"Your grace is enough for me"
There are times in our lives where we long to withhold the grace God has given us from others. We may feel wronged and like justice needs to be served or as if we are the ones that can impart the wrath upon them when in all reality that's God's job.
I recently felt this. I felt myself growing angry and bitter toward a person and then God spoke to me so clearly and showed me my pride in my unforgiveness. I was listening to a sermon on the Lords prayer and it was like a slap in the face when it came down to 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.' I realized I have been forgiven by the cross of Jesus Christ and because of that I had no right to withold forgiveness from others. Pastor Tim Chaddick said, "To reject forgiving others is denying the cross of Jesus to others and is disregarding what He did." I never want to deny the cross to anyone, so when I heard that I had to repent and be quick to forgive. It stung me like a slap in the face, but I was awakened and ready to do the right thing.
You see, in my mind I was maximizing the sin of this person and minimizing my own. I did not realize that I was first offending God by not forgiving before I was offending this person. There is no earning forgiveness. God's free grace is enough for me. And because He's imparted His grace upon me, I am capable to give grace to others. This is something I could never do in my own power, because in my own flesh I would not even desire to forgive. All of this was a humbling experience. I love Christ and want to honor Him in every way possible, even if that means admitting I'm wrong or forgiving people even when there is no apology. God bestowed His grace on me in much more of a manner than I can ever give to anyone. All i can do in return is give it out.
-To Hear Him Sing-
There are times in our lives where we long to withhold the grace God has given us from others. We may feel wronged and like justice needs to be served or as if we are the ones that can impart the wrath upon them when in all reality that's God's job.
I recently felt this. I felt myself growing angry and bitter toward a person and then God spoke to me so clearly and showed me my pride in my unforgiveness. I was listening to a sermon on the Lords prayer and it was like a slap in the face when it came down to 'Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.' I realized I have been forgiven by the cross of Jesus Christ and because of that I had no right to withold forgiveness from others. Pastor Tim Chaddick said, "To reject forgiving others is denying the cross of Jesus to others and is disregarding what He did." I never want to deny the cross to anyone, so when I heard that I had to repent and be quick to forgive. It stung me like a slap in the face, but I was awakened and ready to do the right thing.
You see, in my mind I was maximizing the sin of this person and minimizing my own. I did not realize that I was first offending God by not forgiving before I was offending this person. There is no earning forgiveness. God's free grace is enough for me. And because He's imparted His grace upon me, I am capable to give grace to others. This is something I could never do in my own power, because in my own flesh I would not even desire to forgive. All of this was a humbling experience. I love Christ and want to honor Him in every way possible, even if that means admitting I'm wrong or forgiving people even when there is no apology. God bestowed His grace on me in much more of a manner than I can ever give to anyone. All i can do in return is give it out.
-To Hear Him Sing-
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