Bread of Life Voice

Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother? 70×7 times (Matt 18:21-22).

Forgiveness is a must; it is a divine condition for forgiveness of our sins; it is not optional. It is God’s condition to answer our prayers. And “If we say that we have not sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

That is why our Lord Jesus Christ admonished that “If you forgive others their trespass, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mtt 6:14-15; Mk 11:25; Mtt 18:35). Even if the person hurts you or sins against you many times in one day, you must forgive (Luke 17:4).

Many people nurse bitterness against some people because of past hurts or quarrels, while some are not in sincere talking terms with one another, even among believers. Worst still, many carry the grudges into fellowships (prayer meetings) with their “believer-enemies.”

This always results in unanswered prayers. That is the devil’s wish. Don’t you know that you should “put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,….forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you”? (Eph 4:31-32).

How can you cherish unforgiveness in you? It is dangerous.

1. It blocks favour meant for you.
2. It hinders your spiritual, material and financial progress.
3. It also causes sickness (Prov 17:22), depression, bad dreams, among others.

Forgiving the person who hurts you may not be easy, but ask for the grace to do so. You may endeavour as well to meet the person and sort it out with him or her.

As Jesus and St. Stephen forgave those who killed them (Lk 23:34, Acts 7:60), it is advisable that you should do all you can to ensure you forgive others always, otherwise, it may at last become an obstacle to your eternal life. To forgive is for your own good. It will make you feel free and healthy.

Meditation/Prayer Points

1. Get to a quiet place alone and prayerfully reason out why you must forgive those who hurt you, because of Jesus, remembering and forgiving them, one by one.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit for abundant grace to forgive them.
3. Then pray for restoration of all blessings your lack of forgiveness in the past has driven away from you

(Culled from the 2019 Programme Manual of 21 Days Prayers of Divine Encounter of CCRN, Awka Diocese)