MAY 05
May 5.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you—unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:35
If we have truly received divine forgiveness—we will be forgiving toward others. As one says, "If you get pardon from God, you will give it to a brother; if you withhold it from your brother, you thereby make it manifest that you have not gotten it from God."
So we are brought face to face with a most solemn practical teaching which we dare not ignore. Have we the forgiving spirit? Can we sincerely pray, "Forgive us our sins—as we forgive those who sin against us"? No doubt the lesson is hard, for it is so against nature; yet we all know by experience that the cherishing of resentment never brings peace to our hearts. People say, "Revenge is sweet ;" but it is not true. It really makes bitterness for him who cherishes it. The gratification of a moment, becomes pain afterward.