God’s Way is Best

“Forgive and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

If we want to know the Father, we have only to study Jesus’ words. “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” 

No matter how good we want to be, these are all extremely difficult to achieve without the Holy Spirit. I confess that I am a judgmental person, especially when it comes to our government leaders. I usually want to condemn them to hell until I remember to pray for their conversion. We have to remember that being a follower of God does not depend on our emotions and how we feel about things, but it is basically a decision of our will. We can feel that we cannot forgive someone who hurt us, but we can DECIDE to do so. 

No one can teach us more about forgiveness than Corrie ten Boom, who was imprisoned along with her sister Betsie in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp, during the Nazi occupation of Holland. After her horrible experience, she would give talks about Jesus and His forgiveness. One time she recognized a guard from the camp come forward. He said he had become a Christian and wanted to hear it from her lips that he was forgiven. It all came rushing back, her sister dying, this guard's cruelty and now, here he was, asking for absolution.

She put out her hand stiffly, and God flooded her with His love. When it is truly difficult to forgive, we can just take a little step forward, and God will supply the rest. Corrie knew that if she didn't forgive this man, she would remain an invalid for the rest of her life. She saw it in the people she ministered too. Those who remained bitter could not move on with their lives. God’s way is always best.