This concept of forgiving those who do you evil gets hard when it caused destruction of family. I lived that. My wife and I adopted 4 children and their birth father who in court said he wanted nothing to do with them ended up causing 3 of them to run away. In the end we had to give up those 3. Later all 3 ran away from him and ended up being psychopaths. They had no empathy for others and were very manipulative to get what they wanted to the extent of stealing and destruction of property of others including their siblings. 2 ended up in jail 1 or more times. Seeing this happen caused my wife, remaining daughter and me great pain. The blessing of the remaining daughter helped us through this pain. It took me months to forgive him.
Thank you for sharing us your story.
Unlike us, it really amazes me to see little children, how quickly they can say sorry and after being beaten or punished, how they easily forget and goes back to a loving relationship with you.
What I learned from this parable is that our merciful, just and loving God hears us whenever we ask for forgiveness for the sins we have committed. (Matthew 6:9-15, 1 john 5:14)
As servants of God who were justified by His Grace and mercy through FAITH in the One whom He has sent to suffer and DIE on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, our LORD and Savoir Jesus Christ, it is our DUTY to fear Him and OBEY His commandments.(Ecclesiastes 12:13) And His command is to LOVE GOD and our brothers.
.. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another AS HE COMMANDED US. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. 1 John 3:21-24
Those who believes in the Son of God must LOVE one another.
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We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God MUST also love his brother. 1 John 4:19-21
...This is how we know what love is:
Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.1 John 3:16-18
"LOVE IS WALKING IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS COMMANDS." 2 john 1:6
If anyone CLAIMS to be saved by Grace through FAITH but does not OBEY God who gave us these commandments to LOVE, will that person be saved?
If we do not FORGIVE those who sinned against us, will God forgive us our sins? And if God will not FORGIVE us our sins, will we be saved?
To FORGIVE those who sinned against us is part of loving one another AS HE COMMANDED US TO OBEY.
So if anyone OBEYS GOD'S COMMANDMENTS and not just CLAIM to have FAITH ALONE, will he not be saved.
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As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.2 Corinthians 6:1, Jude 1:4
... but HUMBLY accept the WORD planted in you." James 1:21
and...
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Ephesians 5:6