Scripture says,”For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

 “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” … Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Why do we have to forgive according to scripture?What happens if you don’t forgive and  what does the  Bible say?

• In John’s Gospel (20:23) Jesus tells the disciples, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven”.
• The King James Version of the Bible text reads: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, you’re heavenly. … But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
• If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. Matthew 6:14-15
• Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No!” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:21-22)

Think about the mathematics of that statement. Can you imagine forgiving anyone, even for a minor offence, 490 times? Imagine having a neighbourhood kid ride his bicycle through your garden every day of the week for seventy weeks. (That’s one year, four months, and two weeks!) doesn’t it sound ridiculous to us?

Here ,Jesus is asking us to do something that is humanly impossible. In and of ourselves we don’t have enough forgiveness to go around. But God does. So when our limited resources run out and we are unable to forgive, we can ask him to forgive others through us. In so doing, we take one more step of obedience and allow ourselves to become a conduit of God’s grace.

 When we  forgive someone we are being obedient to the word of God. It is important that we obey the commands of the Lord. 1 Samuel 15:22 KJV, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. Being obedient shows that we love and trust the Lord that what His word says is for our own good.”