Bittersweet Ep. 3

INTRODUCTION TEACHING OUTLINE • We’re not good with things that take a long time. But there are some really important areas of our lives where our need for speed might just hurt us, like forgiveness.

TENSION || What do we do when feel like forgiveness doesn't work?

Most of us have tried forgiveness, and it didn’t seem to “work.” Because, like anything else in our life, we want results immediately. When it comes to forgiveness, we want to feel better now. This is true if you are the one doing the forgiving. But this is also true if you are the one who did something wrong and needs to be forgiven! When we decide to forgive, and don’t get instant results, we all tend to think the same thing: It didn’t work. So, if you gave forgiveness a shot and you still don’t feel any better, should you just give up?

TRUTH

One of Jesus’s closest followers Peter asked,

“Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” (Matthew 18:21 NLT). “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:22 NLT).

Matthew 18:21–35 (NLT)

Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Jesus teaches us to keep forgiving as long as you need to, until your emotions catch up with your decision, until the hurt starts to hurt a little less For some of you this is good news, because you finally have permission to not be okay immediately. For others of you, this might not be great news. You still want a quick fix.

• Pride Kills Forgiveness Pride robs you of blessing.

But Jesus doesn’t want forgiveness to be something that meets a checklist requirement in our lives. He wants something to happen in our hearts.

That’s why He tells us to forgive as many times as we need to, until we’ve healed. Healing and forgiveness are more like recovering from a big injury than taking a dose of medicine.

Asked about Achelies injury Note: The Interactive happens here. See your Teaching Script for details.

I want to look at a story today from the very first book of the Bible called Genesis about a guy named Joseph. He was the youngest of 11 brothers and also his dad’s favorite. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he had a dream that all of his older brothers and his dad would bow down to him. Of course, when he told his brothers about this dream it ticked them off even more, and they plotted to kill him. Joseph ended up getting sold as a slave to the Egyptians (not killed). Then, through a series of unfortunate life events, Joseph was framed and put into prison. While in prison, Joseph was able to interpret the dreams of two other prisoners—one of which was the Kings right hand man, called a cupbearer. Eventually, the cupbearer remembered Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, so Pharaoh called Joseph out of prison to so that Joseph could tell him what his dream meant. Pharaoh was so impressed with his great wisdom that he put Joseph in charge of all the land, second only to Pharaoh himself. Twenty-two years after selling Joseph into slavery, his brother’s come to Egypt in search of food. Joseph finally told his brothers who he was.

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” (Genesis 45:4-5 NIV)

I’m guessing... like any normal human, Joseph was pretty angry and bitter at his brothers for selling him in the first place.

But over time, we see Joseph make the best out of the worst situations.

He shows us that healing takes time.

There isn’t a quick fix. There’s no “feeling better” when you forgive. Forgiveness takes time.

APPLICATION

So, the question is this: What’s our seventy times seven? In other words, what’s the hurt that you can’t seem to let go of?

Here are three steps you can take to begin fully forgiving someone: o First, pray for the person who hurt you.

o Second, serve them.

And finally, REPEAT.

LANDING

As we wrap up this series, I want you to think about forgiveness in your own relationships.

What would it take for you to move forward and become who God wants you to be?

Healthy and whole—not bitter and hurt.

So, make a decision this week to make forgiveness—true forgiveness—a reality in your life.

Starting tonight by experinceing the ulitimate forgiveness in christ