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Forgiveness
Bible Study Posted August 7, 2000
Forgiveness
This week's scripture:
Matthew 6: 14-15
"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
Forgiveness. That's a tough one! It can be so hard to forgive some one. And what does "FORGIVE" mean? I looked it up in the dictionary. Most of the words to describe "forgive" were even longer. Basically it came down to this. Forgive is to stop feeling anger towards someone. Wow. How can you stop feeling angry towards someone who hurt you? It isn't easy to control your feelings. But Jesus forgives us, even when we do terrible things. We have to forgive people, or Jesus can't forgive us our sins.
Forgive, but don't forget. When Jesus forgives our sins, he forgets them. He throws them away. Most of the time, if you forgive someone, you should try to forget it. Sometimes, you shouldn't. Jesus told us in Luke 17,
So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him.” Even if somebody sins against us 7 times in one day? Yep. But don't be crazy! If someone walks up to you and hits you in the head with his hand, and then apologizes, forgive him. If he does it again, forgive him. The next time, dodge his hand! Don't let him hit you just so that he can say he's sorry!
Forgiveness doesn't mean there are no consequences. If your little brother tears the head off of your Barbie doll and flushes it down the toilet, and says he's sorry, you have to forgive him. If your parents says his punishment is to clean your room for a month and use his allowance to pay for a new Barbie, does he have to? Even if you have forgiven him? Yes. Just because someone has forgiven you doesn't mean you don't have to pay the price. Once when I taught a group of kids about this, one kid raised his hand. I'll call him Don. Don had an adult brother who had been shot. Don, of course, hated the shooter. He wanted to know if he had to forgive him. I said yes. Don would be in pain for all of his life if he didn't forgive the shooter. He should hope the shooter would ask God for forgiveness, and would go to heaven some day. But the shooter should have to answer to the law, and to God some day.
The biggest forgiver ever. There was once a guy who was treated like a king. People followed him around. They loved to hear him talk, and they asked his advice. He was the best doctor in the world, and cured all types of diseases. People loved him. And then one day, the government decided to kill him. Did the people protest? Did the people he had made well try to fight for him? Did his students get a lawyer to help him? No. They all hid, and were quiet. By the way, this was the strongest man ever, and could have stopped them from killing him, but he didn't. Were his last words, "I hope you all die"? Nope. He said, "Father (God), forgive them, they don't know what they are doing." That man was Jesus. He had every right to be angry. He wasn't. He had the power to stop his death, and kill all of those people. He didn't. He decided to forgive them. And us. He died for you!
So, forgive people that hurt you? You can! Just ask Jesus into your heart, and for the help you need to forgive others.
This week's prayer:
Dear Jesus,
I want to be able to forgive others. I admit that I have sinned. I know that you died on the cross to save me from my sins. Please forgive me of my sins and clean up my heart, and help me to keep it clean. Give me the wisdom and strength to forgive others.
Amen.
Story posted August 7, 2000
The Water gun.
This story includes Crazy Larry, Joey, and Tonya
Joey has been looking for Crazy Larry. He finally finds him outside of the convenience store.
"Hi Larry, I've been looking every where for you. Where is my water gun?"
"What do you mean pimple face?" answered Crazy Larry.
"You borrowed my water gun a while ago, Larry, where is it?"
"Oh yeah, I shot Mrs. ECC! in the face with it, and she confiscated it," said Crazy Larry.
Joey asked, "She took it away?"
"Yeah, she said she was taking it and throwing it away," answered Crazy Larry.
"Did you tell her it was mine?"
Crazy Larry replied, " Nah, I just ran off. It wasn't a real good gun anyway."
Joey was mad. "It was brand new! Don't you think you need to apologize to me?"
Crazy Larry thought a second. "I guess so. Your sorry!"
"Larry..."
"OK, I'm sorry. Sorry about what I told her, too."
Joey was confused, "What did you tell her?"
Crazy Larry told him, "I told her you said she would like to be cooled off by the water, and told me to shoot her."
Now Joey was mad again. "You've got to go tell her the truth!"
Crazy Larry wasn't going to do that. "I'm not going near Mrs. ECC, she's scary."
Joey wasn't going to let Larry get away with it. "Well, I'm going to tell her the truth and see if I can get my gun back, and by the way, I forgive you Larry, because I have Jesus in my heart."
"Whatever, bye loser." Crazy Larry yelled to Joey as he was leaving.
Joey got his water gun back. He was talking with Tonya when Crazy Larry came up.
Crazy Larry greeted them. "Hi Tonya, Hi Joey."
Tonya replied, "Hi Crazy Larry."
Joey was nice, too. "Hi Larry."
Crazy Larry asked, "Did you get that water gun back, Joey?"
"What water gun?" asked Tonya.
Joey answered her, "Larry shot Mrs. ECC with my water gun and lied to her. She took my gun, and yes she gave it back after I explained everything to her."
"Can I borrow it again?" asked Crazy Larry, "I want to go shoot MrGene."
"No!" Joey exclaimed.
Billy B:
"Yeah, Joey, Elder Everett is mad at you, too." said Tonya.
"Why would Elder Everett be mad at me?" Joey asked.
Tonya answered. "Because somebody threw a firecracker at him. Somebody told him it was you."
Crazy Larry started laughing. "It was really funny! You should have seen Elder Everett jump!"
"You did it Larry! And I bet you told him I did it.
Crazy Larry admitted it. "I guess I did. Sorry."
"Crazy Larry! I'm going to..."
"Now Joey, be careful." Tonya interrupted. "He said he was sorry."
"Yeah, but this is the 3rd time he's done something to me today!" cried Joey.
Tonya corrected him. "Yeah, but the Bible said that even if someone hurts us 7 times in one day, and they repent, we have to forgive them."
Crazy Larry stated matter of factly, "That's right ugly head."
"But Larry isn't really repenting." replied Joey.
As he was walking away Crazy Larry said, "I'm leaving, you guys are getting boring."
Now Tonya was just talking to Joey, "You're probably right. He isn't really repenting. But play it safe. If you don't forgive him, God might not forgive you."
Joey thought for a minute. "So I have to forget it."
Tonya corrected him, "Don't forget it! I wouldn't let him have the water gun, again. But try to forgive him."
"I’ll try. Thanks Tonya."
Tonya said, "Your welcome. Now let's go tell Elder Everett the truth about the firecracker"
Unscramble these words...
1. R G N E A _ _ _ _ _
2. S S U E J _ _ _ _ _
3. R Y O S R _ _ _ _ _
4. S O R F G E S I E V _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5. T F G R E O _ _ _ _ _ _
6. T W U G E N A R _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
7. H T U R T _ _ _ _ _
8. Y U N F N _ _ _ _ _
9. P E E N T R _ _ _ _ _ _
10. R C U E D _ _ _ _ _
Answers
Unscramble these words...
1. R G N E A ANGER
2. S S U E J JESUS
3. R Y O S R SORRY
4. S O R F G E S I E V FORGIVENESS
5. T F G R E O FORGET
6. T W U G E N A R WATER GUN
7. H T U R T TRUTH
8. Y U N F N FUNNY
9. P E E N T R REPENT
10. R C U E D CURED
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Copyright 2000 by Gene Powell