Today is the finale of this wonderful series, and we must start it with this reminder:
GLORY!! – Grace and forgiveness are imperative to bringing glory to God in our lives!
Of course, we as believers know that our lives are about bringing glory to the One who created us and saved us.
Let’s again see some truth as to how VITAL this is in our spiritual lives…
Lk 17:3-4 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
Jesus minced no words on this subject (nor did He ever, being FULL of grace and truth).
Why do you think it’s mentioned so “matter of fact” as part of the Lord’s prayer??? – because it’s EXPECTED from us.
It even ends with another stark reminder from our Lord! (this is where a healthy fear of the Lord comes in)
Mt 6:9-15 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (see how matter of fact vs. 12 is?- its assumed!)
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
And look what we’re commanded to “put on”, like a garment:
Col 3:12-14 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
We’ve been encouraged in this series to transcend the situation when we’re attacked, right?? (again, picture being in that open field, seeing the one who hurt you, but then seeing the great work of our Creator behind and above them)
Transcend (Rise Above) the Situation: When someone sins against you, consider that the KoD might be influencing them in that moment (ala Eph 6:12)…. that will help you have a compassionate, forgiving attitude towards them.
Our main verse has been:
Pr 19:11 NKJV The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger,
And his glory is to overlook a transgression.
While we dwell on that, let’s visit an old friend to help us out:
Jas 1:19-20 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires.
Have you ever noticed that anger, or even impatience, always gets you in trouble?? (am I the only one??)
Lately, I’ve noticed when I lose my patience with a person, or even with a situation in this world, I’M THE ONE who pays the price!!
More importantly, we don’t bring glory to God when we “lose it”…
… we don’t produce the righteousness God requires.
This is why we have to learn to transcend, or rise above, the details of the situation and look at the big picture, EVERY TIME.
We must do this for the glory of the One who saved us…
The Glory of His Grace: When you choose to overlook the sin of another person, that’s Christ’s light shining like a visible glow from within you. The example you exhibit by overlooking someone else’s transgression is like a gleaming ornament (“glory” in Pr 19:11); a light in the darkness of this world. You are then living in the Light of Christ. Pr 19:11, Mt 5:14-16
We must let the light of Christ’s love shine in our lives, without being partial (even towards your enemies!)
And this is GLORIOUS in God’s eyes, and the angels are also watching acc. to 1Pe 1:12. 🙂
Bringing Glory to God: God is at work changing the overall attitude of our hearts. He desires us to carry around an overriding heart of forgiveness. Mt 5:38-48, Lk 6:35-36
Mt 5:38-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Want to be like your Dad?!!
We imitate our loving heavenly Father when we live with His merciful heart.
Remember this?
Lk 6:35-36 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Again:
Bringing Glory to God: God is at work changing the overall attitude of our hearts. He desires us to carry around an overriding heart of forgiveness. Mt 5:38-48, Lk 6:35-36
Any time you get stuck, go back and read these two passages and be inspired by our dear heavenly Father!
Being in the flesh, we know it’s not easy in day to day life as we bump into people,…
… but as we struggle, it’s worthy of our prayer and seeking God on how to handle it, to His glory… before we react out of emotions.
Amen?!
Resentful? Irritable? : The flesh loves being those things, to puff itself up or to protect itself from pain. But LOVE… does not take into account a wrong suffered, – 1Co 13:5 NASU
We can choose to overlook a wrong we’ve suffered.
We can choose to not even take it into account!
We can choose to LOVE!
And the simple reason we don’t choose love is because we forget where we came from.
The challenge has been this:
Grateful??? : If you really appreciate His great love and forgiveness towards you… then why do you hold grudges towards those who have hurt you? Why don’t you just let them go??? Mt 18:21-35
We must all examine our hearts before the Lord on this, right??
Are you sometimes like the ungrateful servant in the parable??? (UGH)
Let’s break the ice in our hearts a little further, shall we?
Let’s sit back and be rightly humbled as we read the Lord’s parable again…
Mt 18:21-35 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. (just 1 talent = 60 million denarii, and a denarii is one day’s wage, so we’re talking about 60 million days of work/wages!! … x ten thousand!!! – do you see how this is truly an UNPAYABLE debt??). 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. (What amazing generosity, right?! – that’s our God and Savior!)
28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (about 100 days of work/wages), and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’
29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?‘ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
First of all, hopefully you see how all that God has forgiven us of is INFINITELY MORE than any person on earth could owe you. (so said Jesus, right?)
Second of all, God the Father has a certain righteous anger towards us when we are unforgiving towards others. 😮
Now, as we do struggle sometimes with things like forgiveness…
… we’ve heard from the Spirit that only God’s love can conquer that cold heart for you, IF you turn to Him for the help.
Only God’s love has the power to overcome such things, and “love never fails” – 1Co 13:8
You want true power in your life?? Tap into and surrender to God’s love.
Oh! To Overlook a Transgression!
“God is love”, 1Jn 4:8,16, and His love is able to transcend it all… including strife, worry, resentment, anger, personality differences, disagreements, wrongs, misunderstandings, insults, persecutions, thefts, mocking, slander, etc….. His love is able to transcend it all, even in us and through us, and we must choose to lean on it/Him!!! Pr 10:12, 1Co 13:4-8, 1Pe 4:8
Through His love, even we are able (dunamai) to overlook the transgressions of others!
His love gives us power and strength that we don’t have on our own. (read last part of point again)
Pr 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.
And my friends, this next verse is a very good parallel to our main verse in Pr 19:11…
1 Pe 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Love doesn’t keep track,… love COVERS, right? 🙂
Aren’t you glad when God, out of His great mercy, chooses to cover or overlook your multitude of sins?!!
So again, we are told to do the same as our Heavenly Father does for us; be merciful!
1 Pe 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Here’s a helpful verse, once again, on HOW we can do this in our lives, practically speaking…
Gal 6:1-2 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
We are to humbly and lovingly do this whenever we can for one another.
This is our calling, and our privilege, as children of God…
… to be able to pass on His grace like this.
And as followers of Christ, we simply follow his example. (that’s why we need to keep re-reading the 4 Gospels so we keep seeing Jesus in action)
Then, we ended Sunday with one of the shortest but most powerful verses in the Bible:
1 Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
Let that affect your soul, soften your heart even.
We are here for God’s purposes and God’s glory, not our own.
1 Co 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
That being made clear to us, let’s close with a great example of this glorious grace of God:
Jesus, out of His overflowing grace, which comes from His love…
… overlooked the apostle Paul’s transgressions, and look what happened in his life!
But what would have happened in Paul’s life if the Lord hadn’t chosen to overlook his transgressions??
Do you see how an attitude of forgiveness towards someone who’s guilty can totally change their life??
We must be forgiving and merciful whenever we can, for the sake of the love of Christ.
“Ignorant vs. Willful Sinning”, Blog 8/3/23
You might think that God would have no mercy on that kind of arrogance, especially one that resulted in the deaths of His children. Instead, God used Paul’s history to prove a point to us all – He is merciful to the very worst of us. He is merciful when we least deserve it! What a wonderful illustration we have in Paul.
And we know Paul wrote this, looking back on things years after the road to Damascus:
1 Ti 1:12-17 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (in other words, if He forgave THAT GUY!! he can forgive me!)
17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Dare I say it was Paul’s gratitude and love from the Lord that motivated him to do great things for God??
Paul was forgiven much, and therefore, he loved much!
In his life, we see the glory of God’s grace, in action.
And we can be gracious towards others also, to a great effect in their lives, and to the glory of God.
Bringing Glory to God: To “overlook a transgression” is an attitude of the heart that we must receive by faith in the Word of God. Pr 19:11, Ro 12:14-21
Ro 12:14-21 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (there it is! Choose, instead, to not only overlook their transgressions, but to bless them in kindness. He’s given us the POWER to do this.)
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
And as we close, we might say this following passage sums up this whole series!
Eph 4:32-5:2 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
If we keep our eyes on Christ, we can do all things, including overlooking the sins that others have committed against us.
And all this is accomplished in us by the power of the love of God, through the filling of the Holy Spirit.
Bringing Glory to God: God is at work changing the overall attitude of our hearts. He desires us to carry around an overriding heart of forgiveness. Mt 5:38-48, Lk 6:35-36
Rejoice, because God is at work in you, even right now! 🙂