Forgiveness Is Not Easy?

Have you ever thought about why it is so hard to forgive someone?
Is it easy for God to forgive us?

It is usually hard for us to forgive someone because we know that the person who did wrong to us is probably not truely sorry and it is likely they will do it again.

A lot of times when I do something stupid, my fiance will bring it to my attention and I will say, "I'm sorry." She will respond back to me, "No you're not. You will do it again."
You know what? She is RIGHT! If I was truely sorry, I wouldn't do it again.

So, are we to forgive someone who does the same bad thing over and over again?
Do we truely forgive when we know we will be wronged again and again?
Does a person deserve to be forgiven if they are not truely sorry for what they did?

REPENT...then receive forgiveness!!!

There are three places in the New Testament where I found that Jesus told someone to "Go and sin no more." Jesus is referring to REPENTANCE. Forgiveness of any particular sin only comes with repentance.

It is wrongly taught too many times that all you have to do is to ask God to forgive you and you are forgiven. Forgiveness does not come that easily. Yes, it is true that God loves us and wants to forgive us, but forgiveness is not a one way street. God demands that we repent. Repentance is a command from God. That's His rules. God knows your heart. He knows if you have a change of heart and will be repentant.

Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"
The Apostle Paul tells us here that we are not to expect forgiveness for any sin that we continuously do. If there is a particular sin that you fall into on a regular basis, don't expect God to forgive you UNTIL you REPENT! You must stop doing that sin. Pray. Turn from it. Pray. Confess your sin. Pray. Seek God's help, His guidance, His wisdom, His courage.
Also, don't forget, it is up to you. You have to want to be free from this sin. You have to want to stop doing this sin. You have to repent!
To repent, it requires a conscious choice by you. Repentance comes from you. Then God gives the forgiveness.
To be a Christian, you must want to be a Christian!!!

John 8:11 says, "She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.'"
Jesus said these words, meaning for the woman to repent from the sin He was forgiving her for.

Luke 24:45-47 says, "Then He (Jesus) opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.'"
Did you catch that? "...that repentance for forgiveness of sins..." You MUST REPENT FIRST! Forgiveness comes when you repent!!!

Being a Christian is not easy. Repentance is not always easy. The Christian life is hard. It is a spiritual battle every single day. Battles that can only be won with the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within you.
God demands repentance. With repentance, God promises forgiveness.
It is up to you to act upon it! REPENT!!!

Luke 17:3-4, "Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."

From repentance comes forgiveness.