Loving God and our neighbors does not come naturally for many of us; it is probable that it was meant to be like that so that we would rely on God’s ability. That being the case, we should always pray to God to help us love others including forgiving those who do us wrong.

When we do not forgive, it means we hate (in varying degrees) our offenders. Hatred, according to Jesus is as sinful as murder, which is the extreme opposite of love. Walking in forgiveness is, therefore, a demonstration of love.

Unforgiveness is so bad in God’s eyes that it is listed among the sins whose practitioners are not only to be avoided (2 Timothy 3:1-5) but also deserve eternal death (Romans 1:28-32). This means that unforgiveness can get a Christian to hell. Jesus said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). Now, if God does not forgive us our sins, where are we destined? You got it right – hell. If we want to avoid eternal damnation, we must drive unforgiveness out of our hearts. Since that is very often not easy to do, we should pray to God to help.

The other reason why we need to forgive is so that our prayers can be answered. When in Mark 11:22-26 Jesus talked about faith and prayer, He also said, “whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him.” That means that prayer, faith to receive what we have prayed for, and forgiveness all go hand in hand. The Bible says, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). Those who do evil, whose prayers the ears of the Lord are not open to, include Christians who practice unforgiveness. Many years ago, I went through a short but painful period of financial depression. In two dreams, it was revealed to me that unforgiveness and bitterness were the cause of my misery. I know from first-hand experience how easily unforgiveness can shut the heavens over a Christian.

All this sounds like legalism, a thing I dread to be associated with. However, the Scriptures clearly speak for themselves.

May God help us to really love our neighbors as we forgive them for the wrong things they did and will do to us, even as we remember that we, too, are constantly guilty of hurting others. Since we have been forgiven by God, surely we too should be able to forgive others (Ephesians 4:32).

Amen.