Forgiveness Divine
To Err is human but to forgive is divine… Alexander Pope
“Everyone says Forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have
something to forgive.” C.S Lewis
“To forgive is to set the prisoner free and discover that the
prisoner was you…” Lewis Smedes
Noah Webster (1812 ed.) defines
forgiveness as: 1. To pardon; to remit, as an offense or debt; to
overlook an offense and treat the offender as not guilty. The original and
proper phrase is to forgive the offense, to send it away, to
reject it, that is, not to impute it, [put it to] the offender. But by an easy
transition, we also use the phrase, to forgive the person
offending.
• FORGIVE us
our debts.
• If we forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:12.
We define Biblical forgiveness this way:
• To forgive
is to choose not to take vengeance,
• To let go
and to choose to let God repay or release the person.
• To give
over control of the hurt to God and to trust that He will judge and deal with
the person, way better than we ever could…
“To forgive is to surrender your right to get even…” LB Smedes
*Prager University Video* : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xsVM_gd0Tc
Three different types of Forgiveness per PRAGER UNIVERSITY:
Exoneration: Completely
wiping the slate clean
Forbearance: Letting go
of the event, but keeping a close eye on how things proceed… Trust takes time
to build…
Release: Letting go
of the memory, no longer allowing it to haunt, control and hurt you, even if
the guilty party NEVER seeks reconciliation…
Colossians 3:12-13 (NKJV) – Command or suggestion
“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, if
anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you
also must do.”
Christ calls us to release others in the very same way that he
released us…
Corie Ten Boom defines forgiveness as “Forgiveness is the key
that opens the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred and the shackles
of selfishness. “
The weight of UNFORGIVENESS:
1. Costs us
our joy
2. Depletes
our strength
3. Frustrates
our future…
4. Flogs our
effectiveness
“The weak can never forgive.” Forgiveness is for the strong. Ghandi
Forgiveness is the mark of the strong not of the weak!!
It is the Holy Spirit that creates
in us the strength to forgive.
Psalm 32:1-3 (NKJV) “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered.
2 Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in
whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I
kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my
groaning all the day long.”
Colossians
1:13-15 (NKJV) “He has delivered us from the power
of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
~HIS blood makes forgiveness possible, both for us and
through us!
~His work on the cross effected our forgiveness and enables
us the divine attribute of
forgiveness!!
Mark 11:24-26 (NKJV) 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever
things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have
them.
25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything
against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you
your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in
heaven forgive your trespasses.”
~ As we stand praying the Holy Spirit will convict us of who
we MUST forgive…
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Who does God
want me to forgive: |
Who do I
need to go to this week and ask for forgiveness: |
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1. |
1. |
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2. |
2. |
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3. |
3. |
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4. |
4. |
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5. |
5. |
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6. |
6. |
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7. |
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Ephesians 4:32: “And be kind
to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ
forgave you.”
~ It is the LOVE of God that enables us to forgive… It
is his compassion that creates in us a desire to forgive and let go…
~DON’T fight it, let the instincts of the LORD Jesus take
over…
~God wants to write into our hearts a whole new sub-routine
of forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is not a quick process. I do not believe that it
is possible to truly forgive another person from the heart until we allow
ourselves to feel the pain of what was lost. People who say it is simply an act
of the will do not understand grieving.” The Emotionally Healthy Church page
157
Forgiveness is not an instant process, but something that we
work towards. We often have to acknowledge the loss
that happened from the break in relationship, and often we have to take time to
process through the loss before being able to achieve full forgiveness.
Practical steps:
1. Ask God to
forgive you…
2. Confess where
you have harboured unforgiveness…
3. Surrender your
right to vengeance
4. Release the
guilty party to God, the perfect Judge
5. Pray for
the best you want for yourself for them
6. Confront the
damage in Love, with truth.
Think of it like a cycle not a list… If you get stuck on
point 4 or point 5 go back to the beginning of the circle and work your way
back through.
Most of us want to jump in with BOTH feet in the confront
step, when really it is a vital step but it is the end
of the process…
It’s a process and one that we cannot afford to neglect!!!
~Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a permanent
attitude Martin Luther King Jr
Matthew
18:15 -22 (NKJV) “Moreover if your brother sins
against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears
you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he will not hear, take with you
one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be
established.’ 17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if
he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax
collector.
18 “Assuredly, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you that if two
of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for
them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in
My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
21 Then Peter came to Him and said,
“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to
seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say
to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
The forgiveness of Jesus is
infinite, and so He models infinite forgiveness to us.
Questions for further reflection as
we close:
• Who does
God want me to forgive??
• Who do I
need to go to and ask for forgiveness??
• What
memories does the Holy Spirit want to work in and heal??
Let’s Pray…
Additional Quotes and Scriptures:
“Forgiveness does not overlook the wrong, it rises above it.”
Pumla G Madikizela
“If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive”
Mother Theresa
“Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” Norman Cousins
The Joy of Forgiveness
Psalm
85:1-3 (NKJV) “Lord, You have been favorable to
Your land;
You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.”
Psalm
103:2-4 (NKJV) “Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,”
Daniel
9:8-10 (NKJV) “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings,
our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord
our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10
We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He
set before us by His servants the prophets.”
