Monthly Archives: February 2021

“Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)

There is nothing more damaging to the soul than a heart that is unwilling to forgive. Unforgiveness is the undoing of the Christian life, leaving behind a shell of the person God has called that individual to be.

Here is a wonderful story about the undoing of unforgiveness; I cannot confirm that these events actually happened, but, true story or not, the principle expressed is true for all people in all ages and in all places.

Leonardo da Vinci painted his famous “The Last Supper” fresco in a church in Milan. At the time that he was working on the painting, Leonardo was angry because of a bitter argument he had had with another painter. Da Vinci despised this man, and when he painted Judas Iscariot sitting at the table with Jesus, he used the face of the man he had argued with so that everyone who saw the painting would see the face of his enemy representing the man who betrayed Jesus. Da Vinci is said to have taken great pleasure in knowing that others would actually see the face of his enemy in the place of Judas.

As he worked on the faces of the other disciples, Da Vinci often tried to paint the face of Jesus, but he couldn’t make any progress. Da Vinci grew increasingly frustrated and confused. Over time, he realized his own fault. His hatred for the other painter was holding him back from finishing the face of Jesus, who had told us to love our enemies . . . just has He had loved us when we were still His enemies (Romans 5:10). It was only after he had made peace with his enemy and repainted the face of Judas that Leonardo was able to paint the face of Jesus and complete his masterpiece.

Having counseled with countless people as a pastor over the years, I am convinced that the main reason we have a difficult time accepting God’s forgiveness is because of the undoing of unforgiveness that lives in our own hearts. I must admit that I am speaking from my own experience in this matter. In our sinful nature, we have a tendency to remake God in our own image; we imagine a God who holds grudges and withholds forgiveness. But, like Da Vinci, when we let go of our past pain, resentment, and anger and offer forgiveness to others just like the grace we ourselves have received, we free ourselves to see the face of our Lord Jesus more clearly, and His face reflects the twin truths that we are unconditionally loved and completely forgiven.

How are you doing in the area of forgiveness? Is there anyone in your life right now that you need to forgive? It has been well said that “Unforgiveness does more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than to the object upon which it is poured.” Remember, offering forgiveness is not condoning wrongdoing, and forgiveness is not equal to trust. Wrong behavior is wrong behavior, but you and I have been called to “Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

May we be the fragrance and the aroma of Christ — and may that sweet fragrance permeate out own hearts — as we release any lingering bitterness and unleash the forgiveness that God lavished on us.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites our of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11)

Moses had spent forty years tending sheep on the back side of the desert; now God was ready to use him to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. Moses started well. When God called to him from the burning bush, Moses responded willingly, “Here I am” (Exodus 3:4). But as soon as God revealed His plan to use Moses as the divine deliverer of His people, Moses began to exchange God’s use for his excuse. Let’s take a closer look, and I promise you will be as comforted today as you are challenged to answer whatever call God has placed on your life.

When Moses asked, “Who am I . . . ?” he was acknowledging the truth that he was not qualified to carry out God’s call to do anything, at least from his perspective. Forty years earlier, he had killed an Egyptian slave master who was beating a Hebrew slave. When it becamse known that Moses was a murderer, he fled Egypt and spent the next forty years as a shepherd in Midian. We can only imagine that in the intensity and intimacy of his encounter with God in the burning bush — God the Lord, who instructed Moses to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground — that Moses remembered just how sinful he truly was. He had lost his temper and committed murder, supposing that the people of Israel would recognize him as the great deliverer of their nation (Acts 7:25).

But here is the comfort for you and me . . . and also the challenge. To be sure, God knew who Moses was. God knew that Moses had tried, in his own strength, to free his countrymen from slavery in Egypt. Moses had gone about things in the wrong way: he had trusted in his own strength rather than the strength of the Almighty. And Moses was under no illusions about how sinful he was; he had committed murder, killing one who was made in the image of God, the most heinous act imaginable. Yet here was God, calling Moses the murderer into His service to deliver His people out of their bondage in Egypt!

This is one of the greatest comforts we find throughout sacred Scripture: God sees past our past, all the way to our current potential as an instrument of usefulness in His mighty right hand. This was true for Moses, and the same is true for me and you.

Have you ever wondered why God chooses to use such messed up people in His service? It’s because we are all He has to work with! We are all messed up. We are all sinners with a past that would embarass us terribly if those closest to us knew what God knows about us. And yet, in His magnificent mercy, God raises us out of the pit of our sinful past and into His promised plan and purpose for our lives. And that is why God refused to accept Moses’ excuse that he was not good enough to answer God’s call. Moses was absolutely right to believe that he was not good enough in his own strength, but in the strength of the Almighty he was more than good enough; he was God’s ordained instrument of usefulness.

By the way, if you continue reading in Exodus, you’ll see that Moses made a few more excuses, and God simply moved Moses from excuse to use, and that is exactly what God wants to do in each of our lives.

Does that knowledge comfort you? Here is the challenge: Have you answered God’s call in your life? Remember, God knows everything about your past, and he still wants to use you in the present for His glory and your ultimate good. So when you sense His call, don’t object “Who am I?” Say “Here am I!”

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!