• What Forgiveness Is Not...

  Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Jan 27, 2014 (message contributor)

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  Scripture:  Genesis 50:15-20

  Tags:  Forgiveness, Cross, Forgiving Others, Joseph In Egypt

  Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

I think there are many today who are confused about forgiveness. Let’s talk about what forgiveness IS NOT.

FORGIVENESS IS NOT EASY. It is the most difficult you will ever do to forgive someone who has stolen from you, lied about, hurt you or broken a vow to you.

FORGIVENESS IS NOT NATURAL. The normal, human response is revenge. The flesh always wants to get even.

FORGIVENESS IS NOT DENIAL. You can’t just put hurtful things under another rug. Someone hurt you. Someone wronged you. How will you deal with that?

FORGIVENESS IS NOT A ONE-TIME EVENT. Forgiveness is an active verb. You have to get up daily and die to the anger in your heart. It doesn’t normally happen overnight.

FORGIVENESS IS NOT APPROVAL. Just because you forgive someone, that does not erase the wrong they have committed.

FORGIVENESS DOES NOT NECESSARILY RESUME A RELATIONSHIP. Good relationships are built on trust. If someone has hurt you and broken that trust, you can forgive them, but you may not necessarily be able to resume the relationship.