FORGIVENESS (PART 2)

"Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." - Matt 5:23-24.

Is there a bearing with our being blessed and forgiving others?

In the first part of this message, we showed how Jesus made us know that forgiveness is very vital in our relationship with one another. Today, we will show that there's a relationship with forgiveness and being blessed.

    For a good while, I'd been worried that despite that many give to God, it's usually the case that they are not blessed. Until I came across our main text, cited above, my worries grew the more.

Jesus said "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." - Matt 5:23-24. Here, the Lord Jesus is letting us know that God will not receive our gifts (whether it be donations, tithes, offerings, funds, etc) if we do not forgive and are not reconciled with those that have issues with us. The result of giving to God our gifts without reconciling with those we have misunderstanding is that He will not bless our endeavor. It's tantamount to throwing away our gifts when we offer them without reconciling with those that have issues with us. This is so revealing because so many people in Church today are caught up with this issue. Any wonder that God doesn't bless them, though they give?

   For so long also, I'd questioned why Jesus in Mk 11:25 would talk about forgiving others immediately after He'd talked about praying in the preceding verses 23 and 24! Hear Him: "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses." - Mk 11:25. I came to understand that if we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us, with a further result that this could serve to hinder our prayers from being answered.

   Brethren, let's receive grace to forgive others so that our sacrifices to God will attract His blessings to us in return.

Have a beautiful day!

PRAYER

Dearest Heavenly Father, I receive grace to forgive others so that you'll not only forgive me in return, but also that my giving will be acceptable to you, in Jesus name.