That person you will not forgive is God's dear child, and the Father will withhold his peace from your heart until you forgive that child of his.

Thursday, 6/19/14

Jesus told us, “If you forgive others your heavenly Father will forgive you.” Why would the heavenly Father be concerned with you forgiving anyone, particularly in your forgiving someone who is behaving badly toward you?

Well, the Father is concerned with you forgiving that individual, because that one is his child. What is more, God can see something that you cannot see. Namely, he sees that as bad as that one’s behavior appears in your eyes, God knows that he or she at the time was doing what seemed the right thing to do.

“Understanding,” the second of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, comes into play here. Reversing that word, you may rightly presume that standing-under that person’s objectionable behavior there was an honest misunderstanding.  

Jesus further said, “If you do not forgive others, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.”

There is a way in which you will experience your Father’s lack of forgiveness. He will refrain from filling your heart with his peace. Your troubled state of mind will stay on and on until you earn  back that peace by doing the big thing in forgiving that neighbor.