extend to others.

The Gospel emphasizes forgiveness as a fundamental aspect of Christian faith.

It transforms not only our spiritual lives, but also our emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

Forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a decision we make to obey God’s command empowered by God’s grace.

We cannot forgive without having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, in us.

We have to choose by our own free will to forgive trusting that Jesus in us will do it not by our own strength.

We must understand that when Jesus asks us to forgive, this does not mean that we accept the wrong doing of others, or we do excuse their actions, but to take the intentional decision to place the offense in Jesus’ hand trusting Him to bring justice and healing.

Forgiveness helps us loosen resentment’s grip on our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

We can forgive and at the same time we maintain healthy boundaries with the one who hurts us.

When we refuse to forgive we remain tethered to pain, anger, resentment, and regret.

When we get betrayed, or abused, or rejected, our brains interpret those experiences as ongoing threat.

As a result we find ourselves trapped in cycles of anger, bitterness, shame, and hurt.

Forgiveness is not simply about benefiting the person who hurt us, but we also benefit when we forgive because it frees us from carrying the heavy burden of bitterness.

When we keep those feelings continue in us, we let the evil spirits dwell in us.

The more we give the evil spirits place in our minds, bodies and thoughts, the more they affect our mental health leading to anxiety, depression, and stress.

When we choose to obey the Lord’s command to forgive, we help ourselves to be healed not only physically but spiritually and emotionally too.

Our brains start to shift away from fear-based responses toward Jesus’ healing and peace.

Forgiveness does not change our hearts but also changes our brains physically.

St. John in his first epistle reminds us that if we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive our sins.

He forgives us when we confess and repent and that is the meaning of the Lord is just and faithful.

Many of us underestimated the bad impact of unforgiveness has on our overall health.

When resentment and bitterness and anger remain unaddressed, they create emotional stress that affects our physical function, like having high blood pressure and diabetes, etc,.

Spiritually it lets us not able to receive Gods healing and peace.

Forgiveness releases the offense from us but it does not necessarily restore the trust with the person who trespassed against us.

May we all, with the power of the Holy Spirit, be able to forgive others as Jesus forgives us.

Amen.

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