Daily Devotional for March 20, 2018
A Cluttered Heart
“Some friend Ginny is,” Amina said as she came into the house. “She invited me over, then forgot I was coming and went to the mall with her mom.”
“Well, I’m sure it wasn’t intentional,” said Mom. “Can’t you forgive her?”
“Why should I?” Amina asked indignantly.
“Because Jesus has forgiven you, and He wants you to forgive others,” Mom replied.
Amina huffed. “But Ginny’s supposed to be my friend!”
“Well, you claim to be Jesus’ friend, and He said His friends keep His commandments,” Mom said. “One of His commands is to forgive.”
Amina shrugged and went to her room. She sat on the bed and looked around. The room was crowded with stuff. “Wall-to-wall junk” was what her brother, Simon, called it. I should get rid of some of this stuff, she thought. She went back to the living room. “Mom, can I have a garage sale?”
“Okay,” Mom said. “You can start sorting your stuff. I’ll help you tomorrow.”
When Ginny stopped over the next day, Simon grinned at her. “Hey, Ginny, got any stuff you want to get rid of? You can join the junk jamboree!”
When Ginny agreed to bring some things over, Amina scowled at her brother. But then she noticed the look Mom was giving her. “Okay, Ginny. I’ll leave some room on the tables for you,” she said.
The sale went well. “Almost all my things sold, but Ginny had a lot of stuff left,” Amina said with obvious satisfaction as she counted her money.
In spite of her success, Amina didn’t seem very happy that evening. “Amina, you’ve cleaned your room, but what about your heart?” Mom asked gently. “I think you need to clean out some bad feelings. You apparently haven’t forgiven Ginny yet. You can’t be a truly happy Christian when your heart is cluttered with bitterness and grudges.”
Simon laughed. “Yeah, you should have cleaned out those grudges and sold them at your garage sale.”
Amina sighed. “Nobody would buy them,” she said. “I don’t want them either.”
“So get rid of them,” said Mom. “Confess them to Jesus and ask Him to help you forgive Ginny. Ask Him to replace the junk in your heart with His love.”
“Okay,” Amina said. “I will.” – Agnes Livezey
How about you?
Do you forgive others when they wrong you? Holding grudges doesn’t only hurt the person you’re angry with—it makes you unhappy too. If you belong to Jesus, He’s forgiven you for all the wrong things you’ve done, and He gives you the ability to forgive others. Ask Him to clean out any bitterness cluttering your heart and fill it with His love and forgiveness.
Today's Verse
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV) Colossians 3:13 NKJV
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