My marriage is a covenant relationship. And hopefully, if you are married, yours is, too.
But what does that mean? It means that my wife and I are fully committed to each other, "for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." Yes, fully committed even though there have been compromises and sacrifices that she made and that I made. These go both ways.
This covenant is modeled after the covenant that the Lord Jesus makes with His bride, the body of Christ, a.k.a. His church, those who have embraced Him as Lord and Savior. He said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He is fully committed to us!
Oh, but there is one thing: forgiveness. In Matthew chapter 6, we read in verses 14 & 15: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Does it really mean that? Doesn't Titus 3:5 say "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."? Yes, absolutely! So isn't forgiving a work of righteousness? If you think that through your own efforts you can forgive, tell me how successful you have been in the past. We all can recall how past abuses have come up in our memory, especially when we are trying to fall asleep, and we find that "I just can't forgive!".
This is out of context I admit, but it is written in Mark 2, "Who can forgive sin, but God alone?" I believe it.
Now this is really important. Don't just skim over this: We need the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, to come into our "hearts", our innermost beings, to empower us to forgive. Now when we know we need to forgive, but know we don't have the power in us to do it, we have to go after that power to forgive, earnestly. We choose to forgive even though we hate it. Keep choosing to forgive until you receive the power to forgive.
In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus told a parable that illustrates all of this, the parable of the unforgiving servant. This is from verses 21 through 35.
Servant #1 owed A LOT of money to the master. He begged for time, but instead, the master forgave him the whole thing! (So, yes, not by works of righteousness which we have done He saved us!)
Servant #2 owed servant #1 A LITTLE bit of money. He begged for time, but instead, servant #1 threw him into debtor's prison (ie, did not forgive him).
When the master heard this he was furious!
This is how Jesus ends the parable:32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
So you have to forgive, but you can't forgive. What to do? Choose to cry out to the LORD to fill you to overflowing with His Holy Spirit. He alone has the power to forgive, and He wants you to have it! Ask! Ask for the filling (or baptism) of the Spirit, and ask for the ability to forgive now!
We serve a wonderful, loving God. Expect a blessing.
Larry Carroll
