Slideshow image

FORGIVENESS!

It’s Thursday!
Time for “Thursday’s Thoughts from Pastor David!"

This year at Mountain View Presbyterian Church we are focusing on “Forgiveness.”

This “Thursday’s Thoughts” will not be the only Thursday we tackle this difficult topic. 

Peter approaches Jesus and asks, “How many times should I forgive my brother who has sinned against me? Seven times?”
Jesus says, “No… seventy times seven.”

Jesus goes on to share a parable about the kingdom of God. 
It involves a King who forgives one of his servant 500 billion dollars. 
This forgiven servant goes home and strangles and puts in jail one of his own servants who owes him twenty dollars. 
Word gets back to the King of what the forgiven servant has done. 
The forgiven servant is brought back before the King and chastised for being a wicked servant and he is immediately thrown in jail. 

How could there be such a disconnect for this servant from being forgiven an insurmountable amount of money and then within hours being unable to forgive someone who owed him a paltry amount?

Does that type of disconnect ever happen to us?

Forgiveness is canceling the debt and bearing the cost, absorbing the cost of the loss, the hurt, the pain and/or the debt. 

I love what Tim Keller says, 
"Forgiveness, then, is a form of voluntary suffering. 
In forgiving, rather than retaliating, we make a choice to bear the cost.”

Forgiveness is indeed a “choice”. 

What will you choose?

To forgive or not forgive that is indeed the question.

I also love what Lewis Smedes says, 
“To forgive is to set the prisoner free and to discover the prisoner was me.”

I also love what the Apostle Paul says, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5: 1)

Forgiveness leads to Freedom!

Grace and peace, 
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!