“Forgive Us Our Debts As...”
Dismiss Grove KIDZ
OKAY – let’s do this...
AND MGCC – I want to let you know right out of the gate, THAT - we are going to be diving into some serious truth this morning. TRUTHS - that many of us would rather not deal with. TRUTHS - that most of us would prefer were not true and would rather ignore all together.
BUT LISTEN – ignoring the truth does not make it go away.
IN FACT – it only make it more difficult to deal with when we no longer can run from it.
NOW – Isaiah 55 says that just as the rain and snow comes down and accomplishes God purpose to water the ground and cause things to grow and flourish.
SO IT IS – with His word... AMEN?!
UNDERSTAND – God has a purpose for His Word this morning, and I am confident that it will accomplish the purpose that He has for it this very day.
OKAY – we read the following in Matthew 18...
Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” “I tell you, not seven times,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven.
For this reason,
(because I am calling my followers to such: radical, outrageous, unreasonable and seemingly impossible forgiveness)
the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him.
(which as I said last week, would take someone over 200,000 years to earn)
Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.
“At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.
“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’
(this would take someone... about 4 months to earn)
“At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.
When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened.
“Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’
And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” - Matthew 18:21-35
Prayer
MGCC - welcome to our verse by verse study of the Gospel of Matthew...
NOW – last Sunday we began unpacking the following 12 words from the Lord’s prayer.
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
AND ALSO – these words of Jesus that gives us additional commentary on those 12 tough words in the Lord’s prayer.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. – Matthew 6:14,15
NOW – in order to more fully understand what Jesus meant when He told us to pray...and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
We began to answer a few extremely important questions
Why should be ask God for forgiveness?
Because of what sin does
Sin separates us from God
Sin makes us an object of God’s wrath (Romans 6:23)
Because the debt we owe is unpayable (in fact the only thing that can pay it, is the blood of Jesus)
Because God loves to forgive us (John 3:16; Luke 15)
When does God forgive our debts?
WHEN - He says that He forgives our debt.
REMEMBER – He is the offended party and therefore it is up to Him alone when we are forgiven.
AND MGCC – where do we find what God says?
ANSWER – in His Holy Spirit inspired, God breathed, living and active Word.
When does God forgive our debts?
When a Jesus-follower confesses (1 John 1:9)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9
When does God forgive our debts?
When an unbeliever
hears the Word (Romans 10:15)
believes (John 3:16; Mark 16:16)
repents and is baptized (Acts 2:38)
AND THIS MORNING... we will answer 3 more questions
Why we should forgive our debtors
What we should not do with our hurt
How to forgive our debtors
I. Why should we forgive our debtors
NOW UNDERSTAND B/S – there are many reasons why we, why you and I should forgive our debtors.
LIKE – we should forgive our debtors, because...
Jesus calls us to forgive,
We are more like God when we forgive
Of what ‘not forgiving’ does to us: physically, emotionally, spiritually
If there was more forgiveness in: our world, our relationships and in the church, things would be so much better.
NOW MGCC– all of those are great reasons for us to forgive our debtors.
BUT UNDERSTAND – in those 12 words in the Lord’s prayer and in Jesus’ additional commentary that we have been looking at, there is an even greater reason for you and I to forgive our debtors. To forgive those: who hurt us, who sin against us.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors... For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. – Matthew 6:14,15
If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. – Matthew 6:15
MGCC – I spent a lot of time wrestling with these words the past 2 weeks. LIKE – I read a bunch of commentaries, listened to a lot of teaching...
NOW – some of the guys I read, just kind of rushed over these words and moved on as quickly as they could, avoiding the seemingly obvious implications of Jesus words.
OTHERS – that I read performed (at least to me) not all that impressive theological gymnastics, in their effort to convince people that Jesus did not really mean what His words seem to be clearly saying.
NOW – a common routine in those performing this kind of theological gymnastics was to either...
Say that those who refuse to forgive their debtors were never really forgiven by God to begin with, or
To invent new terms basically saying, that when Jesus says that God will not forgive us if we do not forgive our debtors, He does not mean ‘forgive - forgive’ He is talking about some kind of lesser forgiveness.
AGAIN – I really wrestled with these words of Jesus about God not forgiving us if we do not forgive.
I MEAN – I even reached out and called one of my professors for back in the day...
AND MGCC – when all was said and done, and the dust had cleared.... I ended up where I had begun.
That though I find it very uncomfortable, I believe that Jesus meant exactly what He said, that if I who have been forgiven so much by God do not forgive others God will not forgive me.
And I believe Jesus parable in Matthew 18 is in total agreement with Jesus words in Matthew 6.
“Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’
And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” - Matthew 18:32-35
B/S - we are not saved because we have forgiven others, we are saved by the blood of Christ and by surrendering to His Gospel. However, because we are forgiven we ‘must’ forgive.
The forgiven, forgive.
The forgiven, forgive.
Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.
UNDERSTAND B/S – unforgiveness is an affront to: the God who so loved this world, the Gospel of grace, to sacrifice of Christ and to the Kingdom that He established.
“The forgiven” “forgive”
“The merciful” “will be shown mercy
II. What We Should Not Do With Our Hurts
NOW MGCC – the truth is we do not always handle hurt the right way. Basically – there are at least 3 things you should not do with the hurt that is caused when people trespass against you.
a) # 1 you should not repress it.Repress It…
NOW - the word repress means “to push something down by force.”
It’s this idea that there is something that’s wanting to continually come to the surface, and we just keep pushing it back down.
AND LISTEN - this is how a lot of us were taught to deal with the emotions of: anger, hurt and resentment.
We were taught to: repress it, to push it down below the surface, telling ourselves that...
It’s not that big of a deal.
I shouldn’t feel this way.
It shouldn’t hurt this bad
Don’t let it show,
Don’t let anyone know, keep pushing it down, don’t let anyone see what is happening on the inside.
BOTTOM LINE - we do not want to deal with, or to, think about it… SO - we just push it down.
Hoping that outsight – will lead to out of mind.
BUT LISTEN – here is the problem with repressing your hurt – it’s still there and it is eventually going to leak back out and spill all over the place.
AND – not only that… understand, even though we may have successfully pushed it down below the surface.
I MEAN – for the most past it is out of our mind...
IT CAN STILL – have a significant impact on how we live out our lives
OKAY SO – here are a few clues that you may have some repressed hurt that you have not dealt with, that is beginning to seep back out.
You become angry over little things
LIKE – this is the person who completely looses it on the person behind the counter at CFA because their 12 count nugget was one nugget short…
OR who goes into a rage because somebody...
pulls out in front of them in traffic, or
takes the spot they were waiting on in the Walmart parking lot.
QUESTION - where did that come from?.
UNDERSTAND - these little things ‘may be’ revealing that you have some repressed (bitterness and hurt) that is starting to leak out.
Clue #2
You complain about everything
UNDERSTAND - people who repress hurt…
THEY - tend to see everything through a negative lens,
AND SO THEY - constantly complain about teachers, coworkers, neighbors, relatives, servers, their churches…
I mean, they can…it doesn’t matter. They’re just really good at it. Like they can always find the negative in something.
A negative that many times they are more than willing to share with others.
A 3rd indication that you may have some repressed hurt that is seeping out into how you live your live is that…
You’re overly sensitive and defensive
NOW – like, some of you right now... you’re like,
“Hey, sure sometimes I blow up about little things and I can be negative at times…” BUT - this is not me…
LIKE - I don’t have any repressed hurt that I haven’t dealt with.
I MEAN – if this is me, then how come no one has ever told me this that I get defensive and sensitive so easily?
Do you know why they don’t tell you that?
Because you’re overly defensive and sensitive.
And so you just…anytime people are around you they don’t know…they don’t know what they’re going to get.
And they don’t know what kind of mood you’re going to be in, and they don’t know what might set you off.
And so there’s just this…there’s just this over-sensitivity and defensiveness and it tends to mark our relationships.
BOTTOM LINE MGCC - sure, you can repress your hurt, but if you do, it will just fester underneath the surface, building up until eventually it will leak out....
AND – when it does, things will not be pretty.
b) A second thing NOT to do with your hurt is to Rehearse It
I MEAN – it’s like some of us have this built-in DVR in our brain where we have recorded every episode of how someone has hurt us. AND SO – at any time we can just go back, push play and relive the hurt again and again and again.... replaying the hurt in your mind... reopening the wound... rekindling those flames of hurt and anger
AND LISTEN – sometimes those flames will burn even hotter than when the hurt first occurred.
AND B/S…here’s the deal… Some of you
(because of this constant feeding and rehearsing of past hurt)...
have no emotional energy left for the people in your life today, because you are using it all up rehearsing and feeding your resentment and anger toward someone who may not even be a part of your life anymore.
IT'S LIKE - all of your emotional energy goes to that, and all your current relationships suffer….
MGCC – feeding and rehearsing our hurt is a very destructive thing for us to do when people trespass against us.
c) A 3rd thing you should not do with hurt is…React Angrily To It
YOU KNOW – the…
You hurt me, I’ll hurt you.
You offend me, I’ll offend you.
You attack me, I’ll attack you.
You tweet mean about me, I’ll tweet mean about you
Philosophy of life.
QUESTION – has responding to your hurt in anger ever had a positive outcome in your life? Just a few Scriptures that speak to this…
Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. – Ecclesiastes 7:9
Anger abides where?
In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. – Ephesians 4:26,27
UNDERSTAND B/S – anger gives the devil a base of operations in your life.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. – James 1:19,20
NOW – I pretty sure that everyone here in this room and watching online would agree with James advice.
LIKE – I do not think any of us would say, “you know James, I actually think my anger does produce the life God desires.”
AGAIN – I think we all agree with what James says. But the question is does our lives agree with what James says.
OKAY MGCC – so what are we not to do with our hurt?
We are not to: Repress it, rehearse it or react angrily to it.
OKAY – now let’s answer our final all important but so very tough to live out question...
How To Forgive Our Debtors?
OKAY – lean in church, because we are about to receive some great advice that God breathed through Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 4.
A book, by the way, that Paul wrote while awaiting his execution at the hands of The Roman Emperor Nero.
AND LISTEN – in these verses we will discover 5 things that we need to do in order to deal with our hurt in a God-honoring way.
AND REMEMBER – God brought you here this morning to help you deal with ‘your’ hurt... not anyone else’s.
Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said.
The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them.
But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.
Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. – 2 Timothy 4:14-18
OKAY – let’s do this… how to forgive our debtors.
a) #1 Be Honest About Your Hurt
AND SO - in 2 Timothy Paul talks about this guy who had caused him some pain. His name is Alexander.
NOW - Paul doesn’t go into a lot of detail about what Alexander did to him. It just simply says in 2 Timothy 4:14,
“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm.”
Well, what did he do, Paul? He doesn’t say.
NOW – the Greek word translated harm is the word, ‘kakos’
AND – it’s primary meaning is evil or wicked…
Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil.
WHICH MEANS – that what this guy did was not some minor infraction like shorting Paul a nugget in his happy meal or taking his parking spot at WalMart.
UNDERSTAND – what this guy did to Paul gave Him a legitimate cause to be hurt. It was a real debt.
OKAY... OKAY – I’m just going to come right out and say it again (as I said last week)…
I think far too many people today are too easily offended.
I mean – it’s like they are waiting for someone to say or do something just a little wrong, so that they be offended, get hurt, be angry and start hating.
AND MGCC – I think we all need to dial that down a few notches... NOT – everything need to be such a huge deal.
YOU KNOW - I remember my mom telling me 2 things many times when I was growing
“Steven, stop crying before your hurt” and
‘Steven, stop making a mountain out of a mole hill.’
AND – in case you are wondering
Making a mountain out of a molehill is an idiom referring to over-reactive, histrionic behavior where a person makes too much of a minor issue. It seems to have come into existence in the 16th century.
The Bible says in Proverbs 19:11,
A person’s insight makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. - Proverbs 18:11
UNDERSTAND - part of being a gracious person is that you understand this. That you understand that we are often called - to let it go, to overlook an offense.
(Now, I am not talking about something, evil, wicked, abusive or criminal)
BUT - frankly, I am amazed at the things that can offend people today, even within the church.
Things that can get people so upset and worked up
that I never would’ve even considered.
YET - the Bible says, “Look, don’t be so easily offended. It’s to your glory to overlook an offense.”
LISTEN – not everything has to be a big deal.
AND UNDERSTAND B/S – almost nothing will rob your joy or chip away at your relationships more quickly than being overly sensitive and easily offended.
BUT AGAIN - Paul makes it clear that sometimes we do get hurt in significant ways.
AND SO - Paul says, “Look, I was hurt. Yeah, there was significant harm that was done to me.”
SO B/S – be honest about your hurt.
Don’t say - it’s no big deal. It didn’t hurt.
It’s not a problem.” That’s…that’s not forgiveness.
Because forgiveness means that there was a hurt or an offense that was significant enough to require forgiveness.
SO PAUL - begins by acknowledging it…
Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord
will judge him for what he has done.
QUESTION - do you see what Paul is doing?
He is giving it to God.
“The Lord will judge him for what he has done.”
AND SO – here’s the second thing we need to do in order to forgive our debtors, is…
b) Release Our Desire To Get Even, Giving It To God
Look, I get it, I mean there’s something within us (and I know it is within me) that thinks,
“I’ll get over it, when…
I get even.
I make them feel the way, they’ve made me feel,
They pay,
They make things right
YEAH – then... then I’ll get over it and forgive them.”
BUT B/S - that’s not forgiveness, right?
That’s revenge.
AND LISTEN - the Bible says in Romans 12…
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
AND – sometimes you can’t, right?
LIKE – sometimes they won’t talk to you, sometimes they would return your calls, sometimes as we say our day...
Sometimes they are going to ghost you when you reach out to them to try to make things right.
BUT LISTEN – that is on them, not on you.
B/L – if there is a rift in a relationship make sure it is not on you.
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. – Romans 12:17-19
QUESTION – do you know what we are doing when we insist on evening the score ourselves?
We are telling GOD, that He needs to get up from His seat of justice because we are taking over.
AGAIN - Paul has been hurt in a significant way, but what does he do, well in the next breath after acknowledging it?
He releases it to God and says,
“I’m going to let God take care of this one.”
AND UNDERSTAND MGCC – when you do that you are not forfeiting justice, instead you actually guarantee it… BECAUSE - you have given the hurt/the evil/the wrong… to someone who is not only bigger than you… but who understands justice so much better then you…
GET IT?
HEY – a quick side note…
Releasing your right to get even does not mean, that you release your right to be smart and cautious….
AFTER ALL – Paul said…
Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said.
YEAH – sometimes we need to put up guard rails.
NOW – in Verse 16 Paul goes on to give another example of how he had been hurt, and here’s what he says: He says
The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. – 2 Timothy 4:16
SO PAUL - is making a reference to this trial where literally his life is on the line, and in that moment nobody shows up.
NOW PAUL - had poured himself into…these people, he loved them, served them…
YET nobody makes an appearance.
LIKE - he needs somebody to lean on; but nobody is there to support him.
NOW - some of you know what that’s like, because someone you counted on let you down. LIKE - you thought you could trust someone and they betrayed you. And you gave them your heart and they returned it back to you in a lot of little pieces. MGCC - this is a different kind of hurt.
I MEAN - you get the sense that Paul was not especially close to Alexander the coppersmith, right?
BUT - he was close to these people.
YOU SEE - the hurt is different when it’s done by someone you trusted, when it’s done by someone you cared for, someone you loved, someone you poured out...
your time and you energy and you life for.
UNDERSTAND - more often than not, the deeper and more intimate the relationship, the deeper and more devastating the hurt. And that’s true, right?
SO PAUL - cared for and he loved the people and he sacrificed for them. And he says, ‘Everyone abandoned me.”
But here’s what Paul does next, He prays,
May it not be counted against them. – 2 Timothy 4:16
AND SO - here’s the 3rd thing that you need to in order to forgive your debtors (those who hurt you)
c) Ask God To Help Those Who Hurt You
UNDERSTAND...
That’s what Stephen in Acts 7… Lord, do not hold this sin against them...
That’s what Jesus models this for us from the cross. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
AND – it what Jesus taught Mount... us (in) Luke chapter 6,
Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. – Luke 6:27,28
AND LISTEN – for some of us… this is where forgiving our debtors, gets: real, raw and not so much fun.
BECAUSE - when you read that and you start to attach a name and a face to it, this doesn’t just feel counterintuitive; it feels impossible.
Wait, wait. You mean that…
I’m supposed to do good to somebody who hates me, betrayed me, lied about me, slandered me?
I’m supposed to bless someone who curses me and pray for those who hurt me, who broke my heart?”
DIFFICULT YES!
BUT YET - there is such tremendous power in this when it comes to actually forgiving our debtors?
AND – believe me when I tell you, I know that it’s hard, but you can do it. And I want to challenge you to do it this week—to begin just praying for somebody who has hurt you.
And I will do the same.
AND B/S – here’s the deal.
When we actually do this (when we ask God to help those who hurt us)
WE WILL – find out that Jesus was ultimately thinking about us... ABOUT: our lives and our hearts
when He commanded us to pray that prayer.
SO PAUL - briefly shares with Timothy how he was wronged and how he was hurt, and in these verses he kind just lays out this path that will lead us to forgiving our debtors.
(Hey notice the ‘ing’ … this means that it is a process, an on going process... )
QUESTION – got any hurt? Got any debtors?
MGCC...
Be honest about your hurt
Release your right to get even, giving it to God
Ask God to help those who have hurt you
And then the next thing we need to do is found in verse 17
d) Value and Bask In The Persistent Presence Of God
Value and Bask In The Persistent Presence Of God
AGAIN – Paul’s says everyone abandoned me…
And then he says…
But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death. - 2 Timothy 4:17
I love it.
So he starts off the passage saying,
“Yeah, here’s how I was hurt. There was some significant harm that was done to me,”
AND THEN - he begins to wrap it up by worshipping God and recognizing that God was standing with him the entire time..
QUESTION – do you think Paul valued this persistent presence of God? That he valued God standing with Him.
YOU SEE - Paul recognizes that people...
had let him down, right?
he counted on didn’t come through.
he needed abandoned him.
But God…but God was always there the entire time, and He gave Paul what he needed... strength and rescue.
AND - some of you get this because when you were the most hurt and you were the most betrayed and you were the most abandoned God was the most present.
AND HE - stood with you.
Maybe no one else did. But He, was there!
AND HE - gave you strength and you learned to depend upon Him in a way that you never even knew was possible.
AND - some of you are in the middle of it right now.
LIKE - the wound is fresh. But I’m telling you, He is there and you can lean on Him.
I don’t know what you’re going through, and I don’t know what’s been done to you; BUT I KNOW - that God will stand with you in your pain… and be a persistent in His presence.
B/S - value and bask in that presence!
LIKE – come on...
YOU DON’T THINK - He knows what it’s like? Please.
YOU DON’T THINK - He knows what it’s like to be mocked, to be ridiculed, to be abandoned, to be beaten, to be falsely accused, to be betrayed by friends that you trust?
YOU DON’T THINK - He knows what that’s like.
He was betrayed with a kiss. He knows what it’s like.
And so the Bible says in Hebrews that we can approach the throne of grace with confidence, knowing that we’re going to find help when we need it most.
So Paul says, “Look, this hurt, and this was hard, but God was with me and God gave me strength.”
MGCC – hurt is something everyone has dealt with, is dealing with and will always have to deal with.
AND UNDERSTAND – God wants you to forgive your debtors
BUT - you will never get over it by:
Repressing it, or
Rehearsing it, or
Reacting in anger to it...
INSTEAD – Paul has taught us in 2 Timothy 4… that they way to get over your hurt… and forgive our debtors?
Is by…
Being honest about your hurt
Releasing your right to get even, giving it to God
Asking God to help those who have hurt you
Valuing and Basking In The Persistent Presence Of God
AND B/S - when we/you/I do that we can…
e) Expect To Experience God’s Peace And Freedom
Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. – 2 Timothy 4:14-18
I don’t know about you, but Paul
A guy who has been hurt significantly, abandoned by his friends, and is now in prison awaiting his execution.
sounds pretty free and at peace to me…
QUESTION – If we:
Are honest about our hurt
Release our right to get even, giving it to God
Ask God to help those who hurt us
Value and bask in the persistent presence of God
WHY can we expect to experience peace and freedom?
BECAUSE:
We are never more like God then when we forgive.
And the more like we are the more peace and freedom
We will experience.
WHY?
Because God pours out his favor and his blessings when we are obedient to what he has asked us to do. Especially something as difficult as forgiving our debtors 70x7 from the heart.
(Mt 18 – and if we do not)
WHY?
Because this weight of bitterness and hurt that we have been carrying and that has been lifted.
Debtors, hurt... got any.
LISTEN – to obey Jesus command to forgive others.
Be honest about your hurt
Release your right to get even, giving it to God
Ask God to help those who have hurt you
Value and Bask In The Persistent Presence Of God
Expect To Experience God’s Peace And Freedom
Hey – did you notice what the first letter in each of those statement spells? ‘Brave’
Brave people forgive their debtors
Brave people move past their hurt
AMEN?!
AND – it hard, right?
Maybe – it’s hard because the person is no longer here, or they refuse to be anywhere near you?
But God can still help you move past it.
God can still help you move past it.
AND – listen here’s the deal...
Maybe there are some conversations that need to happen, with people that you have hurt or who have hurt you.
And listen if we go into those conversations already having forgiven them, ‘being BRAVE’ it will go a lot better.
I am certain that there are a few people dealing with hurt and forgiveness.
Eyes closed
And if while I am praying
You have been dealing with this hurt, and struggling with forgiveness
And like you are not even sure that you can get over it
But you would like to
Stand up – declaring to God I want to get over this hurt
I want to forgive my debtors like you have forgiven me
Please help me!
