Forgiveness!

No No No!

Ricky’s favorite word!

I think a better word for kids to learn is, “I’m Sorry.”

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

“Love means having to say I’m sorry, ALL THE TIME!” - Mark Hart

I forgive you and I’m sorry.

When I was a child I thought forgiveness was a total thing, “whats a grudge?”

We “nourish anger,” we “cherish wrath,” we are “vengeful”

Now I see that there are different ways to forgive, but also that forgiving has healing powers.

3 Forgivinesses

Forgiving totally.

A child take the car when not allowed.

A) Call the cops and report grand theft auto? B) Ground the kid, but offer a course of reconciliation.

ie had nothing to do with you, its just that the kid really wanted to do ‘x’ which prevented you from taking your other kid to their thing, it was selfish, kids need to learn not to be selfish and to say no to themselves.

Forgiving but w/Caution

You’re out fishing and your friend pushed you overboard and caught it on video and posted it. He says I’m sorry, everyone has a laugh at your expense, but you’re careful now, you forgive, but you remember what this person is capable of, because they’re not really sorry/converted.

Forgiving though trust is lost

Obviously more serious. Bernie Madoff steals your hard earned 401K. I’m sorry doesn’t fix it. Because you’ve been hurt, you never trust him with your money again, even though he might try and make amends.

Bob Schuttes healing - Be Healed

Girl with a permanent disability went in to a healing service in Brazil. As the prayer team begins praying Dr. Bob identifies a wound, a time when the girl had gotten into a traffic accident when she was young. Her dad was driving and she’s been damaged ever since. The team was asking the Holy Spirit for healing but nothing was happening. Nothing changed until the girl was asked and agreed to forgive her father. With the forgiveness, the wound was healed and God performed a miracle.

Wrath and anger are hateful things yet the sinner hugs them tight. - Sir 27:30

Jesus teaches

That we should be quick to forgive. Since we’ve screwed up a lot, and one of my new favorite quotes, “If someone thinks you’re a little screwed up, rejoice and laugh!, because they don’t even know the half of it!” So, Jesus says forgive 77 times.

490

I love the idea when Christ says 70 times 7 times. 490 times. 490 is the Messianic number from Daniel 9 in the famous “70 weeks of years” prophecy.

It would be similar to selecting #23 if you play basketball, or if you are in the military and you’re General selects 300 men, you think of Sparta.

Just as the Messiah (We follow who we worship) doesn’t tire of forgiving you, so too, by receiving this forgiveness, we must let others go freely to God, without hindrances.

Imagine

imagine holding onto unforgiveness, and these souls that go unforgiven are held in stasis, meaning unable to proceed forward in the life of grace because of your unforgiveness. What if this person is in purgatory? And you still haven’t released them. Jesus will tell them, “I can’t give you the grace because it’s locked up with her unforgiveness, I’ll work on her heart, but only by her free will decision can you be forgiven, I cannot and will not force her.” Then she dies and is judged harshly or understandably, but is held accountable for her unforgiveness, now she and the other person are in purgatory for the foreseeable future.

Purgatory

I mention purgatory because this is the best evidence that Christ gives that Purgatory is a thing. Christ says here that because of his unforgiveness, the man who was shown mercy but didn’t show mercy himself will be thrown into a place that is not fun and will cost something. This is exciting to know that there is an end to purgatory, but we can’t shoot for purgatory. I mean, if a guy is beating his servant who rightly owes a debt to the master, he probably has other issues in his life more than just unforgiveness. Bottom line, reconcile, we aren’t trying to one up people and keep people in debt to us. Sin is a debt owed to the devil and hurts our relationship with the person offended and God. We have been freed by Christ! Rom 14:7 None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.

So live in the freedom and don’t live in the prison which is unforgiveness, which is like a dam for God’s grace, let it go, be like God, and give the other person over to God’s justice.

And while you might not be able to forget the offense against you, psychological studies have found that by actively forgiving it helps you forget.

Remember your last days, set enmity aside…Sir 28:6

Even if forgiveness is effortful at first, people who manage it may be better at setting bitter thoughts aside, and this forgetting may in turn provide an effective coping strategy, enabling people to move on—and ultimately to forgive in their hearts - https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/were-only-human/the-psychology-of-forgiving-and-forgetting.html

Overlook faults!! John XXIII, “notice everything, correct some things, overlook a lot!”