Perhaps The greatest of life-skills: Be forgiven. Forgive. s31e79 Mt6:12

3 year olds are some of my favorite people. They come to the truths of this podcast honestly: they frequently wrong each other. But, they also quickly ask and extend forgiveness.  If only the adults in the room did equally as well.

Forgiving and being forgiven is the greatest of life-skills. If there is another, please let me know what it is.  It is so important it occupies a huge chunk, of the very short Lord's Prayer.

If you asked around, would forgiveness characterize your life?  If not, start with these 7 minutes. Then, forgive as well as a 3 year old.

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https://youtu.be/_7k9_BTOAWE

Transcript

Perhaps The greatest of life-skill. Be forgiven. Forgive. s31e79 Mt6:12

I love 3 year olds. They are right in the middle of the first steps in learning the truth of this lesson. If you are ever in the midst of a group of 3 year olds, they will offend each other: steal toys, bash each other with some object…but then, with teaching and correction, they ask for and extend forgivenesswith relative ease. 

Then, they go forward as if nothing ever happened.

They are easy offenders. They are also easy forgivers.

OH, If only this were true about us. My observation is that this process gets MORE difficult as time goes on. The list of offenses against and against me just gets longer and longer.

         The reason we need this teaching from Jesus and hopefully from this youtube video is because of THE LIST: ACTUALLY 2 lists.

         Here is a list of people that I have wronged that lies currently unconfessed and unforgiven

         Here is a second list of people that have wronged me that also lie unforgiven.

Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors

Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against

Nobody is outside of the need for forgiveness, no 3 year old, no 30 yo.

         People are in need of forgiveness from you

         You are in need of forgiveness from them

         You have trespassed against them

         They have trespassed against you.

You can be the worlds first trillionaire, but without forgiveness being extended to you, and you extending it, you are alone.

What is the alternative to forgiveness? Aloneness, pride of judgement. All the while, Thinking you are right. Supposedly righteously ALONE

Passage calls not only to demonstrate the skill of being forgiven, which involves repentance and asking for forgiveness toward me, but also to DEMONSTRATE the skill forgiving others.

         Involves receiving apologies sometimes. Extending undeserved, unasked for grace. Unmerited kindness of relationship.

         Requires the real efforts in real time.

Wonder

         Is your life characterized by forgiving? I know lots of 3 year olds whose live actually ARE characterized by forgiving.

                  Passage says you should already have some reps under the belt: AS WE HAVE already forgiven.

Passage says your life SHOULD be characterized by forgiveness

That your life be characterized by forgiveness is NOT OPTIONAL foranyone who calls themselves a Christian, and for anyone who wishes to live well on the earth.

 Do you have to forgive ? NO enforced? NO

         What then are the consequenses of not forgiving and being forgiven? It is the list

         Lists of wrongs. Current revenge and anger and relational disappointment. Carried hurt. It is just not a good way to live. 

Compassionlessness. Treat others harshly. Be treated harshly. Manifested in your relationshiops, your politics, service, generosity, firendships, 

         Why should I be forgiven? Because I have demonstrated the grace I require, by already being graceful to another.

When do I do this? 12          and forgive us our debts, 

as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

BEFORE. I forgive first. I get forgiveness second.

have I already been doing this?????

         Have you been generous to others in this way

         Does the kindness extend to your circle of world in the expression of forgiving?

What is forgiveness: 

         Mentally changing reality.

Watch as God does these forgiving process

     Ps 103: 12        as far as the east is from the west, 

so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 

As far as the east is from the west…

                  You have cast all my sins behind your back Is38:17

We imitate the forgiving powers of God

         Exercise that uses the power of the will, intent of the soul

         To not hold on to offenses that have come into our world

To forgive another is to evict the person’s fault and that person from occupying real estate inside your head and heart. 

Know that vengeance, if necessary if for the Lord.

         It does not happen by accident. It does not happen casually

         This is not “poof”, everybody is forgiven

                  Forgiveness comes at a cost in a sense, a cost is to ME

                  Wait, I got trespassed against, someone stepped on my toe,someone foisted EVIL upon me, and Now you want ME to fix this? Yes. Why?

         Passage says, you too will step on toes, you might commit evil against. You will be in need of forgiveness.

         On that day you want to be amongst a forgiving people

         On that day you want to be before a forgiving God

         You want to have demonstrated this hard skill of saying I forgive you. Then We forgive you. 

Think of this, yes or no.  I am known for my forgiveness

Here is the charge: forgive better than a three year old.