Forgiveness and Being Forgiven

Ephesians 3:30-31 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
One of the hardest things to do is to forgive someone who has wronged you. If we cannot forgive how do we expect God to forgive us? The Lord forgives us and He does it with a loving heart. He does it with kindness and with tenderness of heart. There is no begrudging, reluctant forgiveness. God’s heart is tender toward us. His love toward us is genuine and his forgiveness is complete. Jesus was asked by his disciples to teach them to pray. What Jesus said we now call the Lord’s Prayer. However, right in the middle of that teaching Jesus made a very clear statement about forgiveness. He said “And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Would we want to be forgiven by God the same way we forgive others? Of course not! We want God to forgive us totally and completely so then we should follow suit.
How did God forgive you? Did He wait until you deserved to be forgiven? Earned the right to be forgiven? Did He make you beg and grovel before He forgave you? Does God continually bring up your past sins as a reminder to shame you? Did God wait for you to pursue Him, or did he pursue you in order to bring about healing and reconciliation in your relationship with Him?
To be forgiven we must forgive. Yes it is hard to do and yes our nature prevents it more times than not. To be Christian is to be Christ like. To be Christ like we must forgive those who have wronged us. I have heard people say, “I could never forgive them for what they have done.” I am thankful God through Jesus Christ saved a sinner like me and forgave me totally and completely. I am also thankful he forgot my sin and set me free. Are keeping someone bound by your unwillingness to forgive? Can God forgive you if you will not forgive?
Jesus followed his teaching about prayer with another statement about forgiveness. He said, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15