Seventh-Day Adventist Devotional For Children: “Forgive One Another”

DAILY BREAD- A DEVOTIONAL FOR CHILDREN

EASTERN NIGERIA UNION CONFERENCE CHILDREN’S MINISTRIES

Sunday, June 4, 2023

TOPIC : Forgive one another.

Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake. 2 Corinthians 2:10

Paul expresses no hard feelings nor exhibits an I-can-forgive, but-I-can’t-forget attitude. We often hear people speak about forgiveness in this way, and this attitude reveals a lack of understanding of what forgiveness is. Forgiveness, basically, is a promise that you make to three different individuals. This is true always, and in every case of forgiveness.
First, it is a promise that you make to the individual who has offended you and now has repented, in which you are saying to him or her, I will not let my attitude toward you be governed any longer by this offense. It has been put aside. My treatment of you from here on will be as though this has never happened. It is a promise you make never to bring it up again.
Second, it is a promise not to pass it on to anybody else. When a matter is forgiven, it is to be forgotten. Now it may be that everyone knows about the matter, because, as in this case in Corinth, it had been told to the whole church. But what it means is that nobody brings up the issue again or holds it over a forgiven person’s head or reminds him or her of it every time any further difficulty occurs. It is a promise to drop the matter, leave it in the past, and never bring it up to anybody again.
Thirdly, it is a promise to yourself that when your memory goes back to it, as it will occasionally, you are not going to allow it to seize hold of your heart and make you angry all over again. The minute it comes back to mind, you put it aside as something that belongs to the past. You are not going to dwell on it. It is a promise, therefore, to repeat your act of forgiveness, no matter how often the memory comes up. That is what forgiveness is.
The reason is because he himself has been forgiven. Sometimes, people will say “I just can’t forgive in this case” The person has admitted her wrongdoing and has asked me to forgive her, but I just can’t do it. It hurt me too much. It is a revelation to me that the person who has been wronged has never realized how much he has been forgiven already.
Child of God, the basis for Christian forgiveness is always this, Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgive each other, just as in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).

Thought for Reflection:
Do we abort God’s gift of forgiveness by failing to extend forgiveness to others as He forgave us? When we do forgive, do we also seek to forget the offense?

Song
Chief of sinners though I be
Jesus shed His blood for me
Died that I might live on high
Died that I might never die
As the branch is to the vine
I am His and He is mine.

Prayer
Heavenly father, thank you for the gift of forgiveness, may you give me the grace I need to forgive and forget and never remember it again. Remind me again that the strength by which I am to act is Your strength and Your life in me and therefore I can forgive so that God in His infinite mercies will richly bless me with His kingdom in Jesus name Amen.

Parents/Grandparents Prayer challenge
HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. May integrity and honesty be my grandchildren’s virtue and their protection. (See Ps. 25:21.)