Christmas Challenges (Part Three)
THE CHALLENGE OF FORGIVENESS
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Matthew 1:21, Ephesians 1:7)
"There was a king who had suffered much from his rebellious subjects. But one day they surrendered their arms, threw themselves at his feet, and begged for mercy. He pardoned them all. One of his friends said to him, “Did you not say that every rebel should die?” “Yes,” replied the king, “but I see no rebels here.” (Ministry 127)
We could boldly say that the purpose of the Christ-Child coming to this world, was to save the world from sin. In the center of this salvation is forgiveness of our sins. By accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are receiving the forgiveness that God wants us to have. But the challenge at Christmas is two-fold.
First Of All, The Challenge Of Receiving This Forgiveness.
Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for our sins, but we must in faith reach out to obtain it. That means that we must be like these rebellious subjects in our story. We must surrender our lives totally to our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. The challenge at Christmas, as well as all through the year, is that people refuse to look to Jesus, to liberate them from the chains of sin, self, and guilt. The world can be a place where we can have a good time, especially at Christmas. A place where we can have temporary thrills, to make us feel good about life for a time.
But the world can never provide the deep need for a right relationship with God. That inner peace, and contentment that only God can provide through His Son. To feel forgiven from a sinful, and self-pursuing lifestyle, is only found in our total surrender to Jesus our Savior.
Will we do it today?
Secondly, The Challenge Of Showing This Forgiveness.
In the process of everyday living, we end up hurting others, and being hurt by others. If there one thing that is hard for people to do, it is to forgive. When we make a fist, and we hold that fist tightly over a period of time, it doesn't feel very good. We can feel the tension getting worse, and worse. It's only when we release that fist, that the tension goes away, and we feel better. That's what forgiveness does for our hearts. The challenge is that we make a fist with our hearts, and we hold on to the hurt, and those bitter feelings, so long, that the misery becomes so overwhelming. How much better to forgive, and release those terrible bitter feelings. Even if those who have hurt us, have no intention of apologizing, and making things right, it is still is a very healing balm for our hearts.
Our awesome, loving, God wants us to be forgiven, and to exercise forgiveness. He has done His part through His Son. Will we do our part, and submit to His will, and His care?
The heart of the challenge of forgiveness, is that it is a choice that we must make!
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