DAILY TEXT, Today's Thursday April 27, 2023, Forgive your brothers from your heart (Mat. 18:35).

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Thursday April 27

Forgive your brothers from your heart (Matt. 18:35).

We know that we must forgive because that is the right thing to do. But even so, it may be difficult for us to do so. It seems that this happened to the apostle Peter at times as well (Matt. 18:21, 22). What can help us? First, meditate on all the times Jehovah has forgiven us (Matt. 18:32, 33). We do not deserve his forgiveness, but he generously gives it to us (Ps. 103:8-10). At the same time, "we also have an obligation to love one another." So forgiving is not optional; we owe it to our brothers (1 John 4:11). The second thing that can help us is to meditate on what happens when we forgive. We help the person who treated us badly, we contribute to the unity of the congregation, we protect our friendship with Jehovah, and we take a load off our shoulders (2 Cor. 2:7; Col. 3:14). The third help is to pray to Jehovah, who is the one who asks us to forgive others. Let us not allow Satan to disturb the peace we enjoy with our brothers (Eph. 4:26, 27). We need Jehovah's help so we don't fall into Satan's trap. w21.06 22 par. eleven; 23 para. 14.

What advice from Paul should we take to heart?

All brothers and sisters are superior to us in something. This is easy to see when we focus on its good things. We must take to heart the advice that the apostle Paul gave to the Corinthians: “Who makes you different from others? Actually, what do you have that you have not received? So, if you received it, why are you going around bragging as if you didn't receive it?" (1 Cor. 4:7). So let's not fall into the temptation of drawing attention to ourselves or believing ourselves superior to others. If a brother gives very good talks or if a sister starts many Bible courses, they should always give credit to Jehovah.

What do we learn from Jesus' parable about the king and the slave?

After warning his disciples not to cause others to stumble, Jesus told them a parable about a king and one of his slaves. The king forgave the slave a debt that was so great that he could never pay it. Later, that same slave did not want to forgive another slave a much smaller debt. In the end, the king put the slave who had no mercy in jail. What do we learn? Jesus stated: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat you if you do not forgive your brothers from your heart” (Matt. 18:21-35).

If we refuse to forgive, how do we hurt others?

What that slave did harmed not only him, but others as well. To begin with, he was cruel to his partner and "ordered him to be put in prison until he could pay the debt." And, besides, he hurt other slaves who saw what he had done. Jesus said: “When the other fellow slaves found out what had happened, they were very upset.” In a similar way, what we do also has an effect on others. If someone treats us badly and we refuse to forgive him, what can happen? We hurt him to begin with by denying him our forgiveness and love, and perhaps even ignoring him. In addition, we make the brothers in the congregation feel uncomfortable by noticing that we are not at peace with that person.

What do you learn from what happened to a pioneer?

Forgiving our brothers benefits us and makes others feel better. That was the case with a forerunner we'll call Crystal. She remembers how badly a sister in the congregation made her feel: “Her words from her were sometimes as sharp as a knife. When we went out to preach, I didn't want to even be put in the same vehicle as her. I started to lose enthusiasm and joy.” It seemed to Crystal that she had good reason to be hurt. But she decided not to hold a grudge or indulge in self-pity. She was humble and she applied the Biblical advice from the October 15, 1999 Watchtower article “Forgive from the Heart.” So she forgave her sister. She says: “Now I understand that we are all striving to put on the new personality and that Jehovah generously forgives us every day. I feel that a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I have regained my joy”.

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