The scriptures have a great deal to say about the value of forgiveness. Jesus was very clear in his instruction about that, and all of the apostles followed suit. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of being forgiven is the mandate to forgive others in order to enter into your own state of knowing forgiven-ness.

Saint Paul addresses the whole scope of forgiveness in his writing to those who had become believers in 2 Corinthians 2.9-11: ‘The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.’ Forgiveness is a matter of being obedient to the teachings of Jesus—IT’S NOT OPTIONAL!

Saint Paul delves into their own forgiveness of others as he continues: ‘If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake.’ To forgive is not just for self-fulfillment either—it means entering into the state of being sin-free in Jesus.

And Saint Paul amplifies the importance of forgiveness in directly opposing the interests of the devil as he concludes: ‘in order that Satan might not outwit us; for we are not unaware of his schemes.’ The enemy would like to convince us that it really is not that important to forgive—after all, those people deserve what they get, eh? To be numbered among those forgiven, I must forgive completely.