Why should we forgive others?

Have you ever lied? At one time or another, we have all lied.

Have you ever cheated on a test, stole something, made fun of someone, or something of the sort? Have you ever forgotten to clean your room and got in trouble with your mom? Maybe you got into a big fight with a sibling or a friend. At the end of all these scenarios, we apologize.

1 John 1:9 says that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV)

Once you apologize, you are forgiven. But, what if you weren't forgiven? What if they held a grudge? What if you forever were held accountable and always reminded of this bad dead?

Today we are going to be talking about why it's important to forgive others and never hold a grudge, and how the Lord's forgiveness is the kind of forgiveness we should have towards others.

It can be hard to forgive others. Sometimes your pride gets in the way and it feels like forgiving them means letting them off the hook for what they have done.

Well, once you catch a fish it doesn't stay on the hook forever. You let it off.

I’m guilty of this too. We all fail at forgiveness. It doesn't seem like something that you can fail at, but it's possible. If something happens on Wednesday and you've talked it over with them, but it pops up in your head on Friday and you're still upset about it, you're holding a grudge.

Now, I'm not saying you can't be upset about a sibling snooping in your diary or a friend lying. It's a totally normal emotion, like how Luke 17:3 states:

“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, ” (ESV)

So being upset and telling them about your emotions towards what they did is completely fine just don't hold grudges.

Say you messed up and disobeyed your parents. You would have to apologize to them, and to God. But what if God didn't forgive you? What if God held a grudge?

We should, as Christians and followers of the Lord, show the same forgiveness that God has shown to us.

Ephesians 4:32 says:

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (ESV)

God in Christ has forgiven us and shouldn't we forgive others? Yes. How can we expect God to forgive us when we can't even forgive others?

So today I want you to think about someone who has made you upset, mad, or just plain frustrated, and forgive them like Christ has forgiven us.