The Power of Forgiveness

Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

I recently had a falling out with a friend. I said something she disagreed with. A lot. I disagreed with her. A lot. It was tense for a few weeks. We rarely spoke to each other and when we did it was... Well... Tense. I really thought we were done for.

After a couple of rounds of "intense fellowship", we began to realize something. We valued the friendship and each other more than we valued the argument. We forgave each other. We became tenderhearted and said kind things to each other. Then, God did what He always does. Not only did He restore the friendship ~ He took it to another level. We now meet weekly for prayer. If we hadn't been willing to forgive, we would be missing out on a prayer partnership.

Proverbs 17:17 says "a friend loves at ALL times". Good times, difficult times, times when we are unlovely, times when it would be easier not to love. Love "covers all wrong" and focuses on the friend. (Proverbs 10:12)

How are we able to live out this kind of friendship with others? Because we have been drawn into a friendship with Christ. He has poured out His grace and forgiveness on us so that we might pour it out on others.

Who better to pour a little grace on than a friend?

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