We all know that forgiveness is essential for us as Christians. We are people who are forgiven as we come to the Lord in faith and repentance. Forgiveness is a blessing of the gospel. We need to extend the same kind of unconditional forgiveness also to others. Jesus made that abundantly clear in the parable that He told about the unforgiving servant. That servant had been forgiven a huge debt by his master. However this same servant was unwilling to forgive a fellow servant a trifling sum in comparison.

Forgiving others is essential... but forgiving others is not always easy. Over the years I have met church members who continue to hold resentments against other church members – or more commonly, against other family members. Forgiveness is necessary but it is difficult.

At a recent visit my brother reminded me of another good reason why we need to forgive and that is that our unwillingness or inability to forgive someone gives that other person control over our lives.

That needs some explaining. My brother was telling me about a man whom he had worked with and who had been guilty of embezzling his company.