And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32 KJV
God loves you tremendously, and because He loves you, He sent His Son to pay the penalty for your sin.
I John 4:14 says, “…the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”
Since Jesus paid the price for sin, you are forgiven. And God expects you to forgive others “…even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” When you are kind and tenderhearted toward others, you’ll also find it easier to forgive.
I John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”
When we love others as God loves us, we’re tenderhearted and show them kindness, which helps us to forgive as we ought to. And that pleases God.
In Ezekiel 36:26, God says to Israel, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
When you were born again, you became a new creature in Christ.
II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
At the moment of salvation, God gives you a new heart and a new spirit. But it’s up to you what you do with them. Do you fill your heart and mind with the things of God or do you hang onto your old ways and habits?
But even though you are now a new creature in Christ, you still battle this old flesh. That’s why Ephesians 4:22-23 tells us to put off the corrupt and deceitful behavior of the old man, and allow your mind to be renewed. Then you can forgive someone else as Christ forgave you by putting “on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24)
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Let’s honor our Heavenly Father by displaying the kind of forgiveness that would glorify Him. After all, he forgave us for Christ’s sake. We should also forgive others for Christ’s sake.