"FORGIVENESS"     1 John 1:7-10

⁷  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This reading starts out telling us that if we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior and walk in His light which is in His way, the Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin, past present and future. The next verse states that if you say you have no sin, you are deceived and the Truth is not in you. The following verse says that when you recognize and confess your sins, God is faithful to forgive all your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The next verse repeats that when you say you are not a sinner, you make God a liar and His Word is not in you because it is written in the Letter of Paul to the Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" This verse clearly says that we are all sinners but thank God for Jesus that His Blood has cleansed us from all sin." Just for clarity, a sin is as written in the Letter of James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." This is saying that anything you do that isn't the right thing to do, is a sin. With that definition, I believe everyone fits into the category of sinner. That is why we needed Jesus to be our sacrifice for forgiveness of all our sins. Thank You Jesus!   Since we know that believing in Jesus as our savior has rid us of all our sins, we should be very considerate to everyone that has sinned against us. In the Gospel According to Mark 11:26 it says, "But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."   This verse is not saying that if you do not forgive, God will hold it against you but it is telling you that you could hinder your own prayers by not forgiving others. God wants you to be like Jesus and forgive everyone always.   He told us that in the Gospel according to Matthew when Peter asked Jesus how many time he should forgive his brother as many as 7 times and Jesus responded in Matthew 18:22, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." This is saying that you should forgive 490 times a day if someone sins against you. That is a lot of forgiveness in one day but that is the depth of forgiveness God wants us to have. Forgiving is not always easy to do because some things that people have done to you are very painful and may have been many years ago. The things that hurt you the most are like a weight hanging on you. This weight may include not forgiving yourself for things that you regret that you did yourself and it still bothers you today. When these things come to mind, they still give you a negative feeling inside every time. When you release these through forgiveness, you feel a freedom and lightness to yourself that you can't explain in words. You can only be thankful for the strength to release it. This could be something you may have been bitter about for a long time and it has built up on you like a callus. This callus makes it even harder to forgive this person or yourself if it has been lingering on you for a very long time. There is only one possible way to forgive this kind of hurt in your life and you can't do it on your own. You need Jesus to help you forgive everyone including yourself because He is the strength that you need to forgive. Think about what He went through to forgive all our sins. Only Jesus is capable of accomplishing forgiveness of sins for us towards others in our lives. All you have to do, is desire to forgive that person enough to ask God to help you overcome it by providing you the strength to forgive them. When you do this, it will happen. It may take a period of time to remove the bitterness you have about it, but Jesus will help you forgive them. Many people have problems in their marriages that they struggle to forgive their spouse and this leaves an open door to the devil to create more problems in their life. It is very important to have peace in your marriage and to forgive your wife or husband always because as written in the First Letter of Peter 3:7, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." This verse tells you that if you have conflict in your marriage, your prayers may be hindered. Don't allow your prayers be hindered. There is nothing that Jesus can't help you to forgive to anyone including yourself. He gave forgiveness to all sins for everyone past present and future so the least you can do is forgive the short list of sins that were done against you. In closing, from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us, "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Take this verse put it into your mind and heart, meditate on it day and night to start forgiving everyone that has sinned against you.