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2000-05-17 - Forgiveness
The Forgiveness Series, Part 1
Matthew 6:14-15 Your heavenly Father will forgive you
if you forgive those who sin against you; but if you refuse to forgive
them, he will not forgive you.
Colossians 3:13 Be gentle and ready to forgive; never
hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive
others.
Forgiveness is an action that most of us struggle with. Over the next several
weeks, I want to look at four facets of forgiveness, which God has been trying
to make me understand over the years. They are forgiving others, forgiving
us, asking God for forgiveness and accepting Gods forgiveness.
Eight years ago a business partner committed unimaginable wrongs against
me. They were not only immoral but also illegal. These transgressions were
crippling. I will never forget a year or so after this event when this person
came to me asking for forgiveness. I am not proud of the fact that I simply
said, Sorry, I cant forgive you. I am not over this yet.
This past Monday morning, this person showed up at my office to ask again
for forgiveness. I was surprised at how God has softened my heart over the
years, and I quickly assured him that all was forgiven. I then said, just
forget about it.
By Tuesday morning, my carnal self was asking, Have I really forgiven
him? "Do I really want to forgive him?" Jesus words to Peter
in the passage below echoed over and over again in my head. I think I understand
this passage now. Forgiveness is an action that never ends. We keep
forgiving seventy times seven.
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came to him and asked, Sir,
how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?
No! Jesus replied, seventy times seven!"
When we truly forgive someone who has wronged us, it is one of the most freeing
feelings that we can experience. Gone are our mental prisons created by harboring
hard feelings, resentments, anger and the desire to get even. Forgiving another
frees us from that persons actions against us, and then the healing
can began. I am not sure that I can ever have a normal relationship
with this former partner. Time and God will tell, but I am sure now, that
I have acted as Christ wanted me to act. Jesus felt strongly about forgiving
others. I can only find one place in the Bible where Jesus tells us to leave
a worship service.
Matthew 5:23 So if you are standing before the altar
in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and suddenly remember that a
friend has something against you, 24leave your sacrifice there beside the
altar and go and apologize and be reconciled to him, and then come and offer
your sacrifice to God."
Now lets get more practical with this forgiveness business. Forgiveness
for the big wrongs against us is not the only forgiveness we must practice.
Early on in my career, I learned to let people off the hook.
It is a great form of forgiveness that people do not forget. I believe these
simple acts of forgiveness have led me to be more successful, not only in
business but also in life. Here are some everyday examples from my life:
My assistant forgets to mail a letter, my car is not ready at the promised
time, a driver cuts me off, the drive-through person hands me the wrong order
and so forth. It is so freeing to simply say to them, its ok;
dont worry about it. It frees us from building up anxiety and
stress over small things and as an added bonus, these simple acts of forgiveness
hone our skills to forgive even bigger offenses. Most importantly, we practice
what Christ taught us and commands us: Forgive others as He forgives us.
Next week we will look at forgiving ourselves. I can tell you now, that this
is the type of forgiveness that is the most difficult for me.
Father, thank You so much for forgiving us of our sins against You. Help
us to follow Your example by forgiving those around us. Increase in each
of us a hunger and desire to be more forgiving and in the process, more like
Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.
David Massey
david@masseyre.com
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.peacewithgod.com
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