Forgive One Another

Introduction

Today we’re closing out this series called the Power of One Another. We’ve looked at just a few of the one anothers mentioned in scripture. Those commands of how we’re to care for one another. And today I want to bring a message entitled “Forgive one Another.” So I want to talk to you about forgiveness.

It was CS Lewis who famously said, “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”

I can relate to that. Forgiveness is easier to preach about than it is to practice. Several years ago now, someone that I knew, someone I thought was a friend, someone that I trusted, hurt me deeply, betrayed me, lied about me. It not only affected me, it affected my family. It was one of the most disappointing times of life to feel so wounded by someone you trusted. And in those times, I knew as a pastor I’m supposed to forgive, but it was very difficult to muster up forgiveness.

Maybe you can relate to that. Maybe there’s something in your past where you’ve been hurt and it’s been hard to get over that. Or perhaps it’s something in your present. You’re dealing with it right now.

It could be a spouse who was unfaithful to the marriage vows, destroyed you and your family and you’re having a hard time forgiving. Could be a co-worker who lied about you and hurt your reputation. Could be a friend who broke a confidence. It could be a child who’s rebelled against everything you’ve ever taught them. And it’s brought a lot of dissension into the home. And even as a parent, it’s hard to forgive not only what they’ve done, but what they continue to do in the family.

I don’t know about you, but forgiveness is a lovely idea until I have something to forgive and then it gets to be a difficult thing to practice. I don’t think I’m alone in that. In fact, I know that all people at one time or the other will struggle with the concept and the practice of forgiveness. I know that because of human experience, but I also know it because the scriptures speak so clearly and consistently about the need to forgive.

So in this series, we’re going to close out by talking about forgive one another. And if you’ve missed any of these, go to our YouTube channel. I don’t get paid any of that. I don’t get royalties or nothing. Lol. But if you go to our YouTube channel, you can watch those previous sermons.

We talked about the command to love one another, which is the fountainhead of all of our relationships. We talked about the command to serve one another. Last week Pastor Tony Neal did a great job preaching on the command to encourage one another by being there for one another. And today we’re going to talk about forgive. I want to take you to one verse to start with. There’ll be a few other verses I’ll give you, but It’s Ephesians 4:32. You may want to open up your own copy of God’s word to Ephesians 4:32. I’ll put these scriptures on the screen. By the way, if you go to our church website, you’ll find these sermon notes available for you there. But in Ephesians 4:32, the apostle Paul is writing to the Christians in the city of Ephesus in the first century, and he’s encouraging these Christians.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you use the screen and read this out loud with me? “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” May God bless the reading of his holy word.

You know Ephesians 4:32 both comforts me and it convicts me. It comforts me because it tells me if I mess up, you’ve got to forgive me, but it also convicts me because it tells me I not only am to be the recipient of forgiveness, I’m to be the dispenser of forgiveness as well. That knife cuts both ways. I’m not only one to be forgiven, I am one to forgive. It’s easier when I’m on the side of the equation when you need to forgive me. It’s harder when you’re on the other side of the equation and I need to forgive you.

So what does this look like for us? I think maybe it would be good to start with what forgiveness is not.

I. What Forgiveness is Not

There are a lot of misconceptions about forgiveness. So let me give you just a few thoughts on what forgiveness is not. First of all, forgiveness is not excusing.

A. Forgiveness is not excusing.

Sometimes we assume that to forgive a person means that we excuse what they’ve done, that we say, well, it’s no big deal, or we proverbially will just sweep it under the rug as if it’s not really that serious. But true forgiveness is not excusing the behavior of another person. In fact, to forgive another person says that what they did was actually serious. To forgive is not excusing. Well, you know, that’s just who they are.

Well, they were Just having a bad day. Your job is not to make excuses for the behavior of another person. In fact, when you forgive, it may confront them with the fact that they did wrong in the first place, and it may lead them to repentance, may lead them to a change of behavior. If your teenager borrows the family car for a date on Friday night and he comes home later that evening with a big dent in the side of the car that wasn’t there when he left, it’s not very loving to just ignore it and not say anything, to excuse it, to sweep it under the rug. No, you confront the damage, but then you choose to say, but we’re going to let that go.

B. Forgiveness is not forgetting.

Forgiveness is not excusing. Also, forgiveness is not forgetting. We use that phrase, forgive and forget, but God wired our brains in such a way that unless there’s a medical issue, you’re not going to forget. Right. Now, some of you can remember.

If you take a moment, some pain, some hurt, some injury, some harm that happened to you decades ago. And because you can remember, does that mean you haven’t forgotten? No. It means you’ve got a healthy, functioning brain. To forgive is not to forget.

Now, where we get this notion of forgetting is when God says in Isaiah 43:25

Isaiah 43:25 ESV

25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

But notice something about God. He is omniscient. He knows all things. But when he says, I’ll blot out your transgressions and I will not remember, he’s making a choice to not hold your sin against you. It’s not that he can’t remember what you did yesterday. He chooses not to. He chooses not to hold it against you. He chooses to cover it, to forgive it, to release you from it, to blot it out.

And when we forgive another person, it’s not necessarily that we forget. It is that we choose not to hold it against them as we move forward. We choose not to treat them according to their actions. We let it go. Forgiveness is not forgetting.

C. Forgiveness is not reconciling.

And forgiveness is not necessarily reconciling. What am I supposed to do? Forgive and forget and act like nothing ever happened? We assume that to forgive means I automatically must reconcile with the person. Sometimes reconciliation is not possible. Other times, reconciliation is not advisable.

Sometimes reconciliation with another person is not possible. Maybe they’ve died. They did you great harm. They never apologized. They never made amends, and now they’re gone. Some of you are holding on to unforgiveness. That was inflicted on you decades ago, and the person who did it is not even breathing. But you feel it every day. And you can’t reconcile with that person.

Sometimes reconciliation is not advisable. A person who harmed you, and who has the potential to harm you again, is a dangerous person. And God does not always expect you to place yourself in a relationship where you will continually be abused.

There are people who have been sexually abused, physically abused, or even verbally and psychologically abused. And to go back into a relationship is to invite that same abuse to continue. Now you say, but aren’t we supposed to want reconcile with people? Absolutely. I love the verse of scripture that tells us In Romans 12:18

Romans 12:18 ESV

18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

But did you hear the apostle Paul’s qualifications? Yes, reconciliation, living at peace with people is the goal. But he even says and admits, if possible, as much as depends on you, you can’t control them. But as much as depends on you, live at peace. Some people will not let you be at peace with them, and you can’t be reconciled to that.

And just because the relationship cannot be restored to where it once was, doesn’t mean you have not forgiven. To forgive takes one person, just you. To reconcile takes two. You and them. I can choose to release them and to say, I will not seek revenge. I’m not going to harbor hatred. I’m not going to try to get even. I’m not even going to expect them to make amends to me. I forgive, but I can’t be reconciled.

That person who so deeply wounded me and my family all those years ago, never admitted wrong, never looked me in the eye and said, I am so sorry for the way I attacked you and lied about you. So I can’t be in a relationship with a person who’s untrustworthy like that. But I can forgive and say, God, you have to handle that side of the equation. I’m going to handle mine.

D. Forgiveness is not a feeling.

And then forgiveness is not a feeling.

Sometimes we think when we feel like it, we’ll get around to forgiving. But if you’re like me, you might not ever get around to it if you wait on your feelings to forgive. I’m good at holding grudges. I’m good at remembering wrongs. I’m good at rehashing the past.

And don’t look at me like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Lol. You probably are as well. You even hear yourself say, “The more I think about that, the madder I get it.” Because you’re just rehashing it.

And we’re often basing our decisions on our feelings. But forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is a decision of the will. Forgiveness is saying, God, I will release and I will let you heal my feelings in time. It may come instantaneously. Or healing of your feelings may come over time. It may not ever be complete this side of heaven, but you can still forgive, even though sometimes you hurt, even though sometimes it brings back pain, even though sometimes you still feel the damage that they did to you or did to someone that you love. But we don’t wait on our feelings.

Jesus modeled that on the night he was betrayed when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane. And the Bible says he fell on his face three times in prayer before God the Father. And he prayed, Father, if you are willing, let this cup — He was talking about the proverbial cup of suffering that He was going to drink as He took the punishment for the sin of the world —yours and mine — Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, Your will be done.

Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross, but he did it anyway because it was an act of his will to surrender to his Heavenly Father and His will for his life.

And when we forgive, it is not because we feel like forgiving. It is because we are stepping out in faith, and we’re trusting our Heavenly Father that He will help us do this and this is the right thing to do, and that He will one day make all wrong right. We can trust Him.

In the meantime, some of you have heard of a lady named the late Corrie Ten Boom. Her family in the Netherlands hid Jews during World War II under Nazi rule. Her family was discovered and they were thrown into a concentration camp. And Corrie Ten Boom was in a concentration camp for years, not knowing if she would ever live to get out. Later in her life as a Christian, she went around speaking and lecturing.

And one day she met one of the most cruel prison guards from her time in a concentration camp. And he came up to her and he put out his hand and asked her for forgiveness. And she said in that moment she recoiled, not wanting to forgive him. But in that moment, she said she remembered that her forgiveness could not be based on her feelings. It had to be based on God’s will for her life.

And she said the coldness left as she put out her hand. And she said, yes, brother, I forgive you. With all my heart, I forgive you. She said, “I had never known God’s love so intensely as I did then. But even then I realized it was not my love. I had tried and did not have the power.” It was the power of the Holy Spirit. So she stepped out in faith and God took care of her feelings. And sometimes that’s what we have to do as well.

So if forgiveness is not excusing or forgetting, reconciling or just a feeling, what is forgiveness?

II. What Forgiveness Is

We’ll go back to Ephesians 4:32. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving,” there’s our word, “forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.”

Forgiveness is the gracious act of letting go of resentment, anger, or the desire for revenge against someone who has wronged you.

A. Forgiveness is an act of grace.

That’s what it means to forgive. This kind of forgiveness is an act of grace.

The word Paul uses for Forgive in Ephesians 4:32 is charizomai.

Maybe you know someone named Caris or you know someone named Karen. This is where their name comes from. The Greek word charizomai or charis. It means grace. It means an undeserved gift.

And God’s grace is not merely an undeserved gift. Listen, it’s even deeper than that. God’s grace is an unmerited gift in the face of great demerit. God gives us what we don’t deserve, grace. And he doesn’t give us what we do deserve, punishment. He gives us mercy.

And the apostle Paul takes that word and he says, I want you to charizomai one another. Show grace to one another. Give a gift to one another. Let go of that desire for revenge or resentment or anger.

What they did was wrong, but you can let that go. It is an act of grace. And the reason Christians are to be forgiving people is because we are forgiven people. And the reason we are forgiven people is because Jesus went first!

Paul says, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

What is the foundation upon which our forgiveness rests? It is that God in grace gave Jesus in our place. We deserved punishment for the sin we’ve committed against God. But Jesus took our place and took our punishment. And we get forgiveness. It is a gift of grace. And who pays the price for that? Who takes the brunt of that forgiveness that comes free to us?

God in Christ. And because of that, when we forgive other people, it is an act of grace. Jesus went first and we’re forgiven. So we want to be forgiving. It’s an act of grace.

B. Forgiveness is an act of letting go.

But it’s also an act of letting Go. The Bible presents forgiveness in several rich and meaningful ways. I wish I had more time. This would be a whole sermon series. But I’ll just touch on it.

Can we do that? Because I don’t want to keep you too long. But I said that in the first service and then I still went long. But you got to forgive your pastor, right? You just got to forgive me when I go long. The Bible commands it.

The Bible pictures, forgiveness as a debt cancelled.

Anybody here? No. Don’t raise your hand if you’re in debt.

But according to Experian, in 2024, the average American owed $105,000 between mortgage, car loans, credit card debt, student loans. Look at our national debt. What is it? 30 something trillion dollars? I can’t even comprehend those that many zeros.

Can you imagine if you woke up tomorrow, discovered someone had paid your debt in full?

That’s what God has done for us who are sinners and owe a debt to him that we could not pay. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:12, The Lord’s Prayer, “and forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors.” He wasn’t referring to financial debts, he was referring to those relational debts that we owe each other. And we even use that language in our modern culture. When someone breaks our law as a nation, we say they owe a debt to society. Or when someone hurts us, we say, you owe me. And when we’ve sinned against God, we owe a debt we can’t pay because he is an infinite holy God and we are finite people. And even if I could start today and be perfect, I still can’t fix all my past. We owe a debt we can’t pay, but God paid a debt he did not owe. Colossians 2:13-14 says that “having forgiven us all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Where are your spiritual debts? They’re nailed to a cross in the person of Jesus Christ and your debt has been forgiven.

And when we forgive another person, it’s canceling the debt they owe us.

The Bible pictures forgiveness as a sin covered.

All the Old Testament sacrificial systems of animals and their blood being sprinkled at the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant was a picture, a foreshadowing not only of the Lamb of God who would one day come and just cover our sin, but the Lamb of God who would come and take away the sin of the world.

Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

The Bible pictures forgiveness as a record erased.

God declares In Isaiah 43:25, “Iam he who blots out, (who erases) your transgressions for my own sake, I will not remember your sins.”

It’s like going into a schoolroom and erasing what’s written on the whiteboard. It’s gone. It’s blotted out. And some of us struggle to believe if God has truly forgiven our sin.

We say, well, maybe God’s whiteboard is like the one in my school. You can erase it, but you can still see the ghost of what was written. No, no, God, he doesn’t play around with cheap whiteboards. He blots it out. It’s cleansed, no longer held against you.

When someone says, what about the debt you owe? God says, what debt?

The Bible pictures forgiveness as a relationship restored.

In Second Corinthians 5:18, Paul wrote, “All this is from God, who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

Paul says, the reason we are right with God is because of what God has done for us through Christ.

That’s the only way to be right with a holy God is through Jesus Christ. And God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, where we go out and we implore people, be reconciled to God by placing your faith in Jesus.

The story of the prodigal Son that Jesus taught is a picture of God’s heart for reconciliation and forgiveness.

The Bible pictures forgiveness as a weight lifted.

Isaiah 53:4-6 describes the suffering of God’s Messiah, Jesus.

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. “

The burden of your sin is lifted off of your shoulders because it was placed on Jesus.

You say, pastor, what does all of this have to do with me forgiving other people? I’m so grateful that God’s done that for me, but what does this have to do with me forgiving someone else? Don’t you understand? Forgiveness is an act of grace, unmerited, undeserved love, sometimes in the face of great demerit. And it is the act of letting go. I’m going to cancel this debt. I’m going to cover this, going to erase this record. I’m going to restore this relationship, if possible. I’m going to lift that burden and that weight. But only God can help me do that, because I cannot do that on my own.

And what does this kind of forgiveness require of us.

III. What Forgiveness Requires of Us

Well, here’s what forgiveness requires.

A. Release and replace.

It’s going to require first of all that you release and replace. You release and then you replace. Forgiveness is a process that involves both releasing some things and replacing with other things.

Don’t take my word for that. Let’s go back to Ephesians 4:31-32. We’ve only read verse 32, but let me back up and give you verse 31. See if you can pick up on what we’re supposed to release and what we’re supposed to replace it with.

Ephesians 4:31–32 “31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Do you hear that? There’s some things we need to release. Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, always being upset, always stirring it up. Slander, talking about that person and all malice. Malice is evil intent. Jesus, you taught me to pray for my enemies. I’ll pray, get them, Lord, may they lose their job.

But Paul says, well, let all that go. Release, but replace. Be kind. Replace all that bitterness and anger with kindness. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, being open hearted, being sympathetic to them, forgiving one another, showing grace.

And why should you do it? “As God in Christ forgave you.”

The pattern is repeated in Colossians 3:12, 13. Here the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in the city of Colossae,

Colossians 3:12–13 “12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

The motivation for Christian forgiveness is that the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Replace all that stuff with the qualities of Christlikeness.

If you go out in the yard and you dig a hole, but that’s it, you just dig a hole. Never get around to planting anything. Time and wind and rain will fill it again with dirt, debris, leaves and weeds. But if you go out in that hole and you plant flowers or you plant a tree, you have something beautiful and productive.

Don’t just say fine, I’ll forgive that sorry dog.

That hole you dug is only going to fester and grow some other things that aren’t so pleasant. But if you’ll say, “Dear Lord, help me to let that go, to replace it with these Christlike qualities,” you’ll discover you are the one who will become more beautiful.

As a matter of fact, to hold on to unforgiveness, as someone has said, is like drinking rat poison, expecting the other person to die. Why do we do that to ourselves? We hold on to so much hatred and anger and animosity, and they’re living their life. You know the sweetest revenge you can get? Live for Jesus. Live for Jesus.

B. Embrace endless forgiveness.

So you Release, and replace. And then number B —some of you get that on the way home —you embrace endless forgiveness.

Perhaps you say, “Excuse me, is that a typo? Embrace endless forgiveness? Come on.”

Well, if you’re pushing back on that thought, you’re not alone. Remember when Jesus was teaching about forgiveness, that Simon Peter stopped him and said, timeout, teacher. Matthew 18:21 “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?””

And then Peter provided his own answer, hoping for the affirmation of Jesus as many as seven times. Peter fully expected Jesus to say, dude, you are so amazing, give me a high five. Seven! You would forgive your brother who sins against you seven times? Dude, you have taken what the Jewish rabbis have taught, that you can forgive three times. And after that, all bets are off. You’ve doubled it and added one. Whoo. That’s my disciple right there!”

Because, come on. I mean, you think about that. A person does you wrong the first time, and you forgive them. You’re going, okay, I forgive that second time, a little harder, but okay, we’re all human. The third time? Now I’m seeing a pattern here. And then the fourth time, all bets are off. I’ve done enough to forgive you. You don’t deserve it anymore. I’m done. And that’s what Peter is looking for.

He’s looking for a loophole. But in Matthew 18:22, Jesus said, I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times. Or maybe your translation reads, seven times 70. It’s hard to discern sometimes with the Greek which one Jesus is using. But the point is not the arithmetic.

The point Jesus is making is you don’t stop forgiving. By the time you’ve forgiven someone 77 times or 7 times 70, you’re in a habit of forgiving. You’ve become a forgiver.

You have to embrace endless forgiveness. Every time a wound reopens in your mind, you have to forgive again. Every time resentment tries to creep back in, you choose to forgive again. Every time the enemy whispers, they don’t deserve it, you say, I didn’t either, but God forgave me. And still forgives me. And I will choose to forgive again.

Aren’t you grateful this morning you have not used up a quota of forgiveness from God. We’d have used that up a long time ago. But God has been so patient with me, so forgiving. It’s endless. And he wants me to be like him. And that leads us to the next requirement of forgiveness.

B. Ask the Father to help you forgive.

You have to ask the Father to help you. So release and replace, embrace endless forgiveness, and now when it’s feeling really hard to do, you need to ask the Father to help you to forgive.

This is why Jesus taught us to pray the Lord’s Prayer.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us of our trespasses, our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Heavenly Father, I want your kingdom to come in my life. But I can’t do this on my own. I’m looking to you for my daily provisions. Give us this day our daily bread. I’m looking to you to give us our daily protection and deliver us from evil. And I’m looking to you to help supply my daily pardon. Forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors. Father, I can’t do this without you.

And by the way, you’re not the only one who can’t do this. None of us can do this. This is why you cannot be a self centered Christian and pray the Lord’s Prayer.

Jesus didn’t teach you to pray, “My” Father. He taught you to pray, “Our” Father, our daily bread, our debts, our temptations. Because we’re in this together and we need the Heavenly Father to help his kids. So I need you praying for me that I can be a person who forgives like this. You need me praying for you that you can be a person who forgives like this. Because we can’t do it on our own. But we have a Heavenly Father who can help us. We need God’s strength and it’s an act of obedience.

Jesus warned us in the second part of the Lord’s Prayer after we’ve prayed.

He said in Matthew 6:14-15 that the reason he included that in our prayer is, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

You say, what? Is my salvation dependent on me forgiving other people? No, that would turn your salvation into a salvation based on works. But we’re saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, not of works. Lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9. Jesus is not talking about judicial forgiveness. That involves your salvation, where God declares you righteous and saved.

He’s talking about family forgiveness. This is how we treat each other, in the family of God. And if I’m not right with you, my sister, or my brother, then I can’t be right with Daddy. I don’t know, how about you and your family? That’s how it was in my family. If we siblings were squabbling, it was eventually going to reach the ears of Daddy and he was going to solve that problem. You’re not going to have that attitude in my house. Now you hug and make up. And we often had to, because Daddy expected a certain level of respect of how we talk to each other. And Lord knows, you better not back talk your mama in Daddy’s presence. That’s a whole other sermon. We don’t have time for that. Let’s keep moving.

But Jesus is saying, if you’re not right with each other, the family of God, how do you expect to be right with your Father in heaven?

C. Contemplate Christ more than anything else.

And then finally contemplate Christ more than anything else? Some of you are really struggling with this, and the reason I know. It is because I don’t think I’m alone. This is a sermon I didn’t want to preach. Tony wouldn’t take this one. No, he wanted to preach on encourage one another. I wanted that one. Lol I wanted somebody who’s better at forgiving to preach on forgiveness.

But I will tell you, as a fellow struggler, what’s helped me, that is to take my eyes off of the offender and put my eyes on Christ. Look to Jesus, not the offense. Contemplate Christ more than anything else.

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why does the writer of Hebrews tell us to look to Jesus? Because if you look at yourself, you’re going to become discouraged. If you look at other runners on the race course, you’re going to get distracted. But if you look to Jesus, you’re going to be encouraged.

As you see the one who lived out his life perfectly and who can live his life through us. And the forgiveness that he gave us through the cross is the joy that the writer of Hebrews is talking about. The joy of our forgiveness. You remember how Christ forgave in his darkest hour as Jesus was dying, beaten, mocked, unjustly, condemned and slandered.

He didn’t curse his accusers. He did not revile his accusers. He did not even demand justice. Instead, he prayed in Luke 23:34, as he was nailed to a cross. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do think about Jesus.”

He forgave while the nails were still in his flesh. He forgave long before anyone ever said we were wrong and we’re sorry. He forgave before they changed or understood what they had done. He forgave not because they deserved it, but because it’s the heart of the Father. “Father, forgive them.”

He forgave not when it was easy, but when it was hardest. He forgave not after the pain was gone, but even as he endured the pain.

Look to Jesus. If Jesus could forgive under those circumstances, how can we who have been forgiven by him refuse to forgive like him?

I don’t know who wrote it or who sang it, but I remember my granny loved a song. Just a simple song. “Jesus Be Jesus in Me.” It’s more of a prayer, isn’t it, than a song? Jesus, be Jesus in me. Can I tell you the only hope for me doing anything with this message I have preached to you today in my own life is to say, “esus be Jesus in me. I yield my life to you. Fill me with your spirit, resurrection power, and let me forgive like I’ve been forgiven.”

People forgiven by Jesus ought to forgive like Jesus.

That’s the bottom line today, is that people forgiven by Jesus ought to forgive like Jesus. I want to lead us in a word of prayer. I want us to prepare our hearts for communion.

And this prayer will be for Christians, and then it will be for those of you who are yet to be Christians. But I pray that today you will receive the forgiveness of God for your sin by placing your trust in Jesus Christ.

With your heads bowed, your eyes closed. Our musicians will come. I just want to lead us in a word of prayer.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, there’s so much I’ve left unsaid and I know there’s probably somebody sitting here or listening online saying yeah but what about this and what about that? But Ricky, you don’t know. God, I understand that I have not done this subject justice as far as the world might be concerned, but I have faithfully delivered the message you’ve placed on my heart and I trust your Holy Spirit to now use it. You use your Word, not my words but your Word, the scriptures, to work a work in our hearts.

I pray for the power of your Holy Spirit to fill us, to anoint us, to heal us, to comfort us, to correct us, to encourage us and to point us to Jesus. May your Holy Spirit have His will and way in this moment right now. Father, I pray that we will not think about forgiveness because of the other person. We’ll think about forgiveness because of Jesus…