Flush Out Offense

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matt.6:15

A certain servant had received forgiveness from his master for what he owed but he was unwilling to forgive his colleague who owed him much less. Even though he had verbally said thank you to his master, he harbored ingratitude in his heart. Ingratitude is at the root of offense in many cases. Many of us are ungrateful and as a result we still hold grudges against our neighbors. You even come across wives who are yet to forgive their husbands for things he did while they were courting. So why did you get married anyway? For others, the reverse is the case, they are grossly ungrateful because of the offense in their hearts. ‘Why should I thank God for being alive when He has refused to bless me with a job’? Holding offense in your heart, they say, is like drinking poison and wishing the other person would die. People will do things to spite you even when you have been kind to them. God wants you to forgive, to flush out offense completely from your heart. ‘But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins’. Matt.6:15. In order to have unlimited access to the Father, you have to flush out offense. Guard your heart with diligence so that offense will not slip through the door undetected. Stay alert to your reactions to people and situations so you can spot offense immediately it births. Think about forgiveness as doing yourself good in the sight of God.

Prayer: Dear Father, help me put a guard over my heart pushing back every offense. I choose to let go of bitterness and forgive. I choose to walk in love and gratitude, to forgive instead of keeping account of wrong and to bless instead of cursing, in Jesus Name, Amen!