What's the Point?
What's the Point?
If You're Not Getting Honked At...
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In this episode, we’re diving into character and forgiveness, how the everyday stuff we face can either trip us up or actually help us grow, depending on how we respond and where our faith is rooted.
- Little challenges can either knock us down or build us up. It all comes back to character.
- Our words don’t just pass by; they shape who we are, how we see the world, and how others see us.
- Gossip feels harmless, but it’s one of the quickest traps we can fall into.
- The struggles you face today may be training you to walk with someone else tomorrow.
- Forgiveness in the Bible isn’t partial. It’s full release, letting go of the debt.
- Jesus called us to forgive without limits (think 70x7… no scorekeeping).
- God’s forgiveness toward us is tied directly to how we forgive others.
- When forgiving feels impossible, that’s when prayer steps in. For strength and even for the one who hurt you.
- Forgiving doesn’t erase memory or healthy boundaries. It removes the poison of resentment.
- Even little daily things, like traffic frustrations, are tests that show what’s really in our hearts.
Contact What's the Point?
- Email jonathan.walton@point.church
- Watch live or recorded services at https://www.point.church/
Please take a moment to leave us a rating and review the podcast! Thank you!
Podcast Introduction and Message Summary
Speaker 1What's up everyone. Welcome back to 4 Kids and a Calling podcast. I'm your host, Audrey Angiot. Across from me is Hutton Walton.
Speaker 2Hey guys.
Speaker 1Next to him is Andrea Cradare Hi. And to my left is Lincoln Saussure hey.
Speaker 2So I'm going to start us off today with a really deep question. So I need you guys to really think about your answers. What is your shoe size? I don't know.
Speaker 1That's a pretty random question If I had to go off the top of my head, I think like a six or seven. Oh my goodness, really, really, that's a pretty small foot, yeah um, don't make fun of me, don't gossip. Uh, moving on nine and a half, depending on the day, a three, four, five or six depending on the day, what.
Speaker 4How does it go that different sometimes my right, my sandals are like size threes or fours, because I get them in kid sizes, but then sometimes they make things smaller than they should and I get like five or six.
Speaker 2What does that have to do with the time of day?
Speaker 4what does it say, depending on the day? So if I'm wearing sandals, it's about a yeah, these are six.
Speaker 1Oh my gosh, I believe you bro. Anyway, um, I have a seven and a half to eight and a half, it really just depends. Um, she likes to switch it up on me sometimes, but anyway, what did you guys think? Actually a serious question what did you guys think about the sermon on sunday?
Speaker 2I thought it was really good. It was the was Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones? By Pastor Jared, and he was continuing his series that he just started about. Who could have guessed it? Stumbling blocks, yes, and he was really emphasizing how the little obstacles in your life, they can be either well, stumbling blocks or stepping stones. It depends on your character, and you got to pass the character test.
Speaker 2Man Like if you don't, it's going to be pretty bad and that's going to be a stepping stone every time. So sometimes little tests will arrive. They may not be huge mountains, they may just be tiny little stepping stones. And if you aren't vigilant, if you aren't locked in, then you're going to stumble every time and it's never going to be a stepping stone. And that's what I got from it.
Speaker 3That is facts.
Speaker 4Yes, I really liked his message from Sunday. Something I took away from it is if I don't guard myself against all these stumbling blocks, then the smallest things will cause me to quote unquote crash out as pastor jared spoke on sunday morning. So this morning I was going to my car and I put my water bottle in my car but it's like in a wallah. But then the top came off and water went all over my seat not all over, maybe like six drops and it made me mad.
Speaker 2But then I was like wait, there's got to be a stepping block, right yeah, a stepping stone yeah, like we, we all can see the uh, the big, uh stones that are in our way like don't lie, don't cheat, don't come in adultery stuff like that like you see those from a mile away. Every believer knows, don't do that, but sometimes there's a lot smaller things that we may not see coming exactly, and one and once I liked.
Speaker 4I liked whenever he said once you are weakened, it's extremely easy to stumble, because that's so true once we are weakened and we take our guard down, then it's a lot easier to stumble into all these little sins that can add up to a lot and what's in your heart is going to come out eventually, and that one way that happens is with our tongues, because he talked about the character test of the tongue so, um, from this sermon I took away, or one of my favorite things was your words can either be stumbling blocks for those around you or stepping stones.
Speaker 1Um, I take that as like just be a positive influence for the ones who need it, because you never know who you're going to go throughout like see, throughout your day, and they really need that positive influence and that little boost of like happiness yeah um, so be the light that this world needs, because it's a dark, dark world out there and you don't see like the half of it, but especially today, right, yeah, so facts.
Speaker 2And you know, with all that darkness out there, it can be pretty easy for gossip to become a stepping stone. And that's another point that Pastor Jared talked about how gossiping is easy. If we're real, it's very easy to fall into it. Idle conversation, your mind wanders. Sometimes you're gossiping before you even know it. And you don't realize how impactful that is, because your tongue, your words have power.
Speaker 2You can either build a person up or you can tear them down, all with your tongue, and so we all need to watch out for that stepping stone.
Speaker 1Yeah, this is a genuine question, little side quest question, but we're going, we're coming right back. But what do you guys think like? Where do you think the line is for gossiping and simply stating a fact about someone, but it's not necessarily negative, but where do you think the line is where it starts to be?
Speaker 2gossip it depends on your intentions. Like if that thing just doesn't need to be said at all. It's gossiping. Like if you're just bringing stuff up to bring it up about someone. That's gossiping yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4Or if you're trying to like demolish their character, yeah, publicly or not publicly, but like in front of other people that should. Or like hudson said, like things that you know shouldn't be said, and you know that, like that's rude, or like you you know, yeah, okay yeah yeah, back to the question.
Speaker 1Um, I don't remember.
Speaker 3We got saying something or talking about to talk about on sunday yeah, the message, uh passage message on sunday, it really impacted me, because how many times have people seen the actions that we've maybe done and we didn't realize how much it did impact them? Like, it really made me think about like how I need to be the best influence on the person next to me, because, I mean, ultimately, you are going to be either their stumbling block or somebody that's going to lift them up with a stepping stone. Yeah and uh, I like the point he made about looking over the small cracks, because you see a mountain in front of you. Um, maybe while you're looking at the mountain and thinking about how you can avoid the mountain, you trip over a multiple little cracks that'll eventually do more damage to you than the big mountain will do. So that, to me, was a really big point that I got from it yeah, that's good, just like those three rocks that you threw on the platform yeah, like sometimes you don't see those things coming.
Speaker 2Yeah, and when you trip, and roll your ankle it's
Speaker 3over and I like the point he made about once you get affected the first time, it's easier to get hurt again after that, like he talked about how when he first twisted his ankle, he was more vulnerable or it was more, yeah prone to getting injured again. I like that point a lot yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4I also liked how he brought back up, um, what he had talked about in the god can series, which is your words have power, because our words really do have power. And he said that our tongues steer our lives, which is very true, because you are creating your world with your own words. Um, the words that come out of our mouths shape our character, but it also shapes our future, and watching your words can be difficult, right?
Speaker 2we all experience that I experience that definitely, especially on these roads I struggle with it a little, a little bit, um, but what?
Speaker 4what you can do about that is you can think about what you say before you say it, and then that'll save you a whole lot of trouble or you could do like pastor jared does and write it down walk away for a few hours, come back.
Speaker 2If it sounds stupid, just don't say it yeah, I, I like that that was smart I like the story.
Speaker 1You told too about the what was. It was the um the wait. Y'all know the story drawing a blank here sister.
Speaker 2He said a few stories yeah, he says a lot about the words.
Speaker 4Very wise man no about the one I forgot what it was about recording it, then coming back and listening to it. No, it was something like beginning middle and then coming back and listening to it.
Speaker 2No, it was something else, like beginning, middle, end of message. We need something here Like mid like middle.
Speaker 1So you just said something that reminded me of it, but now I just lost it. Oh, I remember. I remember the one about the person. Wait, was there something about somebody who said something that I couldn the?
Speaker 2old man with the feathers.
Speaker 1Yes, that's what it was oh yeah story, the guy. He had the pillowcase full of feathers and he let it go in the middle of the town and he couldn't pull them all back in. Um, my next thing actually is, what kind of andrea said word shape character, and character shapes our future. Um, you just have to speak life and positivity, because not only to the people around you, but to yourself too. Yeah, because the things you say to yourself, the things you believe about yourself, is what you're going to become.
Speaker 4And especially, another thing that I took away from his message was you add like keep me from temptation and don't let me be a stumbling block to other people in your morning prayer in the morning, Because whenever you pray over yourself in the morning and you speak life and scripture over yourself, you have such a better day.
Speaker 2It's really crazy, but like, if you actually do that and like, like, do what the bible says and what jesus says, it makes your life better so much better.
Speaker 1It's almost like the bible.
Speaker 3We take it for granted yeah but like, if you just do it like, dude, the day is so much easier I like the point he said about the guardrails. To make sure you have guardrails in your mind and don't say everything that comes to your mind. I like that point a lot.
Speaker 2Yeah, because we can't control our tongues.
Speaker 3Like they said earlier, you can't take back what you do. Say yeah.
Speaker 1I think everybody has a story where they've said something and they regret it so bad after yeah. Another thing I like that he said was you cannot be like Christ if you don't pass the character test. So the test is something. It's kind of complex. If somebody want to explain it in like simple terms, I don't really have a simple character test yeah, like it's just like.
Speaker 3It's like making sure that you have the fruits of the spirit, making sure your heart is really seeking the things of god and you're ultimately an example of what christ would have would be like.
Speaker 1Now, there you go if you didn't know what the character test was. That is it. So you cannot be like Christ if you don't pass the character test. Okay, we're going to talk about it. So he said that the world sees your character more than you realize.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1And, honestly, a lot of times more than you see your own character, and that's pretty good, because you're really not fooling people if you're full of hate and evil things and darkness, especially people that are hungry for God, that want something more Like if they're looking for it and they see you and you're failing the character test.
Speaker 2you may not get a chance to introduce them to Jesus. Yeah, so you gotta watch yourself.
Speaker 1Yeah, and that kind of ties that ties into the stumbling blocks, because the stumbling blocks are from the enemy and then the enemy's tests and attacks.
Speaker 1They become like a test of character, because you know you have to see what you do whenever those things are put in your path and you have to either decide to stumble over them or move along with your day.
Speaker 1Along with your day, yeah, um, uh. The last thing that I had, which was actually my favorite, was, um, when he said, what is big for you today might be something that you bless other people with later, I thought like that's a really good one for me, because there's a lot of times in life when I've struggled with something or I'm waiting for something and I don't realize. But god was making me wait for that thing so that I could help someone else later, or that I could use that story and testimony to help someone else later and to preach to someone, so you can learn from the struggles that you have and you could help other people and you could become a comforter that way and somebody that people rely on and go to for advice. And even if it's hard in the moment, it's just because God's setting you up for the next level, which is another thing you talked about, About something about the levels.
Speaker 1you know you can't go to the next level.
Speaker 2Yeah, that ties back into the character test, Like if you're not ready, if you're not faithful at your current level why would he bring you to the next level?
Speaker 1Yeah, that's what it was.
Speaker 4I don't know what he said. I forgot, I don't remember exactly.
Speaker 2It was something smart and very biblical.
Speaker 3I think it was something like if you're faithful with the little things, you'll be faithful with the big things.
Speaker 4I think he referenced that it's in my notebook. I don't know guys.
Speaker 3I think it's in the Bible too, I just don't know where, somewhere in there.
Speaker 4Yeah, but I've heard it said before that I don't know by who, but somebody said it that your pain is probably for somebody else. So, like, I've gone through really bad health issues my whole life, right. And so, um, I I used to wrestle with this because I was like god, why would my pain be for somebody else? Like this makes no sense. Like, why do I have to struggle so much over somebody else like my? My brain couldn't wrap it, my brain couldn't understand it, until one of our girls in our church got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and then me and her really connected because I understood exactly what she was going through and I was like, oh, this makes so much sense. But then god healed her, so god can heal you too. But then god healed me, so god can heal you too. But anyways, um, but no, now that I've gone through that and I've learned all those lessons, it's really been a part of my testimony to where you can speak faith into somebody else's situation.
Speaker 1It's like the verse that says, like perhaps you were made for such a time as this, or whatever.
Speaker 4Yeah, that's what I think of when I hear that. Yeah, so it's cool.
Forgiveness: A Biblical Perspective
Speaker 2Yeah, that's really good. That's good. Thank you Host, I mean y'all want to move on to forgiveness.
Speaker 1I think we should. Yeah, we can. Yeah, I think we're ready to move on to forgiveness. Okay, um, so what?
Speaker 2do you guys think that forgiveness I I like to think I look at matthew 6, 12, where basically it says make allowance for each other's faults like forgiveness to me is not holding a debt, uh, to people that do things against you, it's letting go of that debt. It's not not holding what they do against you like you don't want to pay him back. You let it go like what christ does for us yeah.
Speaker 4So whenever I was told that we were going to do this topic of forgiveness, I was like, let's go see what the bible actually means whenever it says forgiveness. So we dove into blue letter. So if you don't know what that is, it's the Bible online, blue Letters. Yeah, it's called Blue Letter Bible and it breaks down every single word in either Hebrew or Greek and it tells you what it means in the original language and how it was used. And so I did that for a few words. So one of them in Strong's Concordance is G859.
Speaker 4I wasn't going to attempt to say it, so I'm not, but this word means release or remission of penalty. So let's look at some biblical examples really fast. So this word for forgiveness is an example of God's forgiveness towards us. This word often appears whenever the word remission is used, meaning a complete or total pardon of sin. So where does this say this in the bible? Well, matthew 26, 28 says for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for the many, for many, for the remission of sins. So jesus was saying this, that his blood was going to be shed for total pardon of sins and complete pardon of sins for everybody. And then in acts 2, 38, it says then peter said unto them repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of jesus christ, for the remissions of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost.
Speaker 4So jesus forgives us of our sins and pardons them completely, and he acts like they never even happened ain't that something yeah so whenever you you sin right, you um are mean in traffic and happens a lot you actually repent and you ask jesus to forgive you. He forgives you and he forgets about it, like he acts like it never even happened, which I think that's kind of crazy.
Speaker 3Like it's not crazy, like it's cool, you know yeah, uh, for me, matthew 18, 21 to 22, it says. Then Peter came to him. He was talking to Jesus and he said Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times. And Jesus said to him I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. So earlier, while I was preparing for this, I looked up verses about forgiveness and that one really stuck out to me. Jesus wasn't telling Peter just to forgive 490 times a day. He was just saying, like you need to forgive constantly, because if you're forgiving somebody 490 times a day, that's crazy.
Speaker 1Yeah, you're kind of doing that so wrong? What are they doing wrong?
Speaker 4Yeah, like what are they doing to you. So that could show, yeah, you're kind of what are they doing wrong.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, like what are they doing also that could show that you're forgiving wrong, because you aren't supposed to be keeping count. Yeah, yeah. Well, he was just saying like that's how much you're supposed to forgive.
Speaker 3You're not supposed to hold people, like you said, in debt because you feel like they deserve this, because they did this to you. That's not what god intended for it. Um ephesians 432 says be kind to one another, tender-hearted forgiving one another, as god and christ forgave you. So I mean, ultimately, god came and manifested himself in the flesh as jesus, and he took on the weight of the world just so he could forgive me and you yeah so, and while he was doing that, he was mocked, beaten and ultimately crucified.
Speaker 3And through all of the pain, he says Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. So if you truly want to be Christ-like. You have to forgive people because he went through all of that and still forgave.
Speaker 2Yeah, because we're all called to be like Christ and to imitate Christ. To pass the character test, we have to forgive, and there's no better role model than Jesus himself.
Speaker 3Yeah, it's definitely an area that I need to work on, because I have trouble forgiving people who have hurt me really bad. But then I'll think about it and I'm like, well, maybe I'm that person to somebody else, maybe I'm the person who's hurt somebody else really bad that it's hard for them to forgive me. So that takes it and really puts into perspective that we really all need to forgive each other, because I can't expect to be forgiven if I don't forgive.
Speaker 4Yeah, and going back to what you said about the 70 times 7 thing, so whenever Jesus says 70 times 7, he didn't mean 490 times, right, because he used this figuratively and it symbolizes completeness and totality, so I dove into this one too. So he is 70 times seven to convey limitless forgiveness, meaning that forgiveness should be offered continuously and indefinitely, without counting how many times you have forgiven someone. So the number 70 symbolizes fullness in the Bible and the number seven symbolizes completeness or perfection, and so by jesus combining these two numbers by multiplication, he is showing that us that forgiveness is not limited and it does not have a boundary, so it shouldn't have a boundary in our lives, and it's that it definitely doesn't have a boundary yeah with him.
Speaker 4It is an ongoing act of extended grace and it is totally not limited to 490 offenses.
Speaker 2Yeah it's continual Like there's no count. You don't count how many times you forgive, you just do it.
Speaker 3Exactly, but it takes a lot of strength and courage to do it.
Speaker 2It does.
Speaker 3But when you forgive, you let go of all that heaviness that you've been holding on because of the pain that that person calls to you.
Speaker 2So we've talked about what it is. We've talked about why we need to forgive because we're called to be like Christ and we've talked about how many times we should do it. We shouldn't just forgive six or seven times, or just 490 times. It's continually so. Like Lincoln was just saying, how do we forgive when it feels impossible? Sometimes it's hard, like when someone cuts me off in traffic. I don't want to forgive them in the moment, I want to rear end them.
Speaker 3But I don't think it gets any harder than being mocked, beaten and crucified.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 3He came down for his people, yeah, and his people did not accept him.
Speaker 4Complete and total rejection.
Speaker 3I don't think it gets any harder than that, and if he was still able to say forgive them, they know not what they do. That is the perfect example of what to do. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be hard. It's not supposed to be easy. Yeah do?
Speaker 2I mean it's it's gonna be hard. It's always not supposed to be easy. Yeah, if I just think about how jesus went through all of that forgave them while he was being killed yeah it really puts into perspective. It makes it a bit easier to forgive, yeah, or if you look at the fact that we sin more than we can ever count and god will forgive you every single time, every time really puts into perspective so I think, that's a way to make it a bit easier.
Speaker 2Just put it in perspective, like what he forgives us for is so much more than we can ever forgive anyone else for.
Speaker 1Yeah, 100 like the minor transgressions that they do. It's not anything yeah, like you do, yeah, like once you think about it going against the bible you just start laughing because like wow this really means nothing like yeah, yeah, it really is so silly yeah, and you.
Speaker 1And it's like there's also scripture I didn't know this actually until today, um, but like matthew 6, 15, says but if you do not forgive others of their sin, your father will not forgive your sins. It's like not an option, because if you want to be forgiven, then you have to forgive. You have to forgive, you have to be Christ-like and spread his and like. Another thing is you can't pray to be like him and like for him to make make oh sorry, make you more like him, but then not forgive and not do the things that he would do.
Speaker 3At least least try.
Speaker 4I mean, that's one of those things, that's it's hard to do, but it's an obvious thing. It's not hidden, it's straight up.
Speaker 4You have to forgive, it's the character test and back to what calling and back to what audrey was saying um, you forgiving someone is a prerequisite to god forgiving you, because in matthew 18, 32 to basically, I'm just getting ready for you. Then the master called in the servant and said you, wicked servant, I canceled all the debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had it on you? And then, in anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should have paid back all that he owed. This is how my heavenly father will treat each of you, unless you forgive your brother or your sister from your heart.
Speaker 4So in this parable that Jesus told, there was a master and the master forgave one of his servants financial debts that he had and it was huge, like it was huge had, and it was huge, like it was huge. And so the punishment that the servant was going to have was good he was going to be thrown into jail and tortured until he could pay back every single penny that he owed the master. But then, but the servant begged him like, please, please, please, forgive my debt, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do better. Like, please. And the master was like okay, I'll forgive your debt.
Speaker 4Well, that same servant goes to another servant and says, hey, you owe me a debt, pay it back right now. And the second servant is like, I don't have the money right now, like, can you please have mercy on me? And the first servant who got forgiven says uh, no, and throws him in jail. Well, this comes back to the master and this makes the master furious, which is where we just picked up. And because the first servant who was forgiven did not forgive the smaller debt of the second servant, the first servant was thrown into prison and tortured until he could pay back everything. And it says that this is how Jesus will treat us if we don't forgive our brother or our sister. So we cannot expect Jesus to forgive us if we don't forgive others, because that's really good.
Speaker 2It really pulls it back into putting it in perspective and honestly I think that parable even you could say it's putting it lightly how much we don't deserve to be forgiven because it's not a monetary value for us. Like we deserve to go downstairs for all that we do. But, we're not, because God forgives us and by his grace.
Speaker 3The sins that we've committed is the reason that he was crucified. So we ultimately did crucify him.
Speaker 4We ultimately killed Jesus.
Speaker 3Even though we weren't alive at the time, he took on the sins for all the world forever, from the end to the beginning. So the sins that we all do is the reason that he had to die. So we're just as guilty as the people who are saying to crucify him.
Speaker 2So it really does make it seem silly, like just forgive them, like you can't ever get worse than what jesus went through and what he's forgiven you for, and just yeah, remember.
Speaker 1It's not about excusing the wrong that they did to you. It's about being a christ-like example and doing what god would want and reflecting his mercy. Because what kind of example are we going to set if we can't even show a little bit of mercy to our neighbor?
Speaker 2Exactly.
Speaker 4Yeah, and just like Pastor Jared said, not last Sunday but the Sunday before, and whenever he started out his new series, he said forgiveness has nothing to do with justice, it is refusing to keep tripping over the same carpet tack. So he used the carpet tack as like the first stumbling block, like something that you keep tripping over, because whenever he was little he tripped over a carpet tack and hurt his toe once, but anyways.
Speaker 4So whenever you forgive, you give up seeking justice for that individual. So you don't want any harm to come to them anymore. You don't want to. You know press charges or whatever. Like whatever makes sense in your head. You don't want to do that anymore. Forgiveness means completely letting go because you know that god will take care of it. Because in the bible it does say vengeance is mine says the lord, it's not our job to get revenge.
Speaker 4It is never our job to get revenge it is god's job to get revenge because, truly, he is the ultimate judge and we're not. What we think is fair and what God thinks is fair is two totally different ends of the spectrum, like 100%. God sees everything and he knows everything, and we don't. We only see what's in front of us, like I see Audrey right now.
Forgiveness is Hard
Speaker 1Me too Shocking so another thing is is like, if it's, even if it's hard to forgive, or they do something absolutely horrible and you're like there's no way I can forgive this, just think of, like, the path that they're going down and how bad it would be if they kept going that way and how much like just not okay, not in a crazy way, but like you know how bad, or you don't even know, but you can imagine how bad hell will be and you should never want anyone to go through that. So you should always strive to not just forgive, but preach to that person, pray for them and just tell them the truth and try to help them in any way that you can. Even if they're hurting you and they did you wrong, you should still want the best for everyone to go to heaven.
Speaker 4Yeah, because, yes, our world is dark, our world is needs jesus so bad, but we still have god's spirit here on earth.
Speaker 2In hell, it is the complete absence of god's spirit and you can't even imagine that, because we live in a world that has god's spirit you can't imagine the absence of it, because you've never had the absence of it, you know yeah, and so if, like if forgiving someone could possibly bring them closer to god, and if they're not on the right path, set them on the right path or help them get there, then that's what it's all about like we should strive to forgive everyone and ultimately it has to do with your character, right?
Speaker 4because forgiveness, forgiveness basically almost doesn't do anything for the person that offended me, but it does everything for me because, say, if someone really, you know, betrays me or hurts me, and I'm gonna sit there and I'm gonna mull over it, and you're gonna get so angry.
Speaker 4I'm gonna get so angry, and so the big ball of anger is gonna come back and um, it's that big ball of anger. It's gonna fester into bitterness and all these things that are not christ-like, and um, I'm gonna want to see justice and revenge on this person for something that they did to me and it's gonna it's gonna destroy my character. A hundred percent. Unforgiveness will, will destroy your character.
Speaker 2It it can't not destroy it yeah, like it ties all the way back to stumbling blocks from the message like not forgiving can be a major stumbling block, yes, like the mountain of stumbling blocks.
Speaker 1And then it's a big one.
Speaker 2It's like Kilimanjaro.
Speaker 4And then not forgiving somebody is going to set your spirit and your character up for failure, because you cannot become like Christ and you cannot become the person that God wants you to be if you are harboring all of this bitterness and anger and unforgiveness in your heart because Jesus commands us, it's not an option. We don't have the option to not forgive. We have to forgive if we want to be forgiven and I want to be forgiven Me too we need to be forgiven we need to be forgiven.
Speaker 2We need to have trust. We all want to.
Speaker 4But forgiveness does feel impossible, like back to what y'all were saying a second ago. It really does, but I like how 2 Corinthians 2 and 9 puts it. It says my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. So if your weakness is not forgiving somebody and it's, you know, going along those lines you can ask Jesus. Hey, I need your help. I need your help to forgive this person. You tell them exactly what happened. Xyz did ABC to me and I'm having a really, really hard time processing it and forgiving them. But I want to forgive them, like you said.
Speaker 4So when we feel like we can't forgive, jesus will help us forgive them and he's going to change our hearts because, that's what he does, and it says whenever I I am weak, he is strong and if we ask him to help us in our weaknesses, he's going to, because he's not going to step into your situation until you invite him into your situation. Yeah, yeah you know, and so he can help us forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, and while you're praying to help you forgive them, go ahead and pray for the other person like I know we don't want to, but praying for someone can soften our hearts towards that person yeah, yeah, and they can help you forgive exactly help.
Speaker 1You see the other person's side like yeah always try to see both ways, because there's a there's two sides to every story. Yeah, and you might see from your perspective, but just try to see into their situation, see what they could be going through at home or in their like their personal lives, and just try to be a little bit relatable before you just go straight to judging and hatred.
Speaker 2You should never go to judging hatred, but yeah, I feel like if you're going straight to hatred, you're failing the character test already.
Speaker 3That's a hard problem, right, you need to go pray.
Speaker 4That through a bit good, yeah, just a bit yeah, um, oh, I googled the wrong reference.
Speaker 3Hold up well, why you look that up.
Speaker 4Okay, I got it, never mind so matthew 5, 54 says but I tell you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who mistreat you. And so that goes back to what Hudson was just saying, how we have to pray for the people that have hurt us even if they're not our enemies. Because not everyone is your enemy, but someone has mistreated you and in your mind, that person might become your quote-unquote enemy but, whenever you pray for them, it softens your heart and it does let them.
Speaker 1Let you kind of see it from their perspective did you just say that, that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against no validities?
Speaker 4well, that's what that's like love your enemies, oh okay, yeah, yeah, pray for that's what it's like, sister. That's what it's like yeah, because we do wrestle against, you know, spirits and all those things.
Speaker 1But don't see it as a me versus you. See it as us versus the devil us versus the problem be on the same side, because we're all on jesus's side at the end of the day.
Speaker 2At least we need to try to be like I don't really want to wrestle with flesh and blood, like I'm not good at wrestling, I don't want to punch somebody but yo no, I don't I don't okay.
Speaker 4Yeah, I thought you said you want to punch no, because that's what I thought of whenever hutton said I don't want to wrestle against flesh and blood, I was like, yeah, I don't want to punch somebody okay okay yeah lincoln, you could go now.
Speaker 3I forgot I interrupted you oh wait, no, audrey said something about you need to see, uh, both sides of the story amen I put that in my nose, I just forgot to say it. Um, oftentimes, when we're trying to forgive somebody, we always focus on how they've hurt us but we don't, we don't take into consideration what have I done to them?
Does Forgiveness Mean Forgetting?
Speaker 2like you always, or at least for me, I tend to focus on the pain that I'm feeling and I don't focus on the pain that I've caused yeah, because very rarely, if we actually look at it and be honest, will we ever be 100 in the right like there's never there will very rarely be a time where we didn't do something back at them or to them yeah, so just keep an open mind like yeah and forgive yeah, just just forgive, bro. It's that simple, even when it seems impossible.
Speaker 2I have another question for you all oh boy yes, this one might seem a little tough, but does forgiving someone mean that we have to forget? What do you guys think about that?
Speaker 3um, so are you asking like, if you forgive somebody, are you supposed to completely forget?
Speaker 2yeah, like should you be trying to erase all your memory of their transgressions, or remember?
Speaker 3I don't know if you I mean you can't truly forget what they've done right, but you can, like we said earlier, not hold it against them. Not hold it against them. Um, I thought about like an example if a burglar breaks into your house, you're gonna go get an alarm system right? Yeah, it's gonna alert you when somebody else tries to break into your house. You might forgive the burglar.
Speaker 3You're still gonna set up safety precautions to avoid the problem happening again there you go and that, like you have, it's not necessarily you're forgetting, but you are forgiving and you're protecting yourself from letting it happen again, like stepping on the tack. Pastor jared said he put socks and shoes on in his house at all times even by going to bed yeah, because you can.
Speaker 2I think you can forgive someone and you can let go of that debt like we talked about. Yeah, but you can still remember what they did because the Bible in Proverbs 22 and 3, it says a prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences. So you can stay prudent and stay vigilant and remember, but not hold it against that person.
Speaker 4Yeah, yeah, that's good, but not hold it against that person. Yeah, yeah, that's good. You can. You can give up resentment and desire for them to be hurt like they hurt you, like you. You can give that up, but still put boundaries in your life to where you. You know, I'm not, I'm not crossing this line. No one else is crossing this line. You are protecting yourself from that recycling and happening again, you know?
Speaker 2yeah, so I like what lincoln said yeah, and like, like you can even see it, how we should imitate how god forgives us, because god doesn't actually like lose memory of the things we do. He chooses to forget. Like he says in isaiah 43 and 25 god chooses sorry. I, yes, I alone, will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again yeah so he doesn't lose the memory.
Speaker 2He chooses not to hold it against you and to remember it. So that's how we should be. We should choose not to treat the person like they've done wrong to us.
Speaker 3Yeah, I think it's. Don't hold it against them, but I think it's still important to set up boundaries. If somebody hurts you really bad. I don't think you should just completely disregard what they've done yeah, because it doesn't mean you're not forgiving them if you set up boundaries, just protect yourself, protecting yourself exactly but you can let them hurting.
Speaker 4You be a stepping stone, as you setting boundaries in your life to make sure that, well, one, it won't happen again, but two, it teaches yourself discipline. Because you set this boundary, you set this discipline and you're saying I'm not crossing this line and neither is nobody else you know.
Speaker 3Yeah, and you're rising above the problem.
Speaker 4Yes, you are being the bigger person and you are choosing to not let that one mistake or that one issue define you.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1Turn the other cheek sister and brother.
Speaker 2Brothers.
Speaker 4Brothers in Christ.
Speaker 2I try, sister, I try.
Speaker 1You end up honking that horn in the morning anyway.
Speaker 4Dude oh what we need a honk count. How many times do you honk the horn?
Speaker 2Y'all know the traffic circle heading towards Scott.
Speaker 4Yes On 93?. Yes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2Dude. The other day I was going to class at a brisk 8 am in the morning. Like people have places to go. At 8 am in the morning I got off that traffic circle. Someone pulled out of the Dollar General with no one in the foreseeable future in front of us and started going 25 on a 55. I tell you that was a stumbling block. That was a big one.
Speaker 4Did you pray for patience that morning?
Speaker 2I broke the law and I passed over a double yellow because he made the problem worse.
Speaker 3I had to repent. After that I did.
Speaker 4That was a stumbling block. After that I did oh amen, that was a stumbling block that morning. Oh no, that's funny. They're going to put cameras out just for Hudson and give him tickets.
Speaker 2I don't think it's that serious.
Speaker 1I don't ever honk or anything, though I just like I do a little smile. Do you ever do the smirk Like I never look at anybody that's passing me that I pass? Anything anything with like road, road rage, any, any direction. I just pass them with a little smirk and I stay looking forward.
Speaker 4I don't look the person I pass up. No, but in the parking tower at ul people decide to get right behind you whenever you're in the parking tower, like going up or going down. Why are you that close to me? I'm not gonna go any faster.
Speaker 3If only they follow jesus. Where are you going? Fact?
Speaker 4like you should be following jesus as close, not my car. Like I should be able to see your headlights in your mirrors I think my grandma has that on her license plate thing.
Speaker 3It says uh, you should follow jesus as close. It's like the little.
Speaker 2You can read this.
Speaker 3It's like you should follow Jesus as close. It's true If people follow Jesus as close as they follow my back bumper the world would be in a lot better place than it is right now Amen.
Speaker 4So that's a stumbling block for me.
Speaker 2It's pretty apparent that God's still working on all of us. We all still have little stumbling blocks that we need to turn to stepping stones.
Speaker 4So don't trip over those little rocks.
Speaker 3And how many times would God honk the horn at us if he could.
Speaker 4I feel like whenever we make certain decisions, Jesus is up there being like he's honking from heaven. Why did you do that, except he?
Speaker 3wouldn't do that.
Speaker 4I mean, I guess he wouldn't yell at you. I mean, he might, I don't know, but like you know, I feel like sometimes it's just a big reaction, but then he knows everything, so it didn't surprise him. But that's what my brain likes to think sometimes.
Speaker 3We should get honked at by God.
Speaker 4We should. If you're not getting honked at, then like you're not doing something.
Speaker 3I think Brother Dustin talked about that on Wednesday night. He talked about how the shepherd would tap the sheep on the top of the head.
Speaker 4Oh yeah, To like redirect them.
Speaker 3That they were going in the right way.
Speaker 4How many times have you been tapped on the head?
Speaker 3I need to be spanked upside the head with the shepherd's stick, sometimes dude.
Speaker 1The shepherd's stick.
Speaker 3Yeah, whatever it's called Hunk for Jesus guys, we do that.
Speaker 4Hunk for Jesus.
Speaker 3God can, god can, he can do it.
Speaker 4Jesus loves you Praising.
Speaker 3This I know.
Speaker 1Well, guys, I think that's going to conclude today's podcast. Is that good with everyone?
Speaker 3Before we finish, happy late birthday to producer Brian, yes, and happy late birthday to Audrey, oh yeah, thank you, our faithful host of these past two episodes.
Speaker 1Well, I couldn't do it without these amazing co-hosts next to me and in front of me and diagonal to me, and we can do it.
Speaker 2Amen, All right guys. Thanks for watching. We'll catch y'all in the next one.
Speaker 1Yes, see you next week.