We conclude our series on lying like your dying; we asked three weeks for you to think about something’s that you might do if you knew you only had thirty days to live. We have been looking at a few lines from a song that was made popular by Tim McGraw. Today is the last of that series and I want to share some thoughts with you about biblical forgiveness. Many of us hold grudges against people and struggle with the idea of forgiveness and what that truly means. Again today I ask you to take some action steps in this area of forgiveness.
Thoughts about Forgiveness
- God wants us to live in Peace
- Romans 12:18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”
- We need to Praise God for your freedom
- Ephesians 4:30-32 Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
- Colossians 3:13b Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
- We need to forgive others
- Colossians 3:13B Make allowance for each other’s faults, forgive anyone who offends you.
- Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.
- Story of Job
- We need to remember what happens when we don’t forgive.
- Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
- Matthew 18:32-3 5 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. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Actions Steps
Ask God for forgiveness if you need it today.
Praise God that He forgave you
Forgive those today who you have not forgiven
The PowerPoint Presentation: Learning-to-forgive
