THE DEVIL’S CAMPGROUND… AND FORGIVENESS

When we’re kids, our parents tell us, “Only 5, or only 10, or only 18 more sleeps until… Christmas, your birthday, vacation. In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us to not let the sun go down while we’re still angry.  That if we let the devil – or the person who hurt us – camp there, it will create huge problems! So, the question is legitimate and really important; “How long will you drag your past into your future and let your bitterness taint and contaminate your life?” That is, in kids terms – how many more sunsets – sleeps – will you drag your pain behind you?

FORGIVING GOD?

There is a saying that you never really get to know or fully and deeply  experience love for someone unless they’ve hurt you!  And because God is a person – as expressed in Jesus – here will be a time when He will likely hurt you. Not because He does something selfish or cruel; no, our hurt with God usually has to do with what He doesn’t do, what He doesn’t give us and when we don’t know how close He is – or feel His love. We think, “He could’ve” …or “He should’ve,” or “If He really loved me, He would’ve!” And we blame God for our lot in life, our circumstances, our lack of… something! And if we hold a grudge or carry resentment – then we need to forgive! To just let it go!

FORGIVING YOURSELF

There is a saying that you never really get to know or fully and deeply  experience love for someone unless they’ve hurt you!  And because God is a person – as expressed in Jesus – here will be a time when He will likely hurt you. Not because He does something selfish or cruel; no, our hurt with God usually has to do with what He doesn’t do, what He doesn’t give us and when we don’t know how close He is – or feel His love. We think, “He could’ve” …or “He should’ve,” or “If He really loved me, He would’ve!” And we blame God for our lot in life, our circumstances, our lack of… something! And if we hold a grudge or carry resentment – then we need to forgive! To just let it go!

FORGIVENESS AND FIXING BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS

One of the huge questions that always comes up on the issue of forgiveness is… does forgiving someone mean that you should be good friends again? In our relationship with God, he offers us forgiveness, but there is no reconciliation without repentance. And sometimes we are never restored, in this lifetime, to what we once enjoyed. You could see it like this; forgiveness – always. It’s not optional for followers of Jesus. Reconciliation, living in peace – hopefully. But it takes two to make it happen. Restoration – where everything is as it was before? It’s the rarest of the three – and it depends. See, you can’t earn forgiveness – but you must earn trust, and trust is hard to earn… but unbelievably easy to lose!      

I KNOW I SHOULD FORGIVE, BUT…

There are always some sticky questions around forgiveness. Yeah, most of us can agree on the generic, everyday kinds of forgiveness necessary.  But what about when an offense is so horrible you can’t forget? What about justice being done – I mean, is forgiveness just rolling over? And shouldn’t people be held accountable for stuff? And, what if they never even come close to saying they’re sorry or even acknowledging that they’ve hurt you. I mean, is God expecting that we’re just going to jump right back into the place of trusting them again? What if you try and try and try… but you just can’t do it!  Great questions! We’re going to do our best to answer them!

DO I HAVE A CHOICE?

Matthew 18:21-35
It’s interesting. God offers us forgiveness by paying for our guilt with His Son’s blood. Then it’s up to us. We can choose forgiveness – or not. But, once we choose forgiveness from Him, it’s like we have chosen to be forgivers. In some way, it seems that when we choose to forgive, we are pleasing God immensely, we are choosing health for ourselves, and we are choosing the path of growth. When we choose forgiveness, we make God’s day, and we join hands with the noblest, best people who have ever walked this planet.

THE BIG PICTURE… AND THE MAIN PROBLEM

(Matthew 6:14-16; Luke 15)
Forgiveness. Most of us want it when we’ve screwed up. Most of us struggle to give it when someone has really hurt us. We find ourselves in this strange quandary. We crave relationships with people – and yet people sometimes hurt us deeply. What do we do with that? Well, that brings us back to forgiveness. If we want a heart that is healed of it’s pain, if we want a life cut free from our hurt, if we want fair… we have to use God’s gift to people who can’t forget. The ability to forgive!