Daily Devotional For Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Good morning Southside. It’s Tuesday and it’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood. All of us have had people hurt us and disappoint us. Sometimes and probably most of the time, it is unintentional. There are times people are intentional in targeting us for some reason. Kids get bullied in school. Office gossip spreads faster than a fire across a dry Kansas wheat field. I doubt that forgiveness is the first thing that pops in our minds, but it should be and could be. Church hurt is one of the worst kinds of hurt because we do not expect to experience that from Christians. The Bible says this in Ephesians 4:32, “Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (NLT).

You may be thinking, “Yeah, yeah. I know that but you don’t know what they said or did to me.” That might be true, but the command to forgive others is not based on if you think they are forgivable or deserve forgiveness. We forgive with no strings attached just as Christ forgives us with no strings attached.

Ephesians 4:32 says we are to be kind towards each other. This is the Greek New Testament word [χρηστός, chrestos]. This word means “useful, virtuous and good.” It is used in comparison to its opposite – harshness, sarcasm, integrity, benign and bitterness. Kind or kindness in the Bible often refers to taking the initiative to meet someone’s need when you see it. Being kind to people reveals that we have the character of Christ in us (see Luke 6:35). 

“Tenderhearted” is the Greek New Testament word [εὔσπλαγχνος, eusplagchnos]. This word means “to be deeply moved emotionally in the bowels. It is often translated as compassion or compassionate. “Tenderhearted” or compassion is a genuine sensitivity and heartfelt sympathy for the needs of others, especially when they do not deserve it. When we feel this, we are most like God. The Bible reminds us that God’s character is one of compassion:

• Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love” (NLT).
• Lamentations 4:22-23, “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. (23) They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (NASB).
• Matthew 14:14, “When He (Jesus) went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick” (NASB). 
• Colossians 3:12, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (NASB).

We show compassion by giving forgiveness. Do they deserve it? No, and neither do you and me. God has shown His kindness, tenderheartedness, and compassion through His forgiveness to us. It can be a real challenge to forgive when you suffer for something that wasn’t your fault. Nobody makes it through life without some undeserved hurt, and it’s easy to let that grow into an unforgiving spirit that touches your entire life. 

When that happens, you become bitter. Hebrews 12:15 warns us about this: “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many” (NLT). Bitterness is a spiritual cancer that will destroy you, your relationship to Christ and your relationship to others. Some of you will recognize the name of Corrie Ten Boom. The Ten Boom family felt it was their God-given duty to hide and protect Jews from Hitler and the Nazis. It wasn’t long they were reported and the whole family was sent to the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Every one of Corrie’s family members died there. She became a very bitter Christian she writes. But God has a way of compassionately confronting us with our disobedience to show compassion to others through forgiveness even when they do not deserve it. The following story she tells below when God did that to her:

“When Corrie ten Boom was in a church in Munich in 1947, she had come to the bomb-out city with the message that God forgives because God loves. At the end of her message, everyone left except a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat and brown felt hat. When she saw him, she recognized him, but he was then in a blue uniform with a visor cap. She quickly in her mind saw a huge room with piles of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor. She remembered walking naked by this man. The place was Ravensbruck and the man coming to her had been one of the cruelest guards there. In fact, her sister, Betsie’s death was due in part to this guard. The ten Boom family had been arrested in Holland and put in concentration camps because as Christians they hid Jews. Here she was standing face-to-face with one of her captors and her blood seemed to freeze and boil all at the same time. He said, “You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk. I was a guard there.” She thought, “Does he remember me?” He told her that since that time he had become a Christian. He knew that God had forgiven him, but he wanted to hear from her lips that she forgave him. He stuck out his hand and asked in German for her forgiveness. What seemed like hours was only seconds. She remembered Jesus’ words, “If you do not forgive others their sins against you, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you.” She asked God to help her and thrust her hand into his. She cried saying, “I forgive you.” For a long moment they grasped each other’s hands—the former guard and the former prisoner crying in the arms of each other.. She writes that she had never known God’s love so intensely as then. Not only was he forgiven, but she was set free from being an invalid to the bitterness she had harbored” (Source: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubrey & Nancy Mitchell, Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul, pp. 2-5).

Unforgiveness and bitterness can become a filter that colors everything. If you can’t stop thinking about how much someone has hurt you, if you can’t wish the person well, or if you want them to suffer like you have, then those are signs of an unforgiving spirit. If you find yourself harboring any of those feelings, remember that forgiveness is not optional, and it doesn’t depend on your emotions. If you wait to feel like forgiving, you’ll probably never do it. So, we choose to forgive—just as in Christ, God forgave us.

Assignment: Who are you currently harboring a grudge against? Who has hurt you in the past where that hurt is just as real as if it happened today? Have you let a root of bitterness grow in your heart? If so, you are one angry person and that unforgiving anger is making you look more demonic than divine. Right now: pray the same prayer Corrie Ten Boom prayed. If you do, you will discover that you, and not that person, have been the one imprisoned behind the bars of anger, bitterness and disobedience. Forgive now. Forgive today. Be like Jesus, not the devil.

Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 6:15, “Jesus said, ‘But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions’” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, thank You for the forgiveness You have shown to me. I choose to forgive, just as You have forgiven me. Specifically, I forgive (name). I forgive them for (tell the Lord what they did or did not do). I cancel any debt they owe me. Bless them in all they do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly