Yesterday the sermon was on forgiveness. The title was "Learn How to Forgive." I stated that for some to learn to forgive was the same as learning Quantum Physics in Russian for most Americans. However, if we remember that forgiveness is ours first from God, it should become easy to forgive. The sermon was based on Matthew 5: 38-45.
The pressing questions about forgiveness: What good does it do to hold a grudge? What benefit to our bodies is holding a grudge? The answer is simple: It does NO good to hold a grudge and we receive NO benefit to our bodies in holding a grudge and staying angry. In fact we stress our bodies and get sick as a result.
Here's our study guide for today.
Monday: Learning how to forgive is vital to our daily lives. Yet, we know it’s not always an easy thing to do. For today let us see a situation where agape, God’s love, helps in a situation where only the love of God could make a difference. In 1 Samuel, we find that King Saul should have had his firstborn, Jonathan, become the king of Israel, and Jonathan knew it should have been his birthright, but God chose David. Saul hated David, no question about that. But Jonathan who should have hated David, loved him “as his own soul” (1 Sam 18:1) Can you understand how it was God moving in that young man’s life that made him love when he should have hated?
If we believe we're entitled to something we will speak up if not fight for it. I don't think most of us would have liked the idea of having someone take your place to something you had believed was yours by birth. Imagine not being king/queen because the throne would now be someone else's. The thing to remember is the role of God in the lives of David and Jonathan. God had at one time been central to Saul's life as well. Yet because of his own disobedience, Saul wandered away from God and lost the throne not only for himself but for his entire family. David, because of his faithfulness, was given the throne.
If God is central in our lives as God should be, then God's peace allows us to have the "peace that passeth understanding" in all things. And with God central in our lives, forgiveness becomes a way of life. Not always an easy thing, but a necessary thing.
PRAYER: God of peace and power, become central in my life again today. Share with me your peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding so that I might be what you want me to be. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a blessed day in the Lord
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