Sermon by Mike Constantine : How Can I Forgive
I would very much wanted to go to the Connexions retreat in Genting Highlands. But one of the issues with project work is ungraceful timelines, made worse by waiting upon other people to complete their part of work so that you can continue with yours. But it's OK, cause I have set my own expectations from 2 weeks ago, and have already written-off my weekend. And for those who prayed for my, thank you very much.Despite the work over holidays, I actually felt quite peaceful. Despite work, I feel isolated from noise and buzz. Probably it's the fact that colleagues are not around and the phone doesn't ring off the hook. During the times of the day when I am not working, it's catching up with reading materials, golf and exercise. I know that God is with me. These 2 days certainly felt like a Daddy-son away day.
It's just that...it's incredibly difficult to find someone for a meal on Sunday evening! One friend is in Tampin, the other in Raub, another in Johor, my former church pastor went up to Genting....finally, I just have to call a colleague out. Don't know whether to laugh or to cry. hahaha....
I wanted to write something about moving into the presence of God, but I think I shall postpone that to next week. Over the past 1 year, I struggled with lessons of grace, forgiveness and surrender. I would argue that God could have administered the lesson to me gentler, but He obviously has other plans. He seems to be beckoning me to do things that makes me go "WHAT?!". How do you forgive, when you are rejected? How do you demonstrate grace, where there is bitterness? How do you love, in such spite?
God has very odd ways to teach principles. At least that's what I think...I make no apologies...not yet. Mostly perhaps I can be quite a difficult student at times. And He is timely with lesson closures (hopefully) with Pastor Mike Constantine's sermon today on forgiveness at the 2nd service. Sharing from his sermon :
Eph 4:31-32
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Forgiveness Facts
- Forgiveness is never based on a feeling, always on a decision
- You can forgive, even though you still remember
- We forgive wrongs. God forgives sins
- If you are constantly offended, you may be overly-sensitive
- Revenge is never the best choice, because revenge does not help.
- We must forgive ourselves as we receive God 's forgiveness
- We may think we need to forgive God, but we don't.
Forgiveness Does Not Mean:
- We have to like the person
- We have to trust the person.
- We must reconcile with the person.
- We automatically restore all privelages
He goes on to elaborate each and every point. But what ministered to me the most was the first 2 bullet points of Forgiveness Facts. If we were to be driven by how we feel, we may never ever want to forgive a person who has deeply hurt us. It should stem from the decision for us to forgive the person, whether we like it or not. Why? Because Christ forgave us first. Ultimately, it has very little to do between you and the person who hurts you, it has more to do with making that decision before God. That decision is an explicit demonstration of obedience before the Father. It states in the Bible that if you do not forgive, God will not forgive you.
The second bullet point hit me like a golf ball nailed on the sweet spot of Tiger's Nike driver. Many of us could relate to an incident when we forgive someone who hurt us deeply. And when the nagging feeling comes back, it throws us into doubts of whether we have actually forgiven the person. Pastor Mike shared about his childhood experience of falling off a slide from 6 ft high in which he broke his arm quite badly and leaves a scare that remains. Over the years, he felt pain at times, but the intensity lessens with time. He said, "The scar is there to remind you that healing has taken place." I have never ever thought about it in that way, I felt that my mind was like a sock turned inside out. I don't pretend to understand it now, but I am trying to (understand, not pretend). It's a valuable piece of idea I walked away with.
Bullet point 4 and 7 made me laugh, especially 4. It's hilarious.
I think Pastor Mike was very down to earth when he shared what forgiveness does not mean. But he did concur that forgiveness opens He way to liking, trusting, reconciling and restoring. Just as God forgives our sins through Christ, it opens up the path for us to come into His grace again.
If you're spiritually weighed down, chances are you are holding excess baggages of resentment and unforgiveness. So if you want to be spiritually light and nimble, forgiveness is the ultimate Marie France Bodyline (or is it Spiritline?) treatment.
posted by Mel-Vern @ 7:43 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks for your sharing on this matter. It is a subject that we all would have to go through, have gone through and are still going through. As for me, time and God's love, through people and circumstances form the balm, to heal my wounds and to learn to forgive too. Given enough, i've managed to look back on a few of these things with gratitude even. Gratitude for the lesson learnt, the wisdom gained and the courage and boldness to continue on with life...hopefully, a better person.
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