Family MattersSample

Forgiveness is hard to extend to anyone but especially your family. Even though forgiving our family is hard, we still are told to do it. In the book of Colossians, Paul tells people to forgive because Jesus forgave us first. Jesus doesn’t forgive us because we deserve forgiveness or because of anything we’ve done. Jesus forgave us simply because he loves us. In the same way, we don’t forgive those around us because they deserve it or because what they did to us was okay. We can forgive because of the forgiveness Jesus gave us. All we’re doing is treating others in the way Jesus treats us. When our family does something to hurt us, it’s hard. Those are the people who are supposed to love us more than anyone else. What’s important to remember is that our family will mess up. They will make mistakes and hurt us. We will make mistakes and hurt them, too. So, we need to not only be quick to forgive when our family hurts us; we also need to be quick to ask for forgiveness. 

Challenge: Today, choose forgiveness over anger, bitterness, or vengeance. Choose today to extend forgiveness to your family when someone wrongs you, but also ask for forgiveness when you mess up. Remember, the reason we can forgive is because God forgave us first.