THE
FORGIVEN FORGIVE
BREAD
21 Then
Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother
when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you,
not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a
king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand
talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master
ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to
repay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be
patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and
let him go. 28 But when that servant went out, he found one
of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began
to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 His fellow servant fell to his knees and
begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he went off and had
the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were
greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 Then the master called the servant in. ‘You
wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged
me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow
servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the
jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat
each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew
18:21-35 (NIV)
12 “Forgive us our debts, as we also
have forgiven our debtors.” Matthew
6:12 (NIV)
14 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not
forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)
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.” Mark 11:25 (NIV)
29 Peter
and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! 30 The
God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead--whom you had killed by hanging
him on a tree. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and
Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32 We
are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to
those who obey him.” Acts 5:29-32 (NIV)
3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who
could stand? 4 But
with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. Psalms 130:3-4 (NIV)
12 Therefore,
as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear
with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one
another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And
over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect
unity. Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
23 Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since
you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is
the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong,
and there is no favoritism. Colossians
3:23-25 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Everyone
says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” C. S. Lewis
“Forgiveness releases the accused from your
custody and turns him over to God – the righteous Judge – the one and only One
who is both able and responsible for meeting out justice.”
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
“There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit.”
Charles Swindoll
“Whether the offenses against us are titanic or trifling, God’s judgment
frees us to exchange bitterness for patience, retribution for mercy. The very
word judgment brings
to mind our own offenses against God, offenses that cried out for our blood
until Jesus shed his own. It reminds us that our offender, if outside of
Christ, deserves our pity and, if inside Christ, needs our brotherly love. It
removes all self-righteousness from our mouths and replaces it with the
Christlike plea of ‘Lord, forgive them.’ It beckons us to release our
‘right’ to get even, and to hand over our cause to him who judges justly.” Scott
Hubbard
“God does not forgive excuses. He does not
forgive qualifications. He does not forgive ‘buts’ and ‘I was justs.’ But he
does forgive sins.” Scott Hubbard
“Forgiveness is the
name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all
people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour
increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak
that is the human family.” Henri
Nouwen
“The best response when connection is broken is not to push away but
rather the opposite, to pull in. When we hold grudges, keeping a record of wrongs against
each other time and time again, that crack becomes a wide-open door for the
enemy to do what he does best: ‘steal and kill and destroy’ the ones we love
most. Apologizing for the wrongs we’ve
committed paves the way for forgiveness in our relationships. There’s no shortage of research showing
the health benefits of extending forgiveness. It lowers blood pressure, stress,
and anxiety. It keeps relationships in repair, keeps connectedness strong. But how can you cultivate open, connected,
forgiving relationships if you’re not willing to be the first to apologize for
a misunderstanding? How can you pave the
way to wholeness without first apologizing for your part in any brokenness?
I’ve prioritized confession and apologizing in my own life, believing that the humility required to
apologize restores relationships. I
am teaching my kids to do the same so that they, too, can experience the peace
of mind that comes when broken relationships are restored. I
want to be a mama who slows down enough to not gloss over conflicts. I want to
be proactive in responding to what wasn’t said.
I want to show my kids how to keep from sweeping problems under the rug. After
all, I only have so much time left to teach them to apologize for their part in
any wrong so that their relationships can be healed, and pain, stress, and
anxiety can be relieved. That’s why even in tense moments when none of
us really wants to talk it out, our family works toward conflict resolution by
stopping, confessing, and apologizing.
Our commitment to this takes stonewalling off the table and provides a
path to healing. Often, that healing
connection renews relationships and sucks anger, anxiety, and stress out of the
room.” Rebekah Lyons
“It is idle for us to say that we know God has forgiven us if we are not
loving and forgiving ourselves.” Martyn Lloyd-Jones
HEART SAVOR
·
I am
forgiven in Christ and therefore I am to forgive.
·
Forgiveness
– instead of harboring a grudge – is for me.
·
In Christ
there is forgiveness for my sins. I am
washed clean by His blood and clothed in His robe of righteousness. How much more should I be willing to forgive
others for whatever grievances they have done against me?
