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little boy was asked, “What is forgiveness?” He answered; “It
is the odor that flowers breathe when they are trampled on.” That
is a nice answer but not a biblical one. How would you answer the question, “What
is forgiveness?” Forgiveness appears for the first time in Matthew
in what we call the Lord’s Prayer. It should be called “Our
Prayer” because it is really about our desire for holiness, the
holy Father, forgiving others and not leading us into temptation. Jesus
concludes with a warning about forgiving others.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors . . . For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (NASB) Matthew 6:12, 14-15 Heart Pain. We all struggle with forgiving
others. We have all been hurt, deceived, used and abused in one way or
another. Some of us have suffered more than others with less pain in
the heart, while others have experienced the opposite.
My worst pain seems to occur when people deceive me, use
me and then lie about me so that they look good. What pain in the heart!
What hurt. What anger! If forgiveness does not occur, bitterness grows
in the heart. This leads to a spirit that moves us to slander and spread
discord,
Hatred stirs up strife . . . And a slanderer separates intimate friends. (NASB) Prov. 10:12; 16:28 But this behavior does not bring peace in the heart; it only makes the
inside pain worse. We look good on the outside, but on the inside we
are hurting,
The heart knows its own bitterness . . . Even in laughter the heart may be in pain . . . (NKJV) Prov. 14:10, 13 Yet deep inside we often want those who have hurt us to pay. Some of
us will go as far as to attempt to pay them back for the hurt.
Never pay back evil for evil to anyone . . . If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge . . . (NASB) Rom. 12:17-21 And all the time we are longing for the hurt to go away. We long for
someone to accept us - for peace in our heart,
A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones. (NKJV) Prov. 14:30 Forgiveness. Many would say we need to love
more and they quote 1 Peter,
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. (NASB) 1 Pet. 4:8 While this verse describes the motivation of the heart, it does not
give us the solution, which is forgiveness. The root Greek word that
Jesus uses for forgiveness is APHIEMI. This is a wonderful word. It has
the meaning of “to send out,” “to liberate,” “to
let go,” “to release,” “to surrender.” It
is sometimes used in the New Testament to refer to “divorcing” a
wife or husband (1 Cor. 7:11-13). It was used in the secular world to
refer to the “release” of slaves and being “exempt” from
military duty. |
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| Sermon on the Mount | |||||