Oftentimes people associate forgiveness only with those major resentments they’ve been carrying against someone. But true forgiveness is also for all those “little” hurts and offenses that cause you to go out of your way to avoid someone. It’s those memories that cause you to treat someone with less warmth and love because they have injured you in some way.

I’m talking about any attitude you have that falls short of the full light and love of God Himself.

Some people don’t want to give up those kinds of things. They’ll say, “I love God. Glory! Hallelujah! My fellowship with Him is fine. I’m just having a tough time fellowshiping with Sister So-and-So. But after what she did to me, I just can’t help it.”

According to the Bible, people who say things like that are lying. They’re trying to walk in darkness and light at the same time, and 1 John tells us it can’t be done. Notice in the above verse, he didn’t stutter. He didn’t say, “Well, bless your heart. Unforgiveness is a sin, but I know how hard these things can be sometimes.”

No, he said bluntly: “If you walk in darkness and say you have partnership with God, you’re lying about it.”

The sad thing is, many Christians who are walking in unforgiveness don’t know they’re in darkness. They think that because they read their Bible and say “Amen” at church, they’re in fellowship with God. But 1 John 2:11 says, “He that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” A man who does not forgive is hating his brother.

“I don’t hate him,” you may say. “I just don’t like him very much!”

How far outside of love do you have to go before it can be called hate? As far as God is concerned, just one step outside of love is hate. To Him there are no shades of gray. In His eyes, anything less than love is sin.

So make the decision today to forgive….every little hurt.

Speak the Word

 I determine to walk in love and to forgive others, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven me.     Ephesians 4:32