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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
“Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.
(Colossians 3:13b NIV.)”
From time to time, we have issues that interfere with our relations with other people. We hear in church that we are to love one another. (John 13:34, NIV) We often just let that circumstance keep us from having a relationship with those who have hurt us.
We have times when this scenario causes those involved to permanently part company. God wants us all to get along. When we cannot see our way to extend forgiveness to that other person, or maybe we are the ones who need to seek forgiveness.
When we feel the need to extend forgiveness, we can ask God to do it toward the other person. In essence, we forgive that person or those persons through Jesus Christ. Corrie Ten Boom put this principle in practice when she met a man who had been a guard at the concentration camp to which the German army sent her.
When we believe we are not in the wrong, we ask the other person to forgive us for our own sakes. If we keep nursing those hurts and let them stay fresh in our hearts, we do damage to ourselves. The other person might not even remember it. The one on whom it takes a toll is us.
A thought attributed to Mother Teresa (1) comes to mind. She stated the hard lessons of dealing with people and responds to each one with the words, “Do it anyway.” In the end of the reading, it says that all these things are between God and us, not between us and the other people.
God will forgive us our sins unless we commit the one that He considers unpardonable, that of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 12:31) He forgives us because He loves us so much.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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