Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Ephesians 3:13
Notice the past-tense: “As the Lord forgave you.”
It’s done. You’re forgiven. Everything. Past. Present. Future.
We probably don’t really comprehend all that that means. Even still, we take it for granted. We must… because, after all, forgiving others is a challenge for us.
But if we understand how thorough the forgiveness is that we’ve been given, we’d rush to forgive. We’ll smile and release the offense. We’ll open our hearts and hands, knowing the likelihood of being let down again. But alas, we’ll keep flexing our forgiveness muscles.
Simple. Not easy.