Ephesians 4:32

intro: how many times have we held a grudge. Someone wronged you and instead of forgiving them you built up a wall of unforgiving resentment towards them. Why? All the sin you’ve ever done through your faith in Christ has been forgiven. Yet you can’t forgive one thing someone did to you.

Sermon Title: Living like Christ in a cruel world.

Text: Ephesians 4:32

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

Ephesians 4:32 ESV

Introduction

Illustration: Look at an athlete who wants to succeed at a sport they put their focus on it they train and find their weaknesses and try to build them same way on our redemptive walk with Christ he’s the couch fine tuning and knocking off the unnecessary weight or dull edges to make better and more like him these are just three points to help build and improve ourselves to be better Christians.

Main Idea: Becoming more like Christ on our redemptive journey

Point 1: Being kind goes a long way.

Scripture: 1 kings 17:10-16

Illustration: Have you ever had a bad day nothing has gone right and nothing seems to be headed the right direction then someone steps in shares some kind words maybe took you to lunch or maybe shared a testimony that changed your mood their little act of kindness made your day better. Maybe you were blessed enough to be the helper and could help out.

Application: Sometimes what you seem as a task is too much for the moment God is actually trying to bring God out of it. This poor widow in the scripture said she only had enough food for her and her son. But the prophet Elijah said do first make me a little cake then feed yourself don’t fear the Lord God of Israel says that the flour shall not be spent and the jug of oil shall not empty. Her listening and trusting in God's word from the prophet led to a blessing; her act of kindness despite being questionable at first led to her being helped too.

Challenge:I choose kindness... I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me. - Max Lucado. Look for ways you can be kind. Maybe it’s as simple as talking to someone with encouraging words who’s struggling or helping someone load their groceries use it as an opportunity to spread the Gospel. Tell about your redemptive journey

Point 2: tender heart not harden heart

Scripture:“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,”Colossians 3:12 esv

Illustration: we all have kids and know sometimes they test boundaries and patients. Imagine your child breaking a vase or something in the house. Yes you might be angry but approaching them with a tender understanding heart because you see they are already scared instead of yelling and screaming. Being calm saying I know it was an accident let this be a lesson on why you don’t do what it was that caused it to break.

Application: Think about how you approach a situation: anger and hostility will harden your heart. Coming from a compassionate heart will make the situation less stressful for everyone. Think how God is compassionate to forgive his people even though they constantly messed up, they broke his commandments left and right yet ultimately he gave his son to save us from our own demise.

Challenge: look for ways to be compassionate. Maybe it’s looking at the person who just blew up on you because they are mad and saying I’m sorry you're having a bad day and I understand that you're not yourself due to the stress. Be kind, you never know what hidden battles a person is fighting and they feel alone doing it.

Point 3:forgiving the way you’ve been forgiven

Scripture: Matthew 18:23-25

Illustration: look just at this passage it provides a perfect illustration of God who’s forgiving us of so much and then we’ll turn around and hold resentment towards someone who called us a name or stole something. The servant was forgiven of his debt because he could pay but yet when he ran into someone who owed him he could do the same he put him in jail.

Application: forgiveness isn’t easy but we must think of how we are forgiven of our debts and transgressions but we should ask God to put the forgiveness in our hearts and change our hearts to be able to forgive one another. In the Lord’s Prayer we say forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors that’s a call to action we’re asking God for forgiveness we need to forgive those who wronged us too

Challenge: To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”(C. S. Lewis) So let's focus on forgiveness as well. Ask God to help you forgive someone who has wronged you asking God to break your heart of stone against the person like the quote from cs Lewis we’ve been forgiven for the inexcusable we need to forgive the inexcusable in others.

Conclusion

Recap: we looked at attributes that the Christian should have. Kindness, compassion and forgiving all three play together. Sometimes you gotta swallow your pride and take on the challenge and forgive or be kind or compassionate to someone who may not be that way to you. But letting your light shine so they see that if You were willing to humble yourself to forgive them may make them think of God made them be that way I want that light in my life.

Final Illustration/Testimony: before I was back in church I was a bit of a loose cannon at my current job a few years ago I had an altercation I didn’t start it but I fed into it me and a guy had a disagreement instead of walking away when he threatened me I chose to verbally attack and threatened him back with violence if he met me at the gas station after work. Fast forward to earlier this year now this incident is almost 3 years old at this point God put it on my heart to Go forgive him. Even though in my head I did not do anything wrong , he started it. I hadn’t spoken to this guy since that night. I swallowed my pride and came to find out he was battling some things that night as well and he lashed out. Now we’re good buddies. I was able to speak to him about God's work in me that led me to forgiving him as I had been forgiven.

Call to Action: think of unforgiving as the wall holding you back from a closer walk with Jesus. Break that wall down, have kindness and compassion to forgive others; you never truly know what the other person is going through until you walk a mile in their shoes.