How many times have we heard this from our kids after they’ve had a fight with a friend or classmate? How do we encourage our kids to forgive and not hold a grudge? Unless we model this for our kids, they’ll never understand it. While many times we SAY we forgive people, our actions say something different. They can see through our words clearly and interpret what we’re really saying with those actions. Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (NIV). “For a Christian to be willfully unforgiving is unthinkable,” especially since we’ve been forgiven so much1.

1“Forgiving One Another” by John MacArthur, adapted from his book, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness, GracetoYou.com

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Suggested Reading: Matthew 6:14-15