Drop One Hundred Fifteen

1 Corinthians 5:6 - 8

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (NASB1995).

Dr. Bruce Wilkinson shares “pastors say 90 – 100% of the people in their churches struggle to forgive” at the start of his 12-day devotional, “free to forgive” (on the YouVersion Bible app). We all crave unconditional love, yet, as noted above, most of us struggle to share it due to a spirit of unforgiveness. It is amazing to realize that the one thing keeping us from enjoying the abundant life Jesus promises each of us, is the burden of resentment we carry. And to what end? We each have a “hatchet to bury” yet expect our offender to “go first”. No, I do not recommend burying the sin. Seeds are buried so they can grow. Expose it to the light. Bring it out and see it for what it is. Ask the Lord to cleanse your heart and take away any wickedness within. God promises to remove our hearts of stone and replace them with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19 – 21). Forgive as you have been forgiven, O child of God.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for not giving up on us. Thank You for allowing troubles in our lives to remind us to forgive one another. Help us to share our burdens with one another. None of us are worthy of the forgiveness Jesus purchased for us on the cross of Calvary. All our sins have been paid for. All the sins of our offenders have also been paid for. Help us to confess all burdens of unforgiveness and extend forgiveness to our offenders. May we keep short accounts from this moment forward – with You, our neighbors, and families.

In the Name of Jesus we pray,

AMEN