One of my favorite Bible teachers, Kristi McClelland, makes the above statement in her series, “Jesus and Women”. It is a powerful study that reveals how much Jesus cares for women, and how He displayed that care in His day when He interacted with them. This encourages us today, because He is still caring for women.

It is a message of love.

It is a message of grace and mercy.

It is a message of moving one from shame to honor.

It is a message of forgiveness – the message of The Gospel.

Jesus came to provide Himself as the sacrifice for the penalty of our sins. Through His sacrifice on the cross, everyone who accepts Him as Lord and Savior, is forgiven. He moves us from shame to honor. 

His sacrifice turned everything right side up for those who acknowledge Him as their Redeemer.

His sacrifice turned everything right side up for all who prove their faith through their behavior, as James states in James 2:18: “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

One way Jesus’ true followers reveal their love for Him, and their true relationship with Him, is through forgiveness. 

These are some of the verses God inspired His writers to record regarding forgiveness:

Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Mark 11:25: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Matthew 6:15: “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Matthew 18:21-22: “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Colossians 3:13: “Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

Luke 6:27: “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.”

Forgiveness is one of the essential elements of Jesus’ Gospel message. 

Is there someone who has hurt you?  If so, are you holding onto that hurt, maybe even allowing it to cause a root of bitterness, or are you walking in Christ’s power to forgive, and even doing good to the person who hurt you?

You may think you cannot forgive the person who hurt you, who abused you. On your own, you are correct. But God! It takes the mighty work of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit to facilitate this kind of forgiveness. He is thorough, and as we depend upon His power, we can move through the stages from bitterness to forgiveness. God can take us to the place that we can find ourselves thinking about the hurt and truly praying for His love to overtake the one who offended us, rather than feeling offended.  All praise and glory to Him!!

This is from the commentary of one of my daily Bible readings: “I heard on the radio an interesting interview with Rachel Saint, the sister of Nate Saint, one of the five men martyred in Ecuador in 1956 as they attempted to communicate with the Auca Indians. Later Rachel Saint and her companions went back to that tribe and lived among these killers. They served them, and loved them, and taught the gospel to them until they won to Christ the very man who had killed Rachel’s brother. The interviewer asked her, “Why did you go back into this tribe?” She said, “Because in the Indian culture they lived for vengeance, but as a Christian, I knew that forgiveness is our message for those who injure us.” Most of that tribe became Christians through the faithful ministry of these women.”

That is an amazing testimony of forgiveness. Rachel Saint understood the message of Jesus’ Gospel. She lived it out so that others could truly come to know Jesus personally. That is what mattered to her. What matters most to you? Is it revenge or the eternal welfare of others?

Isn’t the eternal welfare of others more important than you and I being unforgiving? It may not always be the one who injured us who comes to know Jesus personally. It may be those who observe our lives as we live Gospel centered.

How do we live in forgiveness?

I find that I must reset my focus on things above and take my thoughts off the things of this world. Those things are often the unkind, untrue words others speak to me or about me. It may be the unloving ways that others treat me. What things of this world are pulling your attention off the things of God? 

God enables me to walk in forgiveness, especially when the ones who injured me never admit their guilt, or confess their unkind treatment toward me. This is one way Jesus turns things right side up.

Repentance is a change in attitude, thinking and understanding of God and that change in perspective towards God brings about a change in our behavior. That is why we can know where we are at with the Lord. The evidence of the fruit in our lives and in the lives of others displays our true heart. When somebody has truly trusted Jesus, there is an increase in repentance, produced by a high view of God.

Has someone hurt your or abused you? Find a Godly person to help you work through the situation. Don’t remain in a place of physical danger. 

If you would like to talk about the situation, please reach out to me at:  ButGodCares@gmail.com. I would like to talk with you and ask Jesus to help you so you can live without the weight or hindrance of unforgiveness in your relationship with Jesus.

I’d also like to talk with anyone who would like to consider a relationship with Jesus. You will never regret becoming a true follower of Christ.

Living for Jesus, Donna

P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!

Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you. Also, please remember to look at the full context of the verses by reading the complete passage.

Copyright 2024 Donna Shappy   All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.