Catching Fire: The Power of Our Wordsናሙና

Do you remember being a little kid standing behind a grown-up at church, or a concert, or in a school auditorium and feeling like the thing you were trying to see—on the stage, in the center, up front—was obstructed by this person who was much taller standing directly in front of you? It’s maddening! All you can focus on is what you can’t see. When it comes to praying, sometimes it can feel like there’s an obstruction, like as much as you want to, you can’t focus on God like you want to. This verse is saying unforgiveness can be like an obstruction. It keeps us from being centered on God the way we want to be.

But even more, when we have unforgiveness towards others, it obstructs our receiving of forgiveness from God, too. It isn’t that God can’t forgive us or won’t forgive us if we don’t forgive. It’s that when we withhold forgiveness from others, we’re withholding it from ourselves. The ability to give it and receive it are connected. And when we don’t forgive, it blocks our view of what God is like and what God desires of us. What is something that you’re holding on to when it comes to unforgiveness that might be keeping you from receiving the forgiveness God wants for you?