“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1
According to Mark 4:26, the whole kingdom of God operates by the law of sowing and reaping, giving and receiving, and seedtime and harvest. Among the many things we have received from God through the new birth, we find ourselves with an abundance of seed to begin to sow and reap the harvests of life as we learn more and more about the gifts we have been given. Among these are the forgiveness of sins, the benefits of salvation and redemption, the gift of righteousness, the fruit of the Spirit, an inexhaustible treasure in our earthen vessels, the mind of Christ, the wisdom and understanding of God, and the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT!
The Lord has been speaking to me lately about how He placed these gifts, and more, in me when I became His son. He did the same for you when you were born again too! But let me ask you: how many of those gifts that were breathed into you when you were born again would you be willing to forfeit and throw away? How about NONE of them?
Unless we are willing to forgive others the way God forgave us – which is completely; we will never experience the freedom that Jesus paid such a dear price for us to walk in, and we will eventually forfeit all the other gifts He gave us too!
Forgiveness is freedom! Unforgiveness is bondage! Do you want some freedom? Well then, let’s sow some forgiveness to those who have hurt us, lied about us, betrayed our trust – I could go on… But let’s begin to see them the way God sees them and deal with them the way we would want God to deal with us. In short, whatever we sow is what we will reap, and if we are unwilling to forgive those who are guilty of no more than we were when God forgave us, then we need to go back and tally up all we are willing to forfeit. That’s when forgiving others takes on a whole new meaning and forgiveness and mercy become a way of life! Paul said, “Having therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Then you’ll soon discover that THERE’S NOTHING LIKE FREEDOM!
With Love,
Pastor Tom