What Jesus Said About Forgiveness预览

What forgiveness is not

Memory Verse: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32).

Forgiveness deals with the deepest pain and emotions of people. When you ask someone to forgive another person, you stand against all the emotions and pain it caused and the results of the offense that caused the harm. Forgiveness is to confront the things that caused pain in your life and deal with it to the extent that it will not determine your behavior or overshadow your thoughts.

It is natural to be bitter and to seek revenge. People often feel that forgiveness is unfair: “I suffered much pain because of what this person did to me, and now you expect me to simply walk away as if nothing has happened?”

The following things give an idea of what forgiveness is not:

1. Forgiveness is not excusing sin and saying that what was wrong is now right or declaring someone free from guilt.

2. Forgiveness does not minimize the importance of a specific offense or incident.

3. Forgiveness is not based on what is fair. (It was not fair for Jesus to hang on the cross, but He did so out of his own free will so that we could be forgiven.)

4. Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation. It takes two for reconciliation, only one for forgiveness.

5. Forgiveness is not being weak. It is being strong enough to be Christlike.

6. Forgiveness doesn’t mean you forget what happened.

7. Forgiveness doesn’t mean justice must or can be ignored.

Obedience: Unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment hide very deep in the crevices of hearts. If you do not deal with it, it will embitter you, and you will live as a prisoner of what happened in your past. Are there things that the Holy Spirit is pointing out to you?