AUGUST 26, 2025
Topic: “INTIMACY AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN THE CHURCH – UN-FORGIVING SPIRIT“
Text: Matthew 18:23-31
Memory Verse: “…… But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:15.
As long as people live together; interact with each other, misunderstanding cannot be ruled out. The church is not even excluded from this problem, no matter how intimate we may be with God and with one another. The major difference between the world and the church is our attitude or reaction to misunderstanding.
The parable is told by Jesus in our text about the unmerciful servant who was forgiven his debt but later refused to forgive his own debtor. Men who have experienced God’s forgiveness are accountable to display forgiveness toward others. This is the standard of the kingdom of heaven. Our memory verse is a statement made by Jesus Christ. This shows how weighty the spiritual warfare of unforgiving spirit is. Forgiveness is a service to the Lord not to the persons that have offended us.
When we forgive people, a new life is being created. Stephen lost his life under a shower of stones. He prayed that God should not hold his death against those who stoned him to death. Standing in the crowd, holding the coats of many, was Saul of Tarsus. I don’t think he ever forgot the sight of Stephen’s radiant face as the stones pounded the life out of him. That event must have been one of the many that brought about his conversion.
What shall we say about Joseph who was sold into slavery by his own half-brothers? Despite all he went through, the Lord raised him up to become Prime Minister in Egypt. He forgave his brothers without them asking for forgiveness. He saw the whole episode as God sending him ahead to preserve lives. We should ask God for the grace to be ready to forgive those who offend us. He who forgives an offence seeks love, but he who repeats a matter alienates a friend” – Proverb 12:9
PRAYER: My Lord and my Father, I need your grace so that I will forgive those that have offended and will offend me. Let me realize that forgiveness can bring about a new life in the life of the offender. I ask in Christ’s precious name. Amen.