EPHESIANS 4:31-32 – Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

THEME OF THE DAY. JUST AS CHRIST TREATS US. There are many ways we may evaluate ourselves as to our growth in becoming like Jesus. One of the most accurate is found in today’s scripture. As we go through life, a couple of things become more and more certain in our lives. One, we are breaking down. Our mortality is felt with almost daily awareness. Our bodies are decaying and perhaps there is a slow process of mental forgetfulness occurring. Another certainty in life is that people, Christians and non-Christians alike, will hurt, betray and sin against us. Still yet another certainty is that we also will be people who fail other people. It is one of the clearest pieces of evidence that we are broken; we are sinners who sin, even as Christians. Now it is in this area we really know if we are becoming like Christ.

So, when we betray Christ, which we do and that most often when we choose the world over Him and His Word, how does He treat us? He forgives and doesn’t hold our sin of idolatry over us. What about when we grieve His heart and Spirit by doing things we know He forbids, like choosing to satisfy the cravings of lusts and flesh over practicing self-denial? For instance, we choose worldly events and entertainment over faithfulness to the Lord’s Day, how does He treat us? He forgives and doesn’t hold our sin of worldliness against us. What about when we hurt another brother or sister in the Lord through false assumptions, negative thinking, or unkind speech? How does the Lord treat us when we repent and restore the relationship? He forgives and doesn’t hold the sin of not loving other believers against us.

Well, let’s move away from how the Lord treats us in our sinning, betraying and hurting of Him into our relationships with other Christians who do any or all of these against us. Do we treat them like Christ treats us? Or do we harbor bitterness, simmer in our hearts critical thoughts of them, withhold forgiveness and let the fractured relationship remain? How we answer determines what we know of Christ’s forgiveness in our own lives. It is impossible to have experienced His incredible patience and love in forgiving our many sins and then refuse to grant forgiveness to others, not for certain sins, but for all sin. Take a look deep inside your heart. Surely, you have been hurt, betrayed, and sinned against by another human being. That is a fact of life in a sin-cursed world. Are you quick to be like Christ or quicker to let the hurt, betrayal, and sin poison your heart and keep you from being like Christ? The choice is ours – growth in grace like Christ by forgiving or remain spiritually immature and not grow in Christ by withholding forgiveness.

PRAYER: “Father, help me respond to those who hurt, betray, and sin against me just as You and Your Son do me.”

QUOTE: “We know we are becoming like Jesus when we are quick to forgive and harbor no bitterness toward anyone.”