Sunday 12th October, 2008
If you missed the talk from this Sunday, you can listen to it by clicking here. (23 minutes)
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Myths About Forgiveness
- Do we forgive merely because it’s our Christian duty? How do you feel when you forgive someone? What does it show about us if we are able to forgive?
- Is it harder to forgive when the other person doesn’t realise they’ve done anything wrong? How do we know when we should tell someone they’ve hurt us and when we should just deal with it in our heart? What do you naturally do, confront or avoid confrontation? What should you do?
- Does saying we’re sorry mean we won’t reap the consequences of our sin? Read from 2 Samuel 11:1 to 2 Samuel 12:23. Apart from adultery and murder (as if that wasn’t enough) what other sins do you think David committed? How do you feel about the consequences of David’s sin?
- Read Acts 5:1-11. What can we learn from this ourselves? Are there any instances in your own life where you have seen the consequences of your sin? How do you feel about it now? What can we do today if we still feel the pain of what we did wrong back then?
- Read Galatians 5. What does Paul tell us are the consequences of sin? Read verses 19-21 again, using the translation in The Message (you can do this online at www.biblegateway.com if you don’t have a copy of The Message).
- Write a list of all the sins mentioned, listing them in descending order of degree, with the worst at the top and the least bad at the bottom. Now draw a line at the point where you would NEVER commit what’s above the line. Look at the items below the line. Do you consider them sin? If not, why not? If so, what do you need to do about them? Where do you think God draw the line?
- The Process of Forgiving – a useful recap from last week:
- Label what has happened as sin.
- Blame the person who is responsible.
- Release it to God.
- Ask God to forgive and bless them.
Labels: Forgiveness Series
posted by Dave @ 10:30
1 Comments
1 Comments:
Reflecting upon this morning's word, and the scriptures in this week's Takeaway, I am left thinking that something is still missing. We got the bad news without hearing how the story ends.
Firstly, when we don't forgive others we are putting our own forgiveness in jeopardy (Math 6:14), and a root of bitterness may grow in us. This doesn't hurt the one who sinned against us, but it can wreck our lives.
On the plus side...
He promises to remember our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12) and remove our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
But lets get things in perspective...
As we think about others who have sinned against us, note that each one of us constantly and repeatedly falls short of the sinless staandard God requires (Rom 3:23). Romans 7 sums up the human condition, we are slaves to our sinful nature, BUT Romans 8 says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. However, if we ontinue to live according to ouir sinful nature and fail to seek God's forgiveness we will die (consequence)so we need to keep short accounts with God for no man knows when Jesus will return (The foolish virgins parable comers to mind (Math 25:1-13)).
When it comes to making lists of sins in order of priority, this is a delusion because all sin is sin. None of us can take any comfort in the fact that we only committed a little sin or told a 'white lie'. The penalty for all sin is death. John 1:8-10 tells us that if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. but that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Without that we would all be lost and without hope.
So here then is the good news of the cross. Isaiah 1:18. Our sins will become as white as snow.
See also Psalm 37:24. Though he stumble, he will not fall for the Lord upholds him with His hand.
Have a good week!
Tim
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