Bear with each other and forgive one
another if any of you has a grievance
against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 NIV
Bless those who curse you, pray for
those who mistreat you. Luke 6:28 NIV
The curse and
consequence of sin is death. The
blessing of righteousness is life. Jesus
took our curse and died for us. In
return, we received righteousness and life.
This is the same action that Jesus asks us to take toward those who
mistreat us. When we forgive others as
Christ has forgiven us, we absorb the mistreatment that they gave us just as
Christ was mistreated for our sake.
Understand this: Forgiveness always involves pain for the forgiver.
How do we
overcome this pain? By blessing those
who curse us and praying for God to treat well those who have mistreated
us. It is painful to plant seeds of
forgiveness in the fields of pain, but the fruit of these seeds is grace and
peace and a heart filled with more of God’s goodness.
Have you been
mistreated? Have you been publicly
insulted? Have you felt betrayed? Have you been intentionally hurt? Have you
been neglected or rejected? This week,
pray for one or more people who have mistreated you. Pray for God to bless them and to draw them
to himself. As you pray, think of the
cross, where Jesus was mistreated for you.
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