Wednesday 19^th December

Matthew 6:9-15

I don’t remember much from school, in fact I meant not too (a mistake I regret). Yet the things I do remember always seem to have a way of coming in useful. One of those valuable lessons I remembered was the freeze thaw process. This is the process of how a rock with a crack eventually becomes two. When water/moisture finds its way into the crack of a rock and freezes in ice-cold conditions, it expands. When this process is repeated over a long period of time the rock eventually cracks and breaks into two.

 This is how I picture sin in our lives. Slowly slowly we allow the enemy to come in and pick at us. A quick peek here, a lie there, then before you know it we have fallen into habitual sin or done something contrary to our characters or to that of a follower of Christ. The fact is that it is very rare to find a Christian who all of sudden is consumed by sinful desires and gives into big temptations. It is always through small droplets of water (sin) entering our lives and not being dealt with that leads to catastrophic downfalls. I can speak from my own experience in saying that when sin is allowed to build in one’s life, not only is it disastrous in their life but also in the lives of those around them.

One type of this ‘freeze thaw cycle’ is the un-forgiveness in our lives that slowly weathers away at our hearts and turns into a cancerous bitterness that corrupts and destroys and eventually shatters our lives. Un-forgiveness, not dealt with, removes the joy of the believer and consumes them from the inside out. Jesus in His sermon on the mount adds a greater warning than just outward emotions or bitterness. He warns of something that has much greater significance in our lives.

In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus gives the disciples the model of how to pray. Verse 12 emphasises that we must forgive others as we have been forgiven of much ourselves. Jesus after giving the Lord’s Prayer highlights the importance of this forgiveness. In verse 14 and 15 He says that if we forgive others, we will be forgiven. If we don’t then we will not be forgiven. This is the kind of statement that makes you look twice at the text. If we don’t forgive others then we won’t be forgiven.

You may say, wow, Jesus that is harsh. So and so has hurt me so much or this person doesn’t deserve to be forgiven. And yes in our own strength it is impossible to forgive. Yet Jesus’ words are clear for us. However our strength is found in verse 12; forgive others as you have been forgiven by God. When we realise how much Jesus has forgiven us of our sins, we then have no right to stand and say we can’t forgive others. Our strength and willingness should come from the fact that Jesus on the cross unconditionally gave His life that we may be forgiven of every conscious and unconscious sin, accidental or purposeful. This knowledge gives us the strength to forgive others so that we too might be forgiven. Christ’s grace and presence in us helps us to love as He did and to forgive as does.

Note the forgiveness Jesus talks of here is not ‘metanoia’ (repentance) but of aphiémi (the release) of everyday confession from the ‘falling away’ or ‘slipping’ into sin. The fact is not that we no longer walk with God but rather it is the damaging of the relationship God so desires to have with us His children. It is like the rock. Slowly our un-forgiveness pushes us further and further away from God until one day we become so consumed with our sin that we have drifted away from fellowship and communion with the Father. If that is you today, break the routine of sinning, get accountable, lean on God’s unfailing love and hold the Shepherds’ rod. Let Him pull you out of the hole you have dug yourself into. Take courage and strength in God’s love and forgiveness towards you so that you may forgive others equally.