Forgiveness in the Christian Doctrine is like a circle, it all connects and if any part of the circle is broken it loses its shape and meaning.
The first step to forgiveness is to ask God to forgive you of your sins, He will always forgive you. That is the most important and crucial part of the circle. In order to enter it you must first ask to be forgiven, God is there waiting for you to join Him inside.
Salvation comes from forgiveness from God, without asking you cannot receive it.
It is also important to continue to repent after you’re saved. God knows what is in your heart but showing obedience by praying to Him after a mistake shows Him that you love Him.
Remember your salvation is not a license to sin, don’t abuse your relationship with the Lord. Show Him the same love He shows you.
The second part of the circle is to forgive yourself. That is a very difficult task, forgiving yourself for all you have done. Just last night I laid awake thinking about things I did in High School.
But remember God is more important than yourself, if He can forgive you. Then you can forgive yourself.
It is very similar to loving your neighbor as you love yourself, if you don’t love yourself how can you love your neighbor the same? Well if you can’t forgive yourself how can you forgive your neighbor?
Which brings us to the third and final part of the circle, forgiving others.
God calls us to forgive others it’s included in the Lord’s Prayer and in many verses throughout the Bible.
In Matthew 6:14-15 we read, “14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Also in Luke 17: 3-4 it says, “3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
I will include a link to 20 verses on forgiveness in the Bible.
Once again I must emphasize we are not greater than God so if He chooses forgive others than you should too.
The circle of forgiveness goes like this…
God forgives, your forgive yourself and then you forgive others. God will always forgive you so the circle can only be broken by yourself. It is also up to you to keep the circle flowing so you can get back to God.
The Lord is waiting on you to enter the circle.
Have a blessed week,
Chris
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/forgiveness-bible-verses/
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