WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.560 Today, my assignment is to deliver the final 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:07.459 message of this series, focusing on forgiveness. 00:00:07.940 --> 00:00:12.240 And that's going to be my topic for today, forgiveness. 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:17.280 Love and forgiveness are profoundly interconnected. 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:22.660 They are like joined at the hip, if you please. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:26.120 Cannot separate love from forgiveness. They go 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.120 together and they complement each other. And 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:33.799 it's like two rocks that you strike and you get 00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:36.299 a spark out of. Have you ever done that? And 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:38.979 that is an interesting thing. But if you get 00:00:38.979 --> 00:00:41.039 love and forgiveness and you strike them together 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.700 like stones, you will get a spark out of that. 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:47.299 And I pray that maybe you're going to get a spark 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:51.049 today before you leave. Praise God. Amen. Forgiveness 00:00:51.049 --> 00:00:55.549 is considered the highest, most practical form 00:00:55.549 --> 00:01:01.829 of love, essential for overcoming human imperfections. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:06.099 Nobody's perfect today, but forgiveness, you 00:01:06.099 --> 00:01:07.959 know, I've heard people say, forgive me because 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:10.280 I'm not good at this or I'm not good at that. 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:14.540 And well, praise God. But it's essential for 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:17.620 overcoming imperfections and repairing hurts 00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:21.420 and letting go of resentment. So we may have 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:26.219 on the inside. It is a choice that keeps love. 00:01:26.870 --> 00:01:31.430 alive. Forgiveness keeps love alive. If we choose 00:01:31.430 --> 00:01:36.790 not to forgive, then love dies. You take one 00:01:36.790 --> 00:01:40.310 stone away from the other, and it dies. My opening 00:01:40.310 --> 00:01:43.930 scripture that I want to take is a well -known, 00:01:44.010 --> 00:01:46.030 comes from the well -known prayer, what we all 00:01:46.030 --> 00:01:48.689 call the Lord's Prayer, and it's found in Matthew 00:01:48.689 --> 00:01:52.310 6 and 12. I'm just going to take one little portion 00:01:52.310 --> 00:01:56.420 of this, praise God, and it says this. And forgive 00:01:56.420 --> 00:02:03.340 us our debts as we forgive our debtors. The Lord, 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:08.159 he even spoke on a parable about a king that 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:16.620 had a servant that owed him, in today's money, 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:23.370 would mean millions of dollars. The king says, 00:02:23.469 --> 00:02:26.270 I'm going to start collecting all my debts. It's 00:02:26.270 --> 00:02:30.189 a parable in the book of Matthew. And he says, 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:31.789 I'm going to start collecting all my debts. So 00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:35.030 he brought in this servant, and he began to tell 00:02:35.030 --> 00:02:36.969 him, man, where's my money? You know, you've 00:02:36.969 --> 00:02:40.590 got to pay me my money. And he says, you know, 00:02:40.610 --> 00:02:43.129 Lord, I don't have it. I can't pay you right 00:02:43.129 --> 00:02:46.490 now, but I can work on it. I've got to work on 00:02:46.490 --> 00:02:49.150 this. But it's millions of dollars. What are 00:02:49.150 --> 00:02:52.110 you going to do? And the guy says, well, just 00:02:52.110 --> 00:02:55.530 give me a chance. Give me a break. And, well, 00:02:55.669 --> 00:03:00.770 no. He says, you know what? No. Sell him, sell 00:03:00.770 --> 00:03:03.310 his wife, sell his children, and sell everything 00:03:03.310 --> 00:03:08.030 he has and make him pay me back. Praise God. 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:13.669 I don't know how you would feel if the bank guy 00:03:13.669 --> 00:03:15.650 came to your house and he says, we're going to 00:03:15.650 --> 00:03:19.550 sell your children. To pay your debt. Oh, my 00:03:19.550 --> 00:03:22.250 God. He's looking for a fight right there, right? 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:26.009 But nonetheless, you know, this king, he put 00:03:26.009 --> 00:03:28.250 it on him. But then this man began, he falls 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:31.949 on his knees and he begins to beg him. And then 00:03:31.949 --> 00:03:35.129 the man was moved to compassion. And he says, 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:38.449 wow, this guy really touched my heart, man. And 00:03:38.449 --> 00:03:41.509 he says, you know what? That's it. Forget it. 00:03:41.569 --> 00:03:47.259 I forgive you your debt. I forgive it. And so 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:51.400 the man was happy, and he ran out. And as he's 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:53.659 going out somewhere out in the community, he 00:03:53.659 --> 00:03:57.219 runs into somebody that owes him only hundreds 00:03:57.219 --> 00:04:02.400 of dollars. And so he says, hey, get over here. 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:06.360 You owe me money. And the guy says, yeah, I don't 00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:09.099 have the money. And then he did the same thing. 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:14.060 He begged the man to be merciful, you know, be 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:16.759 compassionate. I'm going to work hard to pay 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:20.740 you back. And the man said, no, bind him and 00:04:20.740 --> 00:04:24.079 throw him into prison. Praise God. Well, the 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.379 word from the king's servants got back to the 00:04:27.379 --> 00:04:29.709 king, and it says, hey, you know. That guy that 00:04:29.709 --> 00:04:32.329 you forgave millions of dollars, I see him out 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:33.970 there in the community, man. He wouldn't even 00:04:33.970 --> 00:04:36.810 forgive somebody for a few hundred bucks. You're 00:04:36.810 --> 00:04:39.529 kidding. Bring him back. So they brought him 00:04:39.529 --> 00:04:42.579 back, and then he let him have it. You know, 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:46.060 he threw him in prison. Amen. And, you know, 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:49.040 but the moral of the story is, is that the Lord 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.180 was wanting to communicate a message to his disciples 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.879 as he was, you know, training them and discipling 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:58.480 them that, you know, as we receive, we need to 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:03.500 give. As we receive, and the Lord's prayer here, 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.459 it says, and forgive us our debts as we forgive 00:05:07.459 --> 00:05:10.399 our debtors. If we're going to forget our debtors, 00:05:10.459 --> 00:05:12.500 we're going to forget those that owe me money 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:16.060 and so forth. It's interesting that the Lord 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:19.279 includes this in his prayer, and so it must have 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:23.279 been very, very important. My thought for today, 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:25.560 and if you could put the slide up there, this 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:29.500 is my thought for today. It's a word. a little 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:33.180 bit hard to pronounce, but it's F -E -A -M -E, 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:37.639 F -E -A -M -E. And this is an interesting word 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:42.379 that is mentioned many, many times in scripture. 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:46.680 And F -E -A -M -E is a common word for forgiveness. 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:50.000 It actually means forgiveness, which means to 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.290 let go or to release. That's what this word means, 00:05:54.370 --> 00:05:57.050 to let go or to release. And in other cases, 00:05:57.230 --> 00:06:00.269 you know, it means other things, but the central... 00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:06.129 meaning of it is to let it go, to forgive or 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:09.509 to release. So it is often translated as forgive, 00:06:09.709 --> 00:06:15.610 which is a cancellation of sins or debts. It 00:06:15.610 --> 00:06:19.149 cancels them. Praise God. How would you like 00:06:19.149 --> 00:06:22.009 to get home today if you have a car payment and 00:06:22.009 --> 00:06:25.250 you got a letter in the mail that says debt paid? 00:06:27.110 --> 00:06:30.269 Here's your pink slip. Wow, you'd get pretty 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:33.290 excited about that. He says, man, you'd get really 00:06:33.290 --> 00:06:38.170 excited. And I would, you know. And because to 00:06:38.170 --> 00:06:43.529 be, you know, released from a debt is a good 00:06:43.529 --> 00:06:45.970 feeling. You know, it's a wonderful feeling to 00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:48.389 get that little letter in the mail that's got 00:06:48.389 --> 00:06:51.350 your pink slip, you know, or your grant deed 00:06:51.350 --> 00:06:53.430 to your property, whatever it is, at whatever 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:58.959 level. Amen. But this word, afaimi, highlights 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:03.120 the active, it's a voluntary and complete nature 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.639 of divine forgiveness. It's divine forgiveness 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:11.160 where God sends away the punishment and the guilt 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:14.100 of sins. In other words, that is the most powerful, 00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:18.100 the greatest thing that we cannot ever pay for 00:07:18.100 --> 00:07:22.439 is our sins. And here he forgives us. There are 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:28.629 two very powerful conditions. That are, as people, 00:07:28.949 --> 00:07:33.129 whether you know God or you don't know God, whatever 00:07:33.129 --> 00:07:37.310 your situation is, there are two very powerful 00:07:37.310 --> 00:07:40.769 conditions that we as human beings, as people, 00:07:40.850 --> 00:07:45.250 must give attention to. And it's these. Forgiveness 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:50.730 and unforgiveness. Forgiveness versus unforgiveness. 00:07:51.980 --> 00:07:55.079 We're going to consider unforgiveness first because 00:07:55.079 --> 00:07:59.459 I think it's a condition that many, and I'm going 00:07:59.459 --> 00:08:03.160 to explain to you how that works and how that 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:06.540 we can become released from that. Someone has 00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:12.500 described unforgiveness as the accumulation of 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:17.310 unexpressed anger. It's an accumulation. It keeps 00:08:17.310 --> 00:08:20.370 accumulating it. And if somebody owes you money, 00:08:20.569 --> 00:08:23.689 you know, every time you see them, you say, man, 00:08:23.709 --> 00:08:26.050 I hope he pays me. You know, like, you owe me, 00:08:26.089 --> 00:08:27.689 you know, 20 bucks. When are you going to pay 00:08:27.689 --> 00:08:31.470 me? You know, and so far I remember a brother 00:08:31.470 --> 00:08:34.970 that got converted. He was actually related to 00:08:34.970 --> 00:08:37.250 me. And he got converted, but he was a drug dealer 00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:40.809 back in the day. And, you know, he always, you 00:08:40.809 --> 00:08:44.289 know, was making deals, I guess, with drug dealers. 00:08:44.299 --> 00:08:47.399 druggies or whatever. And after he got converted, 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:51.840 he was out in the streets, you know, happy, you 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:54.100 know, bouncing around. And this was down there 00:08:54.100 --> 00:08:56.340 in Bakersfield, and you probably don't know where 00:08:56.340 --> 00:08:58.980 that is. It's in the desert in California somewhere. 00:08:59.220 --> 00:09:01.200 But that's my hometown. I was born and raised 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:04.559 there. But anyway, he was walking around in the 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.600 community, and then he noticed that there was 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:10.340 people that were hiding from him. When they would 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:13.100 see him, they would hide, you know. hide behind 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:16.139 a car or go into the store or something so he 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:18.580 wouldn't see them. And then it realizes, oh, 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.940 man, those people owe me money from back then, 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:27.259 you know, the old me. So he started looking for 00:09:27.259 --> 00:09:29.899 them, and they were scared to death, you know, 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.100 because this guy was a very demanding person. 00:09:32.259 --> 00:09:34.960 And he says, no, no, no, no. Don't be afraid. 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:38.519 I'm a new creation. I'm a new man. You owe me 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:44.899 nothing. Wow, can you imagine that druggie? I 00:09:44.899 --> 00:09:48.919 don't owe you nothing. No. It's not to say that 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:52.700 the drug is good. No. But you don't owe me a 00:09:52.700 --> 00:09:55.320 dime. Man, he went around making all kinds of 00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:58.299 friends. He was forgiving everybody in town. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:03.000 Everybody owed him money. Well, praise God. It 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.679 just happens. But I imagine that that individual. 00:10:07.389 --> 00:10:10.570 Oh, my God. He probably quit drugs. I don't know 00:10:10.570 --> 00:10:12.870 at that time. I don't know. But the point is 00:10:12.870 --> 00:10:17.110 that it was a great relief. And that's what happens 00:10:17.110 --> 00:10:19.389 when there's death. People hide. And that is 00:10:19.389 --> 00:10:22.289 the reason why even Eve and Adam were hiding 00:10:22.289 --> 00:10:26.279 from the Lord when they sinned, right? Praise 00:10:26.279 --> 00:10:28.980 the Lord, somebody. It's amazing how that people 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:32.440 that, oh, they're always hiding. They're in the 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:35.460 bushes or somewhere. You saw them in the corner 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:39.720 of their eye and they hide. Oh, come on. Unless 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.960 you're the one that's hiding. I don't know. It 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:46.559 flips. You can go the other way. But when we 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:51.259 choose to hold on to past pains, past hurts, 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:56.740 Past disappointments or past betrayals, we relinquish 00:10:56.740 --> 00:11:02.620 control of our own future. When you hold on to 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:05.700 those hurts, well, he did me wrong, or she did 00:11:05.700 --> 00:11:08.100 me wrong, or they did me wrong, or he should 00:11:08.100 --> 00:11:11.059 have never fired me, and whatever the situation 00:11:11.059 --> 00:11:15.259 is in your life, if you hold on to that, you 00:11:15.259 --> 00:11:21.210 are postponing or you're delaying. your beautiful 00:11:21.210 --> 00:11:25.309 future. But the sooner you do something about 00:11:25.309 --> 00:11:27.970 it, and I don't mean go chase the guy down or 00:11:27.970 --> 00:11:31.529 whatever, but the minute you release that in 00:11:31.529 --> 00:11:35.149 your spirit, the sooner your future lays ahead 00:11:35.149 --> 00:11:37.409 of you and you're going to have a wonderful life. 00:11:37.590 --> 00:11:40.909 Somebody say praise the Lord. Whatever sin has 00:11:40.909 --> 00:11:45.029 been committed against you, the choice to not 00:11:45.029 --> 00:11:49.720 forgive is itself an even more harmful and serious 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.480 sin. Praise the God. It will affect you if you 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.779 choose not to forgive somebody. You know, you 00:11:57.779 --> 00:11:59.919 might say, well, I'm going to hold them to it. 00:11:59.960 --> 00:12:01.580 Well, you know, you could do whatever you want. 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:04.960 But if you know there's no way they can pay you 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:08.259 back, there's just no way, and they forgive, 00:12:08.500 --> 00:12:12.559 and you feel led to forgive them, you have released 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.659 yourself. Amen. I said, you have released yourself. 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:22.100 Failing to forgive can often bring about problems, 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:26.980 situations in our own lives far worse than the 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:31.049 original offense. If somebody offended you. and 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:33.330 did something, said something about you. They 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:36.309 posted something on social media that, you know, 00:12:36.309 --> 00:12:40.529 it offended you or whatever. The longer, you 00:12:40.529 --> 00:12:43.669 know, if you don't forgive and forget it and 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:47.230 let it go, it's going to be worse. Your life 00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:50.769 will become, it'll accumulate because sin has 00:12:50.769 --> 00:12:54.090 a way of compounding itself. Praise the Lord. 00:12:54.169 --> 00:12:56.610 It says, offenses begin to compound themselves. 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:00.210 I wish my bank would compound like that. But 00:13:00.210 --> 00:13:03.909 it doesn't, you know, but offenses compound themselves. 00:13:04.210 --> 00:13:07.210 You know what I'm saying? There's a high interest 00:13:07.210 --> 00:13:12.029 you pay, praise God, when you hang on to it and 00:13:12.029 --> 00:13:15.730 you don't release it. forgiveness is a very real 00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:19.909 issue with many people. I have seen people, believe 00:13:19.909 --> 00:13:22.669 me, you know, there's an old story about the 00:13:22.669 --> 00:13:25.490 McCoys and somebody else. I don't remember who 00:13:25.490 --> 00:13:27.269 the other people were, but they couldn't stand 00:13:27.269 --> 00:13:29.570 each other. They were ranchers, you know. For 00:13:29.570 --> 00:13:32.789 all their lives, at the end of the day, they 00:13:32.789 --> 00:13:37.230 didn't even know why they hated each other. But 00:13:37.230 --> 00:13:39.490 man, they were against each other, you know. 00:13:39.509 --> 00:13:41.669 You keep your cattle on that side of the fence. 00:13:42.190 --> 00:13:45.230 You know, and okay, you know. And they were at 00:13:45.230 --> 00:13:47.429 odds for a whole lot. How would it have been 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:50.070 if they would have just had, you know, barbecues 00:13:50.070 --> 00:13:52.190 together, you know. We're going to kill my cow. 00:13:52.309 --> 00:13:54.169 We're coming over, you know, to have a barbecue. 00:13:54.470 --> 00:13:58.210 Praise God, you know, that's awesome. But it's 00:13:58.210 --> 00:14:02.529 more difficult. You know, sometimes we even have 00:14:02.529 --> 00:14:07.830 a difficulty remembering who offended us, you 00:14:07.830 --> 00:14:10.629 know. And I know that guy. I know I'm not supposed 00:14:10.629 --> 00:14:13.090 to get along with them, but let me think about 00:14:13.090 --> 00:14:14.629 it for a bit. What did they do to me, you know? 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:17.830 And, I mean, come on. You know, it's so long 00:14:17.830 --> 00:14:21.049 ago, praise God, and people hang on to stuff. 00:14:21.789 --> 00:14:25.230 How many of us, amen, would want to admit here 00:14:25.230 --> 00:14:28.929 today that there may be some measure, some small 00:14:28.929 --> 00:14:33.870 or great of resentment or a pain of some sort 00:14:33.870 --> 00:14:37.649 of betrayal within us? Somebody did you wrong. 00:14:38.370 --> 00:14:41.129 Somebody that was your friend decided not to 00:14:41.129 --> 00:14:43.850 be your friend no more. For some reason, they 00:14:43.850 --> 00:14:48.039 betrayed you. They left you standing alone. Many 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:53.519 have learned through life to cope with that and 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:58.580 live with unforgiveness. Many mask their hurt 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:03.120 with laughter and bury it. with busyness they 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.039 stay busy they just their life is just constantly 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:10.000 busy there just doesn't seem to be any you know 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.259 uh uh any uh peaceful time you're just you know 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:16.940 the way that you you you check that as you stay 00:15:16.940 --> 00:15:19.779 busy busy busy busy but when you start to slow 00:15:19.779 --> 00:15:22.480 down you start realizing that hey those issues 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:25.759 are not they haven't gone away When we consciously 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:30.220 and spiritually know that we are guilty of an 00:15:30.220 --> 00:15:34.200 unforgiving heart, we are opening the door to 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:39.899 bitterness that is a silent killer of true inner 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:43.100 freedom. You might look free on the outside, 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:47.529 but the reality is that... Bitterness begins 00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:51.470 to, because it just eats on that. It eats because 00:15:51.470 --> 00:15:56.110 unforgiving heart is the right environment for 00:15:56.110 --> 00:15:59.230 bitterness to begin to grow. And many times I 00:15:59.230 --> 00:16:02.289 use the analogy of that. I don't know if you've 00:16:02.289 --> 00:16:05.169 ever dealt with remodeling homes or whatever, 00:16:05.350 --> 00:16:08.610 but especially in bathrooms and kitchens where 00:16:08.610 --> 00:16:12.769 there's water, and if there's water damage on 00:16:12.769 --> 00:16:18.159 wood, it's called fungus. Okay? Dry rot, they 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.039 call it. And I don't know why they came up with 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:22.899 that, but that's what they call it because it's 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:28.080 dry, but it's rot. It's sitting there. But at 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.039 the perfect environment, when there's enough 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:36.279 humidity in the place, the organisms of that 00:16:36.279 --> 00:16:41.679 rot becomes alive. It becomes alive. It wakes 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:45.769 up. If you want to wake up dry rot, you prepare, 00:16:45.950 --> 00:16:49.309 you get the right humidity environment, and it's 00:16:49.309 --> 00:16:51.629 like, hmm, hmm, what's that? It's environment, 00:16:51.789 --> 00:16:55.830 it's moisture, and then it comes alive. That's 00:16:55.830 --> 00:16:59.169 what dry rot does. And I compare that to the 00:16:59.169 --> 00:17:02.289 same thing as unforgiveness. When we have unforgiveness 00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:07.230 in our heart, it might appear to be dead. It 00:17:07.230 --> 00:17:10.170 might seem like you've dealt with it in a way 00:17:10.170 --> 00:17:12.970 to you pushed it in a corner somewhere in your 00:17:12.970 --> 00:17:16.829 heart. But in the right environment, it comes 00:17:16.829 --> 00:17:21.369 alive. Hello, somebody. It will come alive. And 00:17:21.369 --> 00:17:23.910 then now you've got to deal with it all over 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:26.509 again. Oh, my God, like it just happened to you. 00:17:27.789 --> 00:17:31.349 I want to talk a little bit about living wounded. 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:33.349 If you can put that up here, living wounded. 00:17:33.630 --> 00:17:36.569 Okay, now listen. There are people. that are 00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:41.329 living with wounds, that are not healed, and 00:17:41.329 --> 00:17:46.009 wounded people tend to wound other people. Praise 00:17:46.009 --> 00:17:48.769 the Lord, somebody. It's the truth. Everyone 00:17:48.769 --> 00:17:53.250 at one point or another will experience the hurt 00:17:53.250 --> 00:17:59.849 or betrayal or offenses from others. It is a 00:17:59.849 --> 00:18:05.480 fact of life. Pain is unavoidable. You will be 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:10.700 hurt, wronged, and offended by others. And I'm 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:12.599 going to get back to that right now, living wounded. 00:18:13.019 --> 00:18:15.960 But I want to share this slide with this scripture. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.839 The Lord says, in the world you will have trouble. 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:25.160 You're going to have it. You're not going to 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:26.960 escape from it. How many had a little trouble 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:31.059 this week? Oh, man, you had a perfect week. How 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:33.299 many had trouble? Raise up your hand. I had some 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:36.480 trouble this week. Somebody ran a red light and 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.900 almost hit me. You know, road rage and whatnot. 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:44.920 The outcome of our lives is not determined by 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:50.420 what happens to us, but how we deal with its 00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:54.910 troubles. We got to learn this principle. Without 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:58.650 forgiveness, life is governed by an endless cycle 00:18:58.650 --> 00:19:02.890 of resentment and retaliation. I'm going to get 00:19:02.890 --> 00:19:06.509 back. One of these days, they're going to come 00:19:06.509 --> 00:19:10.509 and ask me again. Really? You know, it's a retaliation. 00:19:10.549 --> 00:19:12.730 It's like you're just waiting for them, you know, 00:19:12.730 --> 00:19:15.130 on your porch of your heart, you know, just waiting 00:19:15.130 --> 00:19:18.549 for them to approach you, you know. But without 00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:21.730 forgiveness. Without forgiveness, life is governed 00:19:21.730 --> 00:19:26.430 by an endless cycle. Amen. We will suffer painful 00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:31.789 tests of betrayal and offenses. How we deal with 00:19:31.789 --> 00:19:35.430 them will determine our spiritual health. And 00:19:35.430 --> 00:19:38.490 effectiveness and God's purpose in our lives. 00:19:38.609 --> 00:19:40.890 Praise God. There's a lot of people. I mean, 00:19:40.910 --> 00:19:42.829 I don't mean to say anything about our praise 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:45.170 singers. There's people on the platform. There's 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:47.369 even people preaching. There's people everywhere 00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:51.630 that seem to be functioning okay. They're doing 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:54.369 good, you know. Praise God, you know. High fives 00:19:54.369 --> 00:19:56.430 everywhere. Everybody's good. And hallelujah, 00:19:56.430 --> 00:19:58.829 we speak in tongues, you know. And wow, praise 00:19:58.829 --> 00:20:03.930 the Lord. But in the right environment, it surfaces. 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:08.900 I can't stand that brother. He owes me 10 bucks, 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.319 man. And I seen him driving a brand new car. 00:20:12.380 --> 00:20:13.759 He won't even give me 10 bucks and he's driving 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:17.240 a Tesla, man. What's going on? Cadillac, you 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:20.880 know, Rolls Royce, whatever. How we deal with 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:23.400 them will determine our own spiritual health. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:27.140 Jesus Christ himself taught us by example how 00:20:27.140 --> 00:20:32.509 we, as his ambassadors, will walk the same. Path 00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:35.390 and hardships. Listen to what the scripture says 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:39.049 in John 13, 21. And this is considering Judah's 00:20:39.049 --> 00:20:41.809 betrayal. This is about Judah right here. It 00:20:41.809 --> 00:20:45.210 says, when Jesus had said these things, talking 00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:49.390 to the disciples, he was troubled in his spirit 00:20:49.390 --> 00:20:54.990 and testified and said, Moses, surely I say to 00:20:54.990 --> 00:20:58.630 you, one of you will betray me. And he was talking 00:20:58.630 --> 00:21:02.079 to the disciples. The point is this, that I want 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:05.700 to draw from that. He was troubled in his spirit. 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:10.319 Why? You know, how many of us can identify with 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:12.880 some sort of betrayal somewhere in our lives 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.640 or some sort of an offense that has affected 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:19.900 us in some sort of way? And we identify with 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:23.319 the Lord Jesus when he said he was troubled in 00:21:23.319 --> 00:21:25.839 his spirit. Why? Why did it trouble the Lord 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.160 in his spirit? It's because it was an inner thing. 00:21:30.730 --> 00:21:33.809 It's an inner thing. This is one of the strongest 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:37.750 expressions used by the Lord Jesus Christ. The 00:21:37.750 --> 00:21:43.309 distress penetrated through his body. It penetrated 00:21:43.309 --> 00:21:46.549 through his soul, and it reached to the innermost 00:21:46.549 --> 00:21:51.380 part of him, which was his spirit. And, you know, 00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:53.980 we can be hurt in our bodies. We can be hurt 00:21:53.980 --> 00:21:57.400 in our soul. But when it gets into our spirit 00:21:57.400 --> 00:22:01.359 and it troubles us, a troubled spirit is most 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:05.940 difficult to diagnose and to heal. Praise the 00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:09.299 Lord, somebody. The Greek word for troubled means 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:16.420 stirred to anger and agitated. Troubled means 00:22:16.420 --> 00:22:21.740 stirred to anger or agitated. Anger and agitation 00:22:21.740 --> 00:22:26.079 are normal humanistic responses to betrayal and 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:30.339 to offenses. It reminds us about our frailties 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:32.900 as humans. We're only humans, somebody said, 00:22:32.980 --> 00:22:35.859 and how our lives are vulnerable to spiritual 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:40.259 and physical attacks that can penetrate our guard 00:22:40.259 --> 00:22:43.859 or protection and inflict pain and discomfort 00:22:43.859 --> 00:22:47.000 in our lives. It is extremely important for us 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.829 as people and people of God that we... We not 00:22:49.829 --> 00:22:53.190 ignore the reality of what is happening in the 00:22:53.190 --> 00:22:57.809 depths of our being. Don't ignore it. Your pain, 00:22:57.950 --> 00:23:00.630 your hurt, and disappointment take an extreme 00:23:00.630 --> 00:23:05.250 amount of, it takes an extreme amount of energy 00:23:05.250 --> 00:23:10.910 to conceal or camouflage and to put on your game 00:23:10.910 --> 00:23:14.069 face and thinking that everything is all right, 00:23:14.210 --> 00:23:17.369 when in fact you're hurting on the inside. You 00:23:17.369 --> 00:23:21.630 are in pain. Your spirit is troubled. When someone 00:23:21.630 --> 00:23:25.609 betrays or offends us, don't Compound the pain 00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:29.210 by betraying ourselves. Now, the worst thing 00:23:29.210 --> 00:23:31.869 that you can do is betray your own self. Somebody 00:23:31.869 --> 00:23:34.369 betrayed you, that's on them. But when you betray 00:23:34.369 --> 00:23:38.089 yourself, that's on you. And you know how you 00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:40.650 betray yourself? It's when you do nothing about 00:23:40.650 --> 00:23:44.410 it. And you learn to cope and live with it. Praise 00:23:44.410 --> 00:23:48.059 the Lord. By giving in to anger, revenge, hate, 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:52.119 amen, and so much more that can affect our spirits. 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:56.319 Although the sting of betrayal or offense hurts 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.680 tremendously, many of us have been betrayed or 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:03.839 offended, if not all. We must take the Lord's 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:08.519 examples, amen, such of his wounds by responding 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:13.920 with love, compassion, and forgiveness. Oftentimes 00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:18.859 it has very little to do with those that betray 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:21.140 or offend us, yet everything to do with those 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:26.859 that are offended. Us. Us. You cannot fix other 00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:31.400 people, but you can fix yourself. You know what 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:36.000 I'm saying? You know, this is just a simple analogy, 00:24:36.059 --> 00:24:40.690 but let's just say that somebody... you know, 00:24:40.710 --> 00:24:43.630 pushed you off your bike and you fell and you 00:24:43.630 --> 00:24:47.190 hurt yourself. And you're there, you know, and 00:24:47.190 --> 00:24:50.089 you're injured. Would you tell that person, you 00:24:50.089 --> 00:24:53.490 need to go to the hospital, hurry up, go. He 00:24:53.490 --> 00:24:55.990 says, excuse me, I'm not the one to hurt, you're 00:24:55.990 --> 00:24:58.910 hurt. He says, yeah, but you pushed me. Yeah, 00:24:58.990 --> 00:25:02.230 but the one that pushed you doesn't need hospital 00:25:02.230 --> 00:25:07.329 care. You do. When you're offended, the offender 00:25:07.329 --> 00:25:11.299 doesn't need. Yeah, God will deal with him somehow, 00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:13.720 but you need a hospital. You need attention. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:18.220 In other words, it's not your job to be protecting 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:20.960 all the people in the earth that are offending 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:23.599 everybody. It's your job to protect your heart. 00:25:24.269 --> 00:25:27.930 My heart. You are in control of yourself. You 00:25:27.930 --> 00:25:30.990 are in control of who you are. No doubt Jesus 00:25:30.990 --> 00:25:34.670 suffered extreme, eternal pain, and we know the 00:25:34.670 --> 00:25:38.269 story of how he suffered so much, such as the 00:25:38.269 --> 00:25:41.529 stripes, the smithing, the bruising, the thorny 00:25:41.529 --> 00:25:45.549 crown, and ultimately the cross. Yet his greatest 00:25:45.549 --> 00:25:52.710 test of punishment came from betrayal. Betrayal. 00:25:52.710 --> 00:25:55.490 Because you're not going to hear him say, you're 00:25:55.490 --> 00:25:58.930 not going to hear him say, my spirit is troubled. 00:25:59.089 --> 00:26:03.210 He didn't say that on the cross. But he said 00:26:03.210 --> 00:26:06.369 it to the disciples when somebody, and we know 00:26:06.369 --> 00:26:08.890 that it was Judas, was going to, because all 00:26:08.890 --> 00:26:10.849 the disciples said, Lord, is it I? Is it me? 00:26:12.730 --> 00:26:16.309 Let me tell you a story about an apple trees. 00:26:17.269 --> 00:26:20.859 There is a principle about. fruit -bearing apple 00:26:20.859 --> 00:26:26.019 trees that has to do with wounding. Sometimes 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:31.819 a tree will really take off and begin to grow 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:36.200 tall and will look very beautiful, just like 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:41.480 maybe you and I in our lives, Christian or otherwise, 00:26:41.660 --> 00:26:45.339 in the Lord. But they have very little fruit, 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:49.119 and we've heard that in biblical teachings. The 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:55.839 branches, they just, they grow. Then what happens 00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.740 is the grower, the owner of the apple orchard, 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:07.339 will come with a sledgehammer, and he will launch 00:27:07.339 --> 00:27:13.619 a swing and give a hard blow to the lower part 00:27:13.619 --> 00:27:20.210 of the tree. You might think, well, what's wrong 00:27:20.210 --> 00:27:25.769 with this farmer, man? I mean, he's growing trees. 00:27:25.809 --> 00:27:30.369 Doesn't he want fruit? Well, what happens is 00:27:30.369 --> 00:27:33.049 the tree, listen, the tree doesn't have a mind 00:27:33.049 --> 00:27:38.269 like we do. But it's God's creation, right? How 00:27:38.269 --> 00:27:41.029 can an apple tree remember to give apples and 00:27:41.029 --> 00:27:44.690 not oranges? Oh, that's right, I'm an apple tree. 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:48.549 I've got to give apples. No, it's God's making. 00:27:48.630 --> 00:27:51.589 God made it that way. They know they got to give 00:27:51.589 --> 00:27:54.990 apples. All right, well, when he gets wounded, 00:27:55.210 --> 00:27:59.809 what does a tree do? The tree suddenly turns 00:27:59.809 --> 00:28:06.309 all its attention to heal itself. I got to heal 00:28:06.309 --> 00:28:10.369 myself. And when the tree begins to put his attention 00:28:10.369 --> 00:28:17.059 on the healing, he begins to create sap. It begins 00:28:17.059 --> 00:28:21.259 to create like a honey within itself, and it 00:28:21.259 --> 00:28:25.119 covers its wound. For us, we might think that 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:28.799 it's bleeding, but what it's doing, it's attending 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:34.039 to its wound because it needs to heal. In the 00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:38.059 efforts of healing the tree itself, the medicine 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:42.779 that it produces for its own healing, it becomes 00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:47.019 positive effect on the tree, amen, to the point 00:28:47.019 --> 00:28:53.119 that the tree begins to give fruit. Think about 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:56.759 it. The tree begins to give fruit. My God. I 00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:59.240 don't think the pastor is going to go around 00:28:59.240 --> 00:29:01.180 with a sledgehammer next week seeing if he can 00:29:01.180 --> 00:29:03.299 get you to bear fruit. No, he's not going to 00:29:03.299 --> 00:29:05.799 do that. But look what happened to the tree. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:09.599 My God. The grower hit it. Pow! The bottom, the 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:12.660 trunk. And, you know, I mean, I don't know. I 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:15.829 can't tell you if the tree. has feelings, but 00:29:15.829 --> 00:29:18.450 I know one thing, the tree knows that it was 00:29:18.450 --> 00:29:22.190 wounded and the tree will begin to nurture that 00:29:22.190 --> 00:29:25.670 wound with the sap that comes out. It generates, 00:29:25.829 --> 00:29:31.509 it brings the sap down to heal the wound. And 00:29:31.509 --> 00:29:34.549 when it's doing that, it begins to produce fruit. 00:29:36.589 --> 00:29:40.490 Wow. Isn't that something we would like to see? 00:29:40.569 --> 00:29:42.890 And then you wonder, well, you know, I don't 00:29:42.890 --> 00:29:46.190 know, God, you know, they wounded me, and I don't 00:29:46.190 --> 00:29:48.509 know if I can serve you anymore. Oh, my God. 00:29:49.329 --> 00:29:54.230 Oh, ye of little faith. In spiritual sense, God, 00:29:54.309 --> 00:29:59.609 the master pruner, will wound us to heal us, 00:29:59.750 --> 00:30:04.369 and the results will be more fruit. Somebody 00:30:04.369 --> 00:30:07.990 say praise the Lord. Why don't you turn around 00:30:07.990 --> 00:30:10.410 and tell your neighbor, let God take a sledgehammer 00:30:10.410 --> 00:30:17.950 to you. No. Holy ghost, no. Listen, there's a 00:30:17.950 --> 00:30:22.430 very powerful quote by Oswald Chambers. If you 00:30:22.430 --> 00:30:28.250 can put that up. It says this. He who God will 00:30:28.250 --> 00:30:34.730 use greatly, he will wound deeply. And that is 00:30:34.730 --> 00:30:39.559 just the truth. If you want to be used of God, 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:44.119 man, you're open game. Because you're going to 00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:47.980 get wounded deeply along the way. And I'm going 00:30:47.980 --> 00:30:51.079 to tell you, it's not easy getting somebody, 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:55.359 you know, could say, well, you know, he had all 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:58.779 the right, you know, people on his side and everything. 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:01.700 That's why he is where he is. Really? I don't 00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:06.140 think so. Because the way up the ladder to up. 00:31:06.700 --> 00:31:11.119 It's wounds. One wound at a time. And you're 00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:13.240 wounded, wounded, wounded, wounded. That's your 00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.940 stepping. That's your staircase. Matthew 18, 00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:19.940 18 says, Surely I say to you, whatever you bind 00:31:19.940 --> 00:31:22.380 on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:24.440 you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 00:31:24.579 --> 00:31:26.500 You might say, what has that got to do with it? 00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:32.000 Well, many have used this passage to enable them 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:36.079 to cast out devils and cast out gross sicknesses. 00:31:36.569 --> 00:31:40.690 Such like. But this passage actually of scripture 00:31:40.690 --> 00:31:44.430 was given with the purpose of dealing with offenses. 00:31:46.210 --> 00:31:49.490 Dealing with offenses. God has given us authority 00:31:49.490 --> 00:31:54.509 over our offenses. He has given us power to bind 00:31:54.509 --> 00:31:58.640 and to loose. Praise the Lord somebody. Because 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:00.980 it had to do with conflict. It had to do with 00:32:00.980 --> 00:32:03.700 disciplines. And that's where this comes from. 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:06.599 You know, we have been given the most powerful 00:32:06.599 --> 00:32:11.039 attribute of God, which is forgiveness. Somebody 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:15.420 say forgiveness. Matthew 9 and 5 says, For which 00:32:15.420 --> 00:32:19.460 is easier to say, your sins are forgiven you, 00:32:19.660 --> 00:32:25.880 or to say, arise and walk? Well, that was a question. 00:32:26.970 --> 00:32:30.490 you know, posed when the Lord was healing a man 00:32:30.490 --> 00:32:33.349 and they were saying, well, he's doing it on 00:32:33.349 --> 00:32:35.890 the Sabbath and what's going on? Well, the point 00:32:35.890 --> 00:32:38.990 is this, that it says, what is it easier to say? 00:32:39.789 --> 00:32:42.289 Your sins are forgiven or to say to get up and 00:32:42.289 --> 00:32:44.609 walk? Well, somebody might say, well, to get 00:32:44.609 --> 00:32:47.910 up and walk is much harder. No, it isn't. In 00:32:47.910 --> 00:32:50.490 reality, it is the flip of that. It's harder 00:32:50.490 --> 00:32:54.269 to forgive, praise the Lord, because forgiving 00:32:54.269 --> 00:32:58.029 comes with a price. It comes with the wound. 00:32:58.769 --> 00:33:01.509 You hear what I'm saying? Healing the sick is 00:33:01.509 --> 00:33:04.750 an outward realization of God's power, but forgiveness 00:33:04.750 --> 00:33:09.670 heals from the inside. The greatest power God 00:33:09.670 --> 00:33:15.170 has given us is to bind and lose through forgiveness. 00:33:16.390 --> 00:33:18.890 You hear what I'm saying? You want to bind, you 00:33:18.890 --> 00:33:22.009 want to lose. I'm going to tell you, what is 00:33:22.009 --> 00:33:25.720 the most powerful way? To keep something from 00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:30.640 offending you time and time and time again. Jesus 00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:32.579 was asked, how many times should we forgive? 00:33:32.900 --> 00:33:36.079 And they said, seven times? Well, that's a lot, 00:33:36.140 --> 00:33:38.839 but let's throw the number a little high. You 00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:40.599 know, seven times, who's going to forgive seven 00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:43.200 times? You know, the same person, same thing. 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:46.880 You know, but the Lord says, oh no. In some versions 00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:49.960 it says 70 times 7, and in others it says 70 00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:54.339 plus 7. In either case, it's a lot of forgiving. 00:33:55.500 --> 00:33:58.559 It's a lot of forgiving. And therefore, you know, 00:33:58.579 --> 00:34:01.200 the Lord is saying, hey, it's powerful. You want 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:03.460 power? You want to experience power? If you ever 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:07.279 want to experience the greatest revival that 00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:14.139 you ever had, forgive somebody. You say, how's 00:34:14.139 --> 00:34:15.619 that going to make me? It's going to make you 00:34:15.619 --> 00:34:17.679 speak in tongues, man. It's going to make you 00:34:17.679 --> 00:34:22.400 leap for joy, jump. I feel good, man. That was 00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:25.699 before James Brown said it. Oh, yeah, that's 00:34:25.699 --> 00:34:30.380 over your head. I feel good, he said. Well, I 00:34:30.380 --> 00:34:32.679 feel better. I should have wrote a song right 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:36.559 after that. You feel good. I feel better. Why? 00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:41.610 Because I'm free. When we release. Somebody, 00:34:41.610 --> 00:34:46.449 we're actually releasing ourselves. That's revival. 00:34:47.210 --> 00:34:50.929 No preacher can come here and preach a message 00:34:50.929 --> 00:34:55.289 to you so you can experience revival. Amen. And 00:34:55.289 --> 00:34:57.969 no matter how good he preaches and sings and 00:34:57.969 --> 00:35:00.630 all of that, if you don't have forgiveness in 00:35:00.630 --> 00:35:04.369 your heart, you're going to be dead. But if you 00:35:04.369 --> 00:35:08.969 forgive, you're free. You've got revival. God 00:35:08.969 --> 00:35:11.869 can move through you. you. You can feel the presence 00:35:11.869 --> 00:35:15.469 of God. You can feel liberated. But it's all 00:35:15.469 --> 00:35:17.550 within yourself. You don't need a preacher to 00:35:17.550 --> 00:35:19.869 do that. You can just get up one morning and 00:35:19.869 --> 00:35:24.030 say, I forgive. And you can have the best day 00:35:24.030 --> 00:35:26.849 you've ever had. Why? Because you learned to 00:35:26.849 --> 00:35:30.230 forgive. And when you do it, man, you release 00:35:30.230 --> 00:35:34.800 yourself. You're free from within. Wow. Praise 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:37.119 God. You can run around your neighborhood, you 00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:40.079 know, praising God. Amen. Because there's a power 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:44.360 when we release and we set free and loose others. 00:35:44.579 --> 00:35:48.099 Amen. And you loose ourselves from betrayals 00:35:48.099 --> 00:35:50.019 and offenses. We can ask the keyboard. You can 00:35:50.019 --> 00:35:55.860 come up. Amen. Thank you. Forgiveness is to release 00:35:55.860 --> 00:36:02.210 and let go. That's what it is. To relinquish 00:36:02.210 --> 00:36:07.190 and release those we've been victimized by is 00:36:07.190 --> 00:36:11.690 powerful. Forgive us our debts as we forgive 00:36:11.690 --> 00:36:16.949 our debtors. Forgiveness doesn't make the other 00:36:16.949 --> 00:36:20.849 person right. It doesn't mean that you're, yeah, 00:36:20.869 --> 00:36:23.210 but if I forgive them, you know, don't worry 00:36:23.210 --> 00:36:27.179 about that. Don't worry about if you forgive 00:36:27.179 --> 00:36:29.800 them. It's not saying they're right, who's right, 00:36:29.820 --> 00:36:32.880 and who's wrong. You forgive. That's all you 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:35.619 do. That's your job. That's my assignment. It 00:36:35.619 --> 00:36:37.820 doesn't make the other person or the situation 00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:42.239 right, but it makes you free. That's what it 00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:44.719 does. It makes you free. How many want to be 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:50.400 free? By forgiving, by forgiving, I release my 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:56.719 own right to get even. I don't need to get even. 00:36:56.800 --> 00:36:59.500 Many people say, well, one of these days you 00:36:59.500 --> 00:37:02.360 just watch. Well, really, you're looking for 00:37:02.360 --> 00:37:04.679 revenge. You're looking to get even with somebody. 00:37:04.760 --> 00:37:12.000 To get even doesn't release you. It doesn't release 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:17.800 you at all. But the thing of the thing, this 00:37:17.800 --> 00:37:24.829 is that if we forgive all, what comes against 00:37:24.829 --> 00:37:30.230 us, God will work it out. Don't you worry about 00:37:30.230 --> 00:37:33.650 that offender or whatever. They betrayed you, 00:37:33.730 --> 00:37:35.829 they'll betray you again. Well, there's a whole 00:37:35.829 --> 00:37:38.630 lot we can say there about trust and all of that. 00:37:38.670 --> 00:37:42.849 That's another topic. But forgiveness is not 00:37:42.849 --> 00:37:48.389 an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude 00:37:48.389 --> 00:37:52.829 that we need to keep within ourselves. It's a 00:37:52.829 --> 00:37:59.590 permanent attitude just to forgive. Because when 00:37:59.590 --> 00:38:03.449 we forgive, we identify with the spirit of Christ. 00:38:04.730 --> 00:38:10.010 That he's a forgiving God. Praise God. What if 00:38:10.010 --> 00:38:14.150 I were to tell you, if you don't forgive, he 00:38:14.150 --> 00:38:20.789 won't forgive you. That's heavy, man. But it's 00:38:20.789 --> 00:38:27.150 biblical truth. Forgiveness does not mean excusing 00:38:27.150 --> 00:38:31.230 somebody's behavior or ignoring the boundaries 00:38:31.230 --> 00:38:35.190 that we set. It is the act of releasing the need 00:38:35.190 --> 00:38:39.849 for retribution. You don't need to get even. 00:38:40.469 --> 00:38:46.010 You don't. When love is present, forgiveness 00:38:46.010 --> 00:38:51.400 becomes easier. to extend. Could you stand with 00:38:51.400 --> 00:39:02.019 me? I don't know if you are like me, but there's 00:39:02.019 --> 00:39:06.099 offenses all the time. Every day, maybe tomorrow, 00:39:06.500 --> 00:39:08.960 sometime this week, you're going to be betrayed 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:15.039 one way or another, offended by something. But 00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:19.329 the sooner you let it go, Just turn it off and 00:39:19.329 --> 00:39:23.130 say, I forgive that person. Lord, I forget that 00:39:23.130 --> 00:39:27.250 statement. I forgive this or that. You're free. 00:39:28.329 --> 00:39:33.150 You are free. And that's the way we need to live 00:39:33.150 --> 00:39:39.369 because there was an old saying. I heard this 00:39:39.369 --> 00:39:42.090 many, many years ago. In fact, a bishop told 00:39:42.090 --> 00:39:47.579 me this many years ago because I. I went to him 00:39:47.579 --> 00:39:53.800 with my own personal situation that I was going 00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:59.119 through. And he says, listen, God deals with 00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:02.760 those that offend us. He deals with that. Leave 00:40:02.760 --> 00:40:08.380 that to him. You deal with your heart. And so 00:40:08.380 --> 00:40:12.039 I did. And everything came out good on my part. 00:40:12.539 --> 00:40:15.690 But then something he told me. Unfortunately, 00:40:15.690 --> 00:40:21.969 I saw it happen. He says, you know, it's a medical 00:40:21.969 --> 00:40:30.110 proven science that when people are unforgiving 00:40:30.110 --> 00:40:39.409 and they hold on to it and they captivate it 00:40:39.409 --> 00:40:48.139 in their bodies, they suffer. With certain ailments. 00:40:48.199 --> 00:40:51.300 One of the areas that it gets attacks is the 00:40:51.300 --> 00:40:58.579 back, the body, the back. And it's a proven science, 00:40:58.699 --> 00:41:01.940 you know, but we're not here to give a science 00:41:01.940 --> 00:41:05.019 lesson, but it's interesting that he told me 00:41:05.019 --> 00:41:08.900 that. And not that I wanted to avenge or I didn't 00:41:08.900 --> 00:41:12.039 leave for joy or get all excited when that person 00:41:12.039 --> 00:41:15.420 that offended me. You know, was having back problems 00:41:15.420 --> 00:41:18.360 and then very serious back problems. And it just 00:41:18.360 --> 00:41:21.079 reminded me, God healed them. I began to pray 00:41:21.079 --> 00:41:24.460 for them. Healed their body. Healed. I forgave 00:41:24.460 --> 00:41:29.760 them already. Healed them. And, but it's true. 00:41:29.820 --> 00:41:33.420 It will affect you physically. If you hold on, 00:41:33.539 --> 00:41:37.559 you're going to be affected physically. You want 00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:43.869 to live a long time? Forgive. Let it go. Let 00:41:43.869 --> 00:41:46.210 God take control of that.