If ever there was a divine litmus test which exposes the sinfulness of our   
   human nature, and reveals how much we each fail to live by God's Divine   
   Standard, surely it is in the areas of forgiveness, mercy and love. While   
   God commands us to love and to forgive those who offend us, and even to go   
   the extra mile by praying for those who wrong us in some way, our sinful old   
   man of the flesh just doesn't want to have anything to do with it.   
      
   The old man -- who is rooted in human pride -- doesn't want to forgive or to   
   forget; and he most certainly doesn't want to pray for those who have   
   wronged him. In fact, quite often, our old man isn't happy with anything   
   short of revenge. "Make them pay for what they did to you!" he screams out.   
      
   I know that I am not alone when I say that this is a battle which we all   
   constantly face as Christians. We truly want to live by God's Law of Love,   
   but oh that old man!   
      
   Forgiveness does not come easy; and the greater the offense, the more   
   difficult it is for us to forgive; but then we are reminded of what Jesus   
   said in the Gospels:   
      
   "But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father   
   forgive your trespasses."   
   Matthew 6:15, KJV   
      
   God couldn't have placed the bar any higher than that. He set a standard   
   which forces us to learn to forgive, or else.   
      
   I know that in my own life, there have been a few incidents where I feel   
   that I have been wronged and treated unfairly. Despite the passage of many   
   years in a few cases, and despite my knowledge of God's Word, when those bad   
   memories occasionally surge forward in my mind, my evil heart is quick to   
   lash out all over again at those persons who were involved, figuratively   
   speaking. Truly, the Prophet Jeremiah spoke the truth when he wrote:   
      
   "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can   
   know it?"   
   Jeremiah 17:9, KJV   
      
   And, of course, as Jesus Himself said:   
      
   "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart;   
   and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,   
   murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These   
   are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth   
   not a man."   
   Matthew 15:18-20, KJV   
      
   Perhaps it is because to forgive is not a human attribute, but rather a   
   Divine Attribute; and until we have truly been perfected in God's Love --   
   which oft times means being honest with ourselves, and recognizing our own   
   dismal, sinful condition, and our own need for forgiveness and mercy -- we   
   simply do not possess the power to forgive and to love others as we should.   
      
   It is a daily uphill battle to live in a Christ-like manner. There are so   
   many things working against us; mainly our own selves. As you may recall,   
   even the Apostle Paul recognized this ongoing battle between the Spirit, and   
   the sinful desires of the flesh. Thus he wrote:   
      
   "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For   
   that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I   
   hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law   
   that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth   
   in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:   
   for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find   
   not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not,   
   that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin   
   that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is   
   present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I   
   see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and   
   bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O   
   wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I   
   thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself   
   serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."   
   Romans 7:14-25, KJV   
      
   So by God's Grace, through the power of Christ working in us and through us,   
   we will each strive to do better, and to live more like Him.   
      
   For a more in-depth look at this topic, please consider reading my article   
   "Love, Mercy, Forgiveness And Chastisement" and related articles.   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
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