Going to Jesus

Daily Thoughts

 Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:

• Collection

  Thoughts for the Morning Thoughts for the Evening Random Thoughts

• Month

  January February March April May June July August September October November December

• Day

  9-01 True Doctrine Is A Testimony 9-02 True Forgiveness 9-03 Cutting A Covenant 9-04 Desiring Whatever He Gives 9-05 Not Just For Us 9-06 What Difference Does It Make? 9-07 Amy’s Vision: Beyond The Cross 9-08 The Honor Of Jesus 9-09 Only Of God: What Fellowship Is 9-10 Your Best Helpers 9-11 “The gods” 9-12 “Having The Spirit” 9-13 “Receive Us!” 9-14 “But I Say Unto You . . .” 9-15 Receiving God’s Messenger 9-16 Judgment Within “The Congregation of the Mighty” 9-17 Satan And Jesus Reaped What They Sowed 9-18 The Seed Of The Woman 9-19 Beyond 9-20 “It” 9-21 Slow Down 9-22 Preparing Your Heart 9-23 What Does He Want Me to Do for Him? 9-24 An Old Sermon on Love 9-25 The Knowledge of God 9-26 Mark 10:17–22 Part One: Something Lacking 9-27 Mark 10:17–22 Part Two: Following Jesus To Pentecost 9-28 The Water of Life 9-29 The Nature and the Body 9-30 Everything Else is Just Gravy

 

Random Thought
9-2

True Forgiveness

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them shall obtain mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1John 1:9

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.”
Jesus, in Matthew 18:15

To have a tender heart and to be willing and ready to forgive is the way Jesus taught us to live, but to be willing to forgive is different from actually forgiving. No one should be hard-hearted toward those who have done wrong because God was not hard-hearted toward any of us, but true forgiveness only exists as a response to true repentance. True, healing forgiveness is never extended or experienced until the ingredient of repentance is added to the transgression.

To forgive a killer who does not sincerely regret his crime is no more than an invitation for him to kill again. The same can be said of thieves, adulterers, and so forth. The betrayed wife who “forgives” her adulterous husband without him confessing and forsaking his sinful ways cannot be said to be showing him true forgiveness him at all. Rather, through ignorance of how to forgive in a godly manner, she is rewarding him with undeserved pardon and, therefore, encouraging him, if not granting him a license, to continue with his infidelity. She is not showing him either the love or the mercy of God because God isn’t like that. He will not forgive those who do not repent.

To offer forgiveness before the guilty party repents may be “the Christian thing to do”, but it is not the godly thing to do. God, who is so full of mercy that His throne is called “the mercy seat”, has never forgiven any sinner who refused His call to repentance. Christians, on the other hand, regularly demand that we forgive unconditionally, which is utter foolishness in the guise of mercy.