May I suggest that the world’s worst prison is not Alcatraz for it could only confine the body. There is a prison that can shackle the inner person. This prison can bind the soul and place it in a deep dark dungeon. Too many people are incarcerated in this prison and some will suffer eternally, if they are not released from it. It is a prison of an unforgiving spirit. In Mark 11:25,26 Jesus said, “And when you stand praying, if you have anything against another, forgive him, that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But, if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you your trespasses.” l
Forgiveness is a broad subject, involving God’s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of others. You may call God’s forgiveness vertical and our forgiveness horizontal. It is God’s forgiveness of us that makes possible our forgiveness of others. When God sent His Son to die on a cross, He made forgiveness of sins possible for every human being. When a person renders obedience to the gospel and then strives to walk in the light consciously trying to keep God’s commandments, then his or her sins are forgiven. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
Greely Kirkpatrick