Monday 26th of February
“Grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.”
Luke 6:36-38
Today’s message from Jesus is very personal and not an easy or desirable message to receive. Jesus is telling us to be merciful as His Father is merciful. What a challenge this may be. Understandably, part of being merciful may be doing good works. However, Jesus primarily challenges us and instructs us to stop judging, criticising and condemning others. And most challenging of all, we are to forgive the individuals who have hurt us!
It may be fairly easy for us to give of our time, treasure and talent. However, to forgive someone who has hurt us deeply is a huge challenge. We simply may not want to forgive. We even might want the other person to suffer for what they did to us. Yet, if we truly wish to follow Jesus, we have to forgive. There is no other option. Most likely, we will never forget, as the memory is stored in our minds and hearts. However, we do have a choice. We can choose to be merciful and forgive the other person and in the process, we may also free ourselves!