New Testament: Mark 11.25–26

To read the Bible in a year, read Mark 11.20–33 on March 7, In the year of our Lord Christ 2023

By Don Ruhl 

Jesus showed the liberation that we receive when we forgive others, because our Father in heaven will forgive us: 

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.”

– Mark 11.25 

However, Jesus just as quickly added that we have to forgive others, for if we do not, there are consequences: 

“But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

– Mark 11.26 

Our forgiveness is conditioned upon our forgiving others, and as Jesus said clearly, if we do not forgive others, our Father in heaven will not forgive us. 

Imagine getting to the Judgment and learning that you have unforgiven sin and Jesus casts you into the outer darkness, all because you refused to forgive someone. Will it have been worth it to hold that grudge? 

Questions: 

• Why do you think God the Father conditions our forgiveness upon whether we forgive others? 
• Are you a forgiving person? 

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Don preaches with the Savage Street Church of Christ in Grants Pass, Oregon. 

Listen to his sermons here: GrantsPassChurchOfChrist.com