Silas
Beloved of All
The pain and frustration you are expressing is heard, and it is understandable to feel angry and anxious when you see businesses struggling, work that seems poor, and a good name being damaged in your community. Those are real burdens, and God cares about the hardships that come from economic pressure and disappointment.
Scripture is clear that coveting what belongs to another is wrong. God calls His people not to covet, and not to take what is not theirs. At the same time God also warns us about what can happen in our own hearts when disappointment turns into settled anger.
When we hold on to anger it can take root and become bitterness. That bitterness does not stay contained. It troubles us inside, it harms us spiritually and even in our health and peace of mind, and it spreads to others around us and defiles many. Often the bitterness hurts the one who carries it far more than it hurts those it is directed toward. It can keep us from experiencing the full work of God's love and peace in our lives.
Jesus taught that forgiveness is not a matter of keeping count or keeping score. It is a matter of the heart and of the spirit. He used the number seventy times seven to show that we will lose count long before we reach it, because God wants us to have a forgiving spirit as a way of life. That kind of forgiveness is from the heart, not just words. It is not saying I forgive you but I will never forget, which is like burying the hatchet but leaving the handle sticking out so it can be picked up again. True forgiveness releases the matter and does not keep bringing it up.
We cannot produce that kind of heart on our own, but God commands it and He will give the ability if we are willing. We must be willing and ask Him. You can pray honestly, Lord, give me a spirit of forgiveness, take away this bitterness and this unforgiving spirit, and help me to forgive from my heart. If you are willing, He will help you do what you must do.
We are called to follow the example God has set for us. God's forgiveness toward us in Christ is total and complete. When He forgives, He blots it out and remembers it no more. He justifies us, which means He treats us as though we had never sinned, not merely as forgiven but as made clean before Him. Having received so much forgiveness ourselves, we are called to walk in love as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us, and to forgive others as God in Christ has forgiven us.
Jesus also taught that our own willingness to forgive opens the door to know the Father's forgiveness more deeply. When we stand praying, if we remember that we hold something against another, we are to forgive. That spirit of forgiveness frees us.
I encourage you to bring your real needs to God. He invites you to bring your daily provision, your need for forgiveness, your need for guidance, and your need for deliverance. Tell Him about the economic fears, the frustration with employers and workers, and the sorrow over what you see happening around you. Ask Him to search your heart, to show you any root of bitterness, and to replace it with kindness and peace. Ask Him to help you pursue peace with all people and to guard your heart from resentment.
If you have not already, come to Jesus to receive His complete pardon for your own sins. He endured the cross so that there might be a righteous basis for your forgiveness. No one who comes to Him and asks in repentance is turned away. And as you receive His forgiveness, ask Him to make you a person who reflects that same forgiveness toward others, including those you now see as opponents or strangers.
May the Lord set you free from bitterness, fill you with His love, and give you His peace as you trust Him with these difficult circumstances.
Scripture is clear that coveting what belongs to another is wrong. God calls His people not to covet, and not to take what is not theirs. At the same time God also warns us about what can happen in our own hearts when disappointment turns into settled anger.
When we hold on to anger it can take root and become bitterness. That bitterness does not stay contained. It troubles us inside, it harms us spiritually and even in our health and peace of mind, and it spreads to others around us and defiles many. Often the bitterness hurts the one who carries it far more than it hurts those it is directed toward. It can keep us from experiencing the full work of God's love and peace in our lives.
Jesus taught that forgiveness is not a matter of keeping count or keeping score. It is a matter of the heart and of the spirit. He used the number seventy times seven to show that we will lose count long before we reach it, because God wants us to have a forgiving spirit as a way of life. That kind of forgiveness is from the heart, not just words. It is not saying I forgive you but I will never forget, which is like burying the hatchet but leaving the handle sticking out so it can be picked up again. True forgiveness releases the matter and does not keep bringing it up.
We cannot produce that kind of heart on our own, but God commands it and He will give the ability if we are willing. We must be willing and ask Him. You can pray honestly, Lord, give me a spirit of forgiveness, take away this bitterness and this unforgiving spirit, and help me to forgive from my heart. If you are willing, He will help you do what you must do.
We are called to follow the example God has set for us. God's forgiveness toward us in Christ is total and complete. When He forgives, He blots it out and remembers it no more. He justifies us, which means He treats us as though we had never sinned, not merely as forgiven but as made clean before Him. Having received so much forgiveness ourselves, we are called to walk in love as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us, and to forgive others as God in Christ has forgiven us.
Jesus also taught that our own willingness to forgive opens the door to know the Father's forgiveness more deeply. When we stand praying, if we remember that we hold something against another, we are to forgive. That spirit of forgiveness frees us.
I encourage you to bring your real needs to God. He invites you to bring your daily provision, your need for forgiveness, your need for guidance, and your need for deliverance. Tell Him about the economic fears, the frustration with employers and workers, and the sorrow over what you see happening around you. Ask Him to search your heart, to show you any root of bitterness, and to replace it with kindness and peace. Ask Him to help you pursue peace with all people and to guard your heart from resentment.
If you have not already, come to Jesus to receive His complete pardon for your own sins. He endured the cross so that there might be a righteous basis for your forgiveness. No one who comes to Him and asks in repentance is turned away. And as you receive His forgiveness, ask Him to make you a person who reflects that same forgiveness toward others, including those you now see as opponents or strangers.
May the Lord set you free from bitterness, fill you with His love, and give you His peace as you trust Him with these difficult circumstances.
