Anger and Forgiveness Pt. 2

Continued coverage of the Charles Stanley sermon on Anger and Forgiveness (Part 2 of 3)



Obstacles to Forgiveness (Cont.)
8. Partial forgiveness (just like partial obedience is disobedience, partial forgiveness is unforgiveness. If you wait until you feel like forgiving someone then you probably never will.)
9. Justifying someone else's wrong doing for the sake of not wanting to forgive.

"12 And forgive us our debts,  as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,  but deliver us from the evil one. 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

(Matthew 6:12 - 15; NIV 2010 Edition)

Why we must forgive:
-God forgives our sins only if we forgive the sins of others
- God does not condone willfully refusing to forgive others. Therefore it is an example of living in sin.
- Unforgiveness will destroy your life and separate your fellowship (not your relationship) with Christ.
- If you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive you.

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

(Matthew 18:21-22; NIV 2010 Edition)

- God does not give us a measuring rod to count the number of times we should forgive sin. There is no end to our need to forgive.

The Parable of The Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18 22-35)
- Have mercy on those who owe you in the same way that The Master has mercy on us.

-There is no justifiable reason to not forgive someone.

Part 3 to be posted tomorrow!

We've Got Work To Do

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."- Ephesians 2:10 (NIV 2010 Edition)

Back when I was in undergrad, one of the cool things about college was that you could pick from a TON of courses to fill the requirements for your major. To fulfill your English class you could take regular English, Poetry 101, Shakespeare, or some other courses. The same would go for math, science, etc. etc.


The interesting thing about all of these classes is that no matter which class I'd pick, I would get the syllabus at the beginning of the semester and freak out. "You want me to write a 25 page paper on what?!?!" I'd say as I go back to the registration website and look for new classes. But the bottom line was that a class had to be picked and a class had to be completed. Imagine my amazement when I'd reach the end of the semester and receive a passing grade on the course when prior to the class I may have known little to no information about the subject matter. I had learned so much along the way that it all actually prepared me for the exams and papers at the end of the class.


That's a little bit like how God works.


Before we were even born, God knew us. Not only did He know us in the past tense but He knew what we would become, who we would marry, what jobs we would have, and so on and so on. As we came into the world and continued to live out our days, we would come across different life hurdles or challenges that test us or prove us in a certain way. Sort of like an invisible syllabus. 


See, God has already scripted out our lives and allows us to go through learning, growing and doing good things along the way. That is what the passage in Ephesians teaches us. Life is not a matter of happenstance or luck of the draw. Instead it is a set collection of opportunities that God set in our path long before we even knew we'd get there. 


If you've been studying and learning along the way, that will help you pass every test!

Correction Vs. Protection

This is the stuff that gets under my skin 

But I've got to trust You know exactly what You're doing 

It might not be what I might choose 

But this is the stuff you use

- Francesca Battistelli - This Is The Stuff

Today's Window Seat Thought is about correction and protection. God uses both to sharpen us and put us on the path that we are supposed to be on.

Correction/Discipline: In correction, God does not remove the sin (what I mean is that He does not look past them but He DOES forgive them*) but removes some benefit experienced while in our reckless sinful state and inflicts a consequence directly relating to the actions that occurred. This is sort of like the parent who doesn't fight to remove your bad grades on your report card but will put you on punishment as a result of them. Correction is used to allow us to see the errors of our ways and then work at them so that they are no longer a barrier to our right relationship with someone or something. Biblical examples of correction include : 

• Adam and Eve: God didn't remove the serpent, he removed the joy of carefree living. He also made life that much harder for Adam and Eve and well, you know how the rest of the story goes (Genesis 3:16-19). 
• David and Bathsheba, god did not restore David's mistakes but he removed the oneness that David felt with God. Not only that, God set a curse upon his house which had an immediate and public impact (2 Samuel 12: 11). 

Just like in the natural sense where we must work to improve our grades in order to restore our privileges, In spiritual correction it is always our responsibility to learn the lesson and restore our right relationship with Christ.

Protection/Grace: God removes the potential for sin or danger regardless of whether we are at fault for something or not. Ever run late for work and see that you just missed and accident? Ever be somewhere where you shouldn't have been and something bad happened but you were kept safe? That's God's protection. Evidence of His grace and mercy that He willingly pours out to us to protect us from harm. Biblical examples include:

• God protects Lot from destruction (Genesis 19) 
• Saul becomes Paul (Acts 9) 
• Jesus calms the sea (Mark 4: 35-41)

Both correction and protection are forces that god uses to show his unfailing love for us. Sometimes they can happen at the same time (correction protects you from further sin as long as you obey). Also, protection is not always given as a result of a potential or desire to sin. The bottom line is that its a crazy world out there and just as many forces work against you that work for you. Isn't it great to know that someone is working on your behalf to save you from the decay and destruction that the world throws at us?

Might not be what we choose but these are the things he uses.

Francesca Battistelli - This Is The Stuff:

Has you experienced God's correction or protection in your life? Have you witnessed it in the Bible or the lives of others? I want to hear about it!