(Clip) God Commands Christians to Forgive
God commands us to forgive others as He forgives us, and our failure to do so can create bitterness and affect our hearts.
This sermon emphasizes God's command for Christians to forgive others as they have been forgiven by God. It highlights the importance of letting go of bitterness and anger, and instead, seeking forgiveness for ourselves so we can extend that forgiveness to those who have hurt us, even in the face of extreme pain and suffering caused by various atrocities and traumas.
Full Transcript
God forbids the Christian to be bitter. God has forgiven the Christian of a horrendous amount of sin, of debt that they owe God, in essence, a debt that they could not pay. He washed it away, so what does He tell us to do? As I've forgiven you, so you forgive others.
God forbids the Christian to be bitter, forbids the Christian to harbor anger in their hearts. He commands us to pray that we would find forgiveness for ourselves and as a result, have power to forgive others that hurt us. You know, when we're hurt, it really does affect us.
God doesn't downplay that. Even the horrors and atrocities that can happen through rape and incest, that can happen through murder and all the other things, and divorces that can cause such pain and misery upon children and parents and all the nightmares. We can create nightmares in our life and we're commanded to forgive those.
We also need to understand that we are in desperate need of forgiveness ourselves.
Sermon Outline
- God's Forgiveness Commands Our Forgiveness
- The Consequences of Unforgiveness
- Our Need for Forgiveness
- We are in desperate need of forgiveness ourselves
- Unforgiveness can create nightmares in our lives
Key Quotes
“As I've forgiven you, so you forgive others.” — Glenn Meldrum
“We can create nightmares in our life and we're commanded to forgive those.” — Glenn Meldrum
“We are in desperate need of forgiveness ourselves.” — Glenn Meldrum
Application Points
- We must pray for forgiveness so that we have the power to forgive others.
- Forgiveness is not optional, but a command from God.
- Our unforgiveness can create nightmares in our lives and affect our hearts.