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Is There Someone You Need to Forgive?

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another . . ."

— Colossians 3:12-13

Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014.
Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014. | (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)

The film Les Misérables, adapted from Victor Hugo's book by the same name, is the story of Jean Valjean, who was sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family.

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Upon his release, Valjean goes to a monastery, where he is shown kindness by the bishop. But at night, he runs off with the bishop's silver and is captured by the police. While being questioned, the bishop tells the police that he gave the silver to Valjean. Once the police leave, the bishop gives Valjean two silver candlesticks and tells him that he has been spared by God and that he must make an honest man of himself.

The bishop says, "Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you and I give it to God." Valjean, wanting to start a new life, under a new identity, breaks his parole conditions and is then pursued by an officer known as Javert.

Javert hunts Valjean, but Valjean just wants to live in peace. Later in the story, Valjean has an opportunity to kill Javert, but instead sets him free. Valjean also showed many acts of kindness, including adopting Cosette, the daughter of a prostitute named Fantine—a forgiven man, becomes a forgiving man.

We all love stories like that. But what about when we have someone to forgive?

Paul reminds us in the Book of Ephesians, "And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you!" (Ephesians 4:30–32 NLT, emphasis added). Is there someone that you need to forgive?

When you forgive someone, you set a prisoner free: yourself!

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000 Used with Permission

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