Forgiveness is the heart of the gospel. Yet,
so many believers walk in unforgiveness towards others. Why is this? I’ve found
that, in most cases, it’s due to the fact that we don’t fully grasp or
appreciate the truth of the gospel—the essential nature of the forgiveness
we’ve been gifted.

The core message of the gospel is forgiveness.
A perfect God, who did nothing wrong, descended to earth to pay for the sins of
a world that rejected Him countless times. He chose to forgive, even when we
didn’t deserve it. He died and rose again so that we could spend eternity with
Him. The message of the cross is simply that God loves us so much that He
forgave all of our sins, all of our mistakes, all of our failures: past,
present, and future. As believers, we can’t fully appreciate or live in the
reality that we have been forgiven without also understanding our resulting
obligation to forgive.

1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above everything else, love
each other deeply, for love covers a multitude of sins.” What does the phrase
“above everything” mean? It means that we are to love above everything
else—above your politics, above your feelings, above your whims and your
wishes, above what other people say or don’t say. Why? Because God loved us
above everything, as well.

In the world, people are looking for freedom;
they’re looking for answers. But unfortunately, when they encounter church
people, they don’t always receive a message of forgiveness—they receive a
message of judgment. They hear us talking about the Prince of Peace, but they
don’t see the evidence of His peace in our lives. Do you know what the world
wants to know? If forgiveness is so wonderful, then why aren’t we, the children
of God, living it out?

You see, the way we forgive is our witness to
a world hungering for God. But we can only show them something we understand!
Once we’ve truly grasped the lengths of grace that God has went to in order to
save us, we’ll have His power to turn around and show that same forgiveness to
others.

John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give to
you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love
one another.” For those who have accepted Christ, God has forgiven us of every
single sin we’ve committed. Now, it’s our turn to show that same forgiveness to
those who need to meet Jesus for the first time.

.fb_iframe_widget_fluid_desktop iframe {
width: 100% !important;
}