Sermon by Neil Earle
Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
The best way to heal a heart is to forgive, and our attitude affects our health. Forgive those who need forgiveness. We all need forgiveness in our lives. Forgiving is a great healthy way to live. Being a forgiving and merciful person can actually save your life and add to your years. Learning to forgive can have profound benefits. There is a healing power in peace making. Giving up grudges can decrease crime. We all have a mental forgiveness center. We should forgive and move on with our lives. We cannot alter the past but we can alter the future. God is a merciful and passionate God.
Numbers 14:17-19: "Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.’ In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now."
There are always ways to make changes in our lives.
Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
People can change their minds and attitudes to forgive.
Matthew 23:23: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."
We should not do as the hypocrites do.
Colossians 3:12-15: "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
We should always forgive one another. This is the law of Christ and the law of the spirit. The hardest thing to do is to forgive someone who has done you wrong. Mercy has the quality of compassion and forbearance. God shows mercy towards us in His power. There are always ways to change. People and nations can change.
Luke 9:51-56: "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’ But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village."
The word is empathy which means the experiencing as one's own of the feelings of another. What someone else is feeling and going through. This is one of the keys to forgiveness. Jesus said: "Forgive them they know not what they do."
Following is the REACH principle:
Recall the hurt that has been done from a different perspective.
Empathize with the offender.
Altruistically extend forgiveness.
Commit to forgiveness.
Hold on to forgiveness during time of trial.
James 3:13-18: "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such ‘wisdom’ does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."
If we always remember to forgive and forget, we will live better lives and the world will be a better place in which to live.
Sermon summary prepared by local Glendora church member Charlie Schreiner.