Forgiveness

A key to forgiving your offenders is realizing that God can work through your suffering to accomplish His purposes in your life. This understanding enabled many people in Scripture to forgive their offenders.

What do we do when someone hurts us deeply? What happens when we hold bitterness toward others? Affirming Biblical Foundations (ABF) is a ten-part, interactive workshop where participants walk through common conflicts we often face, whether in the family, the church, the work place, or the civil arena.

In the last verse of the Old Testament, God gives us a remarkable hope for the blessing of family restoration under the Messiah. Malachi announces: “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:6). How interesting and very fitting that the last words of the Old Testament dovetail perfectly with the first words of the New Testament!

When someone offends you, your response can lead to the bondage of bitterness or the freedom of forgiveness. You might be surprised by the far-reaching results of your attitudes and actions!

Realizing that I will, one day, answer to God for my every thought, word, and action, and doing what is necessary to make amends with those whom I have offended

The eighteenth of nineteen children, Charles Wesley was brought up by Godly parents. However, the family’s commitment to follow Christian principles made them unpopular. During the forty years they ministered […]

A lack of forgiveness creates bitterness, and bitterness is like the disease of leprosy. Those who have leprosy lose any sensation of pain. Similarly, those who are bitter are often unaware of how they hurt people.

When we experience abuse from others, our natural response is to strike back. Pride prompts us to return hurt for hurt and insult for insult. However, God instructs us to love our enemies.

Mockery of traits over which you have no control is an outward attack that brings inward humbling. At the very moment when you embrace humility, God provides the most important ingredient of grace to achieve any lasting success or fruitfulness in the Christian life.

When you’ve been wronged, becoming bitter toward your offender is natural and seems like the way to get revenge. However, this response actually harms you more than it harms your offender! To be bitter is to be in bondage to hatred and wrath.

In Hebrews 12:15, we find this warning: “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” If we don’t respond to God’s grace in difficult situations, we will become bitter. Bitterness will not only affect us—it will affect others as well!