Scripture

Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:32, NLT

Quote

Forgiveness is every person’s deepest need and the greatest quality of being like Jesus.

~Franklin Graham

I finished my first book of 2026, a small book of 197 pages by Franklin Graham. It is my first time to read Franklin but the book was superb. It has only thirty entries but all of them were great. The title is ALL FOR JESUS and I got it at the CARING PLACE thrift store for a quarter, if I remember correctly. I agree with Franklin, I have a deep, deep need for forgiveness and a need to be a forgiving person. Where there is no transgression there is no need for forgiveness, but we all say and do things that hurt other people and we need forgiveness and to be forgiving. When people deny the existence of God or His holy nature, they sense no need for forgiveness. When a person denies sin in general, there is no need for forgiveness. If there is no sin, there is no offense. This is where we run into severe problems. If a person is unwilling to acknowledge sin, they at the same time refuse to acknowledge a transgression or an offense and thus there is nothing to repent of, turn from or to forgiven. We are forgiven in Christ because He took the judgment for our sin. This is how we can be judiciously pardoned: Jesus paid for our sins.

What keeps us form forgiving others? Here is Franklin Graham’s answer to that question. [1] We are prone to focus on the offense rather than the offender. Do we have any compassion on the person who offended us. Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, they are ignorant, they do not know what they are doing.” [2] Unforgiving people tend to overlook their own faults. It is easy to blame others but how honest are we about our own sin and transgression. [3] Unforgiving people set themselves up as judge and jury. They are unwilling to give the offense to Christ.

Corrie Ten Boom was mistreated by the German guards. Matter of fact, the Nazis murdered her entire family in one way or the other. Corrie, like most of us, struggled to forgive the brutality of the Nazis. It was a process she had to work through. She took the abuse, the offense, the pain and in her mind converted it to a rose and then laid it at the feet of Jesus. This enabled her to forgive. As believers, we may not always be quick to forgive but eventually we will. At some point we will realize that our offense against God is far greater than anything anyone has ever done to us.

Extra

PTL for a night of rest, amen! I hope things slow down just a bit today. A lot accomplished yesterday on the move. Got our cabinets in and they are beautiful. Got our carpet laid. Would have got the shower installed but it didn’t come in. June is tracking it and it is in Montgomery and supposed to be here later today. June is headed to Huntsville to order a fireplace insert that should heat the entire apartment. LORD willing, we will be packing up the office this evening and temporarily moving the basic equipment to the house for a few days. The weather forecast for next week looks great and hopefully we will get the building moved next week.

You never know what a day will bring but I intent to slow the pace today and spend some time in the building. I hope you have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.