Notes from church: Pastor Chris Old: 5/30/10 all these verses are from the NIV
Forgiveness
Romans 12:9 "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will replay,' says the Lord."
Prov 24:17 "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do no let your heart rejoice,"
Matt 5:44 "But I tell you: Love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you,"
Romans 12:18 "If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." seek to release, not be friends. write a letter to the person saying you forgive them & are praying for them. Action of will, not emotions.
Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind & compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Matt 6:14 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
declare your forgiveness, have friends pray for you, & eventually, the emotions will catch up w/your will.
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The Romans 12:18 verse, the comments after- can you go more in depth with what Chris spoke on? Like...What is the difference between "Action of will" vs "Emotions"? And writing a letter to the person, how do you know when you are ready for that?
ReplyDeleteok so my mom taught me to declare forgiveness & tell the person that i forgive them even if i don't. that's forgiving out of will, not emotions. she taught me to tell God that i forgive the person & to ask Him to put that forgiveness in my heart. He did eventually, but ofc, i've had to forgive the same person again & again. that comes from that verse that i didn't post that talks about forgiving 70x7. i think u know what issue i'm talking about. i'm not going to get into detail about that on here. if u want to talk more about that specific issue, we can do it texting or skype. haha honestly, idk when a person is ready to write that letter. my counselor had me do it a long time ago. i'm planning on asking Dee Beaver about that when i meet w/her over break. u know she's 1 of my mentors, right? u don't have to be friends w/the person who sinned against u, but u have to release them by forgiveness, pray for them (i need to work on that!), & just basically, don't hate the person! that's what my rents & pastors have told me throughout my life & i finally have scripture to back it up! did i answer all ur questions, except that 1 about the letter?
ReplyDeleteElle, i met w/Dee today & got an answer to your question on when you know a person's ready to write the letter of forgiveness toward the person who sinned against them. her reply was when they've forgiven the person. so simple! lol if the person says, i've forgiven the person, but...they're not ready. the person doesn't have to give the letter to the person who sinned against them, just write it. in my opinion, it'd be good to give the letter to the person if the person will understand it & possibly appreciate it. if not, or if it'd make the situation with the violator worse, don't give the person the letter, just write it. forgiving is needed to set the victim free & writing it out is a good way to express it.
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