Open Hands

Mark 11:25

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Sometimes when we read a verse like this we picture God, arms crossed, saying, “If you don’t forgive, I’m going to withhold forgiveness from you.” But that isn’t a biblical picture of God. God does not withhold blessings from us. We do not earn our forgiveness. It would be impossible for us to do so. Instead, God freely offers forgiveness to us through His Son Jesus Christ. The forgiveness has already been offered. It is already there. We just need to receive it.

So what does this verse really mean? When you have something against another person, when your heart is holding onto an offense, you don’t have room for anything else. Your hand is tightly closed around the offense you are holding on to. If your hand is closed and I try to hand you a gift, you can not receive that gift from me. Why? Because your hand is already full of whatever it is you’re holding on to. The gift is there. The gift is freely given, but you can not receive it.

Forgiveness works the same way. Forgiveness is there. It is a gift. It is freely given. But if you are busy holding onto an offense, you can not receive the gift of forgiveness for yourself because your hand is already full with offense. Let go of the offense. Forgive. Then your hand is open. You have released the offense you were holding on to. Now your hands are empty and ready to receive the gift God is holding out to you. Now you can receive the forgiveness He has been waiting to give you.

Father, I thank you that you offer forgiveness to me freely. You do not withhold any good thing, but you have blessed me already with every spiritual blessing. I see now that when I am busy holding onto offenses and feelings of unforgiveness, I can not stretch out my hand to receive anything you are trying to offer to me. Help me open my hand, release my feelings to you, and receive from you what you are freely offering to me. Help me, Father, to forgive. In Jesus’ name, Amen.