[NFBF-Melbourne] WEEKEND DEVOTION: (Sat., Aug. 6, 2022) "The Faith to Forgive"

[Joyce Taylor]

Hello everyone:  Praise the Lord!  Luke 17:5 'And the apostles said unto the
Lord, Increase our faith.'

It is very interesting to note that the apostles asked Jesus to increase
their faith after He spoke of forgiveness. They observed all of the
wonderful miracles Jesus performed and yet that never inspired them to ask
for greate"r faith. Truly, walking in love and forgiveness with each other
takes as much faith as any miracle we will ever believe for.

The basis of forgiveness is the love and mercy of God. It is only because
God first loved and forgave us that we can love and forgive others. If we
aren't walking in the forgiveness of God, we won't minister it to others. He
forgave us before we repented or asked for forgiveness.

The scriptures admonish us to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. God offered
His forgiveness towards us while we were yet sinners. Therefore, forgiveness
was offered to all unconditionally. But only those who receive the offered
forgiveness through repentance and faith are received as sons of God.

Likewise, we are to forgive others their trespasses, just as God has
forgiven us our trespasses. We forgive whether or not the other person
repents or wants our forgiveness. But we cannot restore such a person to
complete relationship until there is repentance on his part. Failure to
distinguish between forgiveness and restoration with their different
conditions, has caused some people to make themselves vulnerable to
unscrupulous people and suffer tragic results. In marriage, we should
forgive our mate for anything, even adultery. But If there is no true
repentance on our mate's part, it would be foolish to trust him or her in a
sexually tempting situation. We should forgive a business partner for
stealing from us whether or not he repents, but that doesn't mean we ought
to put ourselves in a position to let him do it again. Complete restoration
is dependent on repentance. Walk in forgiveness today.  (Andrew Wommack
Ministries).

Ephesians 4:32  tells us to "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you".

 

God bless,

 

Dr. Joyce Taylor, VP, MSCC

Communities of Faith Leadership Team

 

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