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Tying God’s Hands

There are some verses in Scripture that both excite me and make me nervous. Matthew 6:14 is one such verse: “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

I am excited by the fact that forgiveness is available for me. Those times when I've blow it and made sinful decisions and done, said or thought something I shouldn't have. Those times I've had a wrong or bad attitude. God's forgiveness is available so that I can remain in good standing with Him.

But there is another part to this verse... the opening word in particular: IF.

The reality is that there are conditions to God's promise of forgiveness. If...

If I don't forgive someone, then God can't forgive me.

We can actually tie God's hands simply because He has put a condition on his provision of forgiveness. I don't always like it. There are times times that I want to hold onto my hurt feelings or keep judging some one's motives or actions. However, doing so puts up a roadblock to experiencing His forgiveness.

That is a place I don't want to be. That is a place you don't want to be. Let's live each day by extending grace and forgiveness in the same way God wants to extend grace and forgiveness to us!