The Jesus Way - Forgiveness

If you curse me, then I will bless you If you hurt me, I will forgive And if you hate me, then I will love you I choose the Jesus way

3 hardest words to say in English - “I am sorry.”

Rita singing - getting in trouble

Saying “I am sorry” fights against our very nature. We want to be right.

The world’s worst prison is an unforgiving heart.

Unforgiveness will eat YOU alive - notice, not them, YOU!

As Christians, we should spend our lives asking for and granting forgiveness.

Forgiveness is NOT…

1.Condoning or approving what happened

You are not saying that what happened is okay

You don’t live in a land of make believe

2.Forgetting or pretending as if nothing happened.

God can forgive and forget, you can not.

The most marvelous ingredient in the forgiveness of God is that he also forgets, the one thing a human being can never do. Forgetting with God is a divine attribute; God’s forgiveness forgets.

Oswald Chambers (Lecturer and Missionary)

3. Continuing the relationship as it once was.

It may change drastically

4.Fully trusting the person again.

Trust is earned.

“Trust takes a lifetime to build and a day to break.”

So, what, then, is forgiveness?

Matthew 18:21–35 ESV

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

I. The Question (vv. 21-22)

Peter lacks a little humility here - he was sure his brother would sin against him, but not he against his brother!

Jesus calls us to unlimited forgiveness.

Now there are some things we like unlimited...

Buffets

Fun (Galaxy Fun Park)

Kindle Unlimited

Cell phone and data

Music (Amazon Unlimited)

We don’t really like our forgiveness to be unlimited, do we?

We really prefer there to be a cutoff.

2. The Parable (vv. 23-35)

An earthly story with a heavenly meaning.

EXPLAIN PARABLE

So, how do you live a life of unlimited forgiveness? (Learn the lesson of the parable)

1. You owed an infinite debt to God you could not pay.

Ephesians 2:1–3 CSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

You could live an eternal amount of lifetimes and still never pay it back.

2. God forgave your immense debt (through Christ) because of His incredible mercy.

Ephesians 2:4–9 (CSB)

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! 6 He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

He didn’t forgive you because of your goodness. He forgave you because that’s who He is.

3. So, what’s your excuse?

Ephesians 4:32 CSB

32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

“If it were possible, we should be quicker to forgive than even God is.”

Why? Because He forgave us even more than we forgive others.

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

C. S. Lewis