"FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS" Scripture: Matthew 6:12
I teach homiletics and am often asked if it is alright to preach the same sermon twice. My response has been "If it's not worth preaching again it was not worth preaching before." That being said, I would like to share this one again.
If you were to strike a match and hold it in your hand without blowing it out, who is the match likely to burn, nobody but you. That is exactly what happens when we hold un-forgiveness in our hearts. It becomes like a burning match in our hands and it burns nobody but the one holding it.
Have you ever noticed that the people you refuse to forgive have moved on with life and left you at the place where you were first wounded? They will not feel the pain of the burning match no matter how much you wish it upon them. The best thing you can do for yourself is to blow the match out. You have held it long enough and it's time now that you reclaim your life by letting it go. When we forgive others, it is not something we do for the perpetrator. No, this is the one time in your life you have Godly permission to be selfish.
Forgiveness is all about you. When we fail to forgive we empower our past at the expense of our future. You cannot have a prosperous future and hold on to a pathetic past at the same time. The burning match is your past but if you hold on to it, it will damage your present and cancel your future. Do not be held hostage waiting on their apologies. Take control of your life today by blowing out the match.
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