Forgiveness
You are merciful, and you treat people better than they deserve. So please forgive these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt. ~ Numbers 14:19 (CEV)
Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive those who have wronged us. ~ Matthew 6:12 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
God's way of doing things involves a heavy dose of forgiveness.
PRAYER:
Thank you, God, for forgiving me. Excuse me for living as though I can do your will and pursue your agenda without forgiving those who oppose it. Help me to so thoroughly embrace your forgiveness that it splatters onto everyone around me. I'm not going to simply receive forgiveness for myself, I am going to offer it to everyone else, too. It's the only way to do your will. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
