ATTITUDES FOR GODLY DEVELOPMENT: “FORGIVENESS”

• Perhaps the attitude to identify as a need and the to practice is forgiveness. 
• In the wisdom of God, He gave believers a way to live in sanity and peace by commanding us to forgive others or to forgive ourselves for what we deemed inequitable.
• Forgiving people is not easy, but it’s biblical, wise, and healthy for the soul.
• It’s easier to accept forgiveness from Jesus than to forgive others.

Forgiveness:
“It’s giving up resentment toward someone and letting go of the right to hurt them back.”

• Revenge demands that the guilty person pay for the wrong done. 
• God’s Word says that revenge belongs to Him, not to us.

The reason it is hard to handle is:

1. We’re impatient when we’re hurt and angry. The combination of hurt and anger drains our lives of joy and peace.
2. We dwell on the inequity, and we can feel as if it’s our role to fix everything.

• Proverbs 24:28-29 Don’t testify against your neighbors without cause; don’t lie about them. 29 And don’t say, “Now I can pay them back for what they’ve done to me! I’ll get even with them!”
• Romans 12:17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”  21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
• Revenge often feels satisfying in the moment because it can create a sense of power or fairness, but it usually does not heal the original wound.

• As believers in Jesus, we serve the One who had every right to live in unforgiveness.
• Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.
• Mark 14:60-61 Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” 61 But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
• Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know they are doing…”
• It’s clear that God desires, commands, and expects us to forgive.
• Unforgiving people live by a system of weights and measures.
• Because the unforgiving person focuses on the pain and the debt now owed, showing grace and forgiveness is almost impossible. Why? They think that if they forgive, the offender is getting away with what they did.
• Unforgiving people are consumed by what happened and the emotions that follow.

Follow the wise counsel of God’s Word and grow better relationships.

• Ephesians 4:31-32 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
• Verse 31 – Get rid of:

RAGE – passionate outburst.

ANGER – seething animosity.

HARSH WORDS – shouting back and forth.

SLANDER – defamatory or abusive.

•  Verse 32 – Instead be:

KINDNESS – treating another well.

TENDERHEARTED – literally means having healthy intestines; figuratively, it refers to an internal feeling of compassion for another.

FORGIVING – letting the offender go.

• Colossians 3:13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 
• When you release the offender, you will be released.
• We will encounter times when we must overlook an offense. It’s not easy: But it’s right, it’s the mature thing to do, it’s biblical.

Perhaps we are most like Jesus when we forgive.

Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I know that the penalty of my sin is physical, spiritual, and eternal death. I acknowledge that I can’t do anything about my situation. But I know that You came to pay the penalty for my sin. I trust in You alone as the One who died in my place. I repent of my sin and trust in You alone as the only One who can place me in an eternal relationship with the living God. I desire to be Your child. I desire to live as Your child. In Your name. Amen.

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