I was asked to give a short talk upon forgiveness, which I did last Sunday evening. I post my notes below. Reading Matt ch 18 v 21 - 35 These are my guidelines......may seem disjointed
Mt 6 v 14 - 15 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespass.
1 We must forgive to be forgiven....Jesus says it in a number of places Mtt 7 v 2 For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Mtt 18 v 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart (to be handed over to the torturers)
Mk 11 v 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.
Paul says in Collossians 3 v 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
James says it also 2 v 13 because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement.
It covers the N.T. If we do not forgive those who wrong us, God will not forgive us.
What is forgiveness? Some who have troubles with forgiveness think that forgiveness does not take the harm that has been done seriously. But forgiveness does take it very seriously. Forgiveness does not excuse sin, it does not say "O thats all right the fact that I was reduced to tears for a week, or the fact that I wasn't in hospital very long. No forgiveness calls sin, sin and in many ways it holds the sinner accountable for their actions.
Forgiveness says "You hurt me, and what you did was wrong, But I will not hold it against you, I will not try to get you back for it.
You have heard it said, or maybe said it yourself. "Ill forgive them when they come and say they are sorry" This is not Gods way. God says to us "I forgive you, now will you accept it by confessing and repenting?" If we wait for a confession before we forgive others......Wait a long time.
This is why some have great difficulty forgiving people. We don't like confrontation, and we don't want to confront someone with the hurt they have caused us, so instead we stew in unforgiveness not wanting to do the hard work of forgiveness
Works Religeon ? You might say to me "But isn't Gods grace and forgiveness free? Ar'nt you asking us to earn our Salvation by forgiving people?
The answer is , yes, Gods grace is free, but it is not cheap. When the grace of God comes into our lives, it does not leave us as we were, it changes us. And one of the first changes it makes is to give us the power to forgive.. By forgiving others we are proving that we have accepted God's forgiveness, and are living in it. It we refuse to forgive those who offend us, in word or deed, we are showing that we have not really accepted God's grace.
2 Forgiveness is hard.
It is not easy to give up our right to be hurt, to be angry to get back to hate the other for what they have done. You may have had terrible things done to you, by someone you trusted, and they hurt you and broke your trust. You may have lost a great deal because of someones actions.
The bible tells the story of Joseph whose ten brothers first planned to kill him, and then because lacked the fortitude to do that, they sold him to passing traders as a slave, who sold Joseph to an Egyptian.
Joseph went from slavery to prison...from prison to Pharoahs Court, and finally to being in charge of all Egypt,second only to Pharoah himself.
When famine brings his brothers to Egypt looking for food, Joseph see's his enimies in the palm of his hand. He plays with them for a while to see if they are still evil, and just before he revealed himself, to forgive them, we read that he wept so loudly that the whole Palace heard it.
We are not told why he wept so, but i imagine it was because what he was about to do was hard, and painful. He had the right and the power to kill them afer what they had done. But instead he embraces them, but it is not easy.....it is hard.
It is not easy to forgive, but God in his grace gives us the power to do it.
We are able to forgive because God is in charge.
Joseph says to his brothers "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" Gen 50 v 20
We are also able to forgive because God takes the things that were meant to hurt us, and he uses them for our good if we let him.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8 v 28
We are able to forgive in the light of God's forgiveness. Jesus lets us know that if we refuse to forgive, then we really have not grasped our own great need of forgiveness, or how much God has forgiven us, and so in our pride we have not truly repented, and God will not forgive us. But wehen we have our eyes upon the cross, and the pain and the suffreing that Jesus went through in order to forgive us and cleanse us from our sin, it is a minor matter to forgive any trespass against us.
Forgiveness is an act of faith. In the final analysis, forgiveness is an act of faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get even, and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out.
Just like tithing is an act of faith by which we are saying "I might not be able to afford this, but God look's after my needs" Forgiveness is an act of faith, because we are saying, "if ther is any punishment needed, or any giving of mercy, God will look after it just fine.
Paul says Romans 12 19-21 Beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengence is mine, I will repay, says the Lord" "If your enemy hungers, feed him, if they are thirsty , give them to drink; for by doing so you will heap coals of fire on their heads" Do not be onercome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Conclusion.
We must forgive those who have hurt us. Because God commands it, because our own forgiveness hinges on it, but also because it is the best thing for us. When we refuse to forgive the bitterness grows, and becomes what the bible calls a "root of bitterness" which eats away at us, causing stress and illness and a lck of joy. The only therapy is in the surgery of forgiveness. When we refuse to forgive we allow that sin against us to hurt us twice; once when we were first sinned against, and again by keeping us from receiving God's forgiveness, We need to stop the pain and forgive.
Is there someone you need to forgive? Is there someone you haven't talked to for a while because of what they did? Is there someone you refuse to trust because they let you down? Is there someone you avoid like the plague, cannot si beside. Makes you want to spit. Are you waiting for a confession from someone? You must forgive. Your own forgiveness relies upon it
Sorry the script is large. But that is how I wrote it........As a senior citizen.....
