Forgiveness is not an option but a command

We are commanded to forgive others in the same way God has forgiven us! Having God's help is necessary to do that.You must forgive others. No matter what they have done. It is the command of God. But it was given for our benefit. To not forgive hurts you. Refusing to forgive is like swallowing poison daily. It will destroy you.Jesus said we should forgive when we stand praying. So we don't have to wait until people apologize. Nor does forgiveness require a long time. Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a decision to quit holding something against someone. When we forgive people we must release them and forget it. You may think it is impossible to forgive someone who has deeply wronged you. With God it is possible. He never asks us to do something we cannot do.  Whatever we measure out is what will be measured back to us. If
we want others including God  to show mercy to us and forgive us we must forgive and be merciful to others. It is not enough to forgive only those people who have wronged us a little. We must forgive everyone!  Surely Jesus was not setting a maximum limit on the number of times we should forgive. He gave an absurdly high number so we would realize He meant for us to forgive without limit just as He forgives us.  Jesus set a perfect example of forgiveness for us when He forgave those who mocked Him and crucified Him. But this kind of forgiveness is certainly beyond normal human ability or experience. It takes the power of God to do it. When we are born again we have access to that power through the love of God inside us.



 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13).