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The theme for Wednesday’s evening sermon was Forgiveness, with Psalm 130:4 being the text. “But there is forgiveness with Thee”. Dale told us that God can heal the hurts and make wrong things right! We believe in forgiveness, but we can believe it better! Forgiveness is a miracle! We need the forgiveness of others…husbands from wives, wives from husbands, children from parents, parents from children, and brothers from each other.
What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is remission, and remit means to send away. God remits our sins, “as far as the east is from the west”! Forgiveness is costly…and risky…but it is more costly to maintain a grudge! Forgiveness is taking the blame and suffering for a situation and freeing others from it. It is helpful to deal with God about forgiving others before we even meet the other person…that makes it easier to forgive whether they ask or not.
If we struggle with forgiveness, we should examine ourselves…we need forgiveness as well…..and sometimes we have a hidden desire to see others suffer for what they did. Unforgiveness interrupts our fellowship with others and disqualifies us for useful service…we can’t really live with unforgiveness.
We need to forgive others as God forgave us! Isaiah 53 says we All like sheep had turned away. In II Cor 2.7, we see we need a tender heart to forgive. The prodigal son story in Matt 18 shows we can’t forgive if we are not humble. Real forgiveness is an attitude towards others and gives them an opportunity for the future!
God wants us to live in forgiveness!