FORGIVENESS!

I think one of the most beautiful stories of forgiveness in all the Bible is the very tender and touching story of the miraculous reunion between Joseph and his brothers as recorded in the last six chapters of Genesis.  I believe that this word "forgiveness" is one of the sweetest, most consoling, and healing words known to man.  It is wonderful to be forgiven, but it is also wonderful to forgive.

When we humbly forgive and pardon those who have wronged us, our souls seem to be flooded with unspeakable joy and peace; but if we hold on to the injustice we have suffered, and nurse it, soon it becomes a festering wound, filling our mind and spirit with bitterness like the poison of cancer; and it is impossible for our Heavenly Father to forgive us if we do not forgive our fellow man.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:14-15 --
     "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

So as we walk with the Lord in the coming days, let us earnestly pray that Jesus will help us to always have a very tender, humble, and forgiving spirit toward our fellow man -- the kind that our Master had when He prayed from the Cross -- "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."