Blog: Forgiveness of Others

I am guilty of being a YouTube binge watcher and one of the most interesting channels that I subscribe to is Odd Tinkering. I love this channel with a passion because it shows someone taking what would be garbage to one person and making it of use again. One of my most favorite episodes I watched from this channel showed the creator take an old Super Nintendo video game system that had yogurt spilled on the inside, it was discolored, and not working properly. The man took this unit and with much care and detail took it apart, cleaned what seemed to be every piece, fixed the plastic pieces that had been discolored by age, and made new what was broken! I’ve slotted the video to pickup at the point in which he shows the damage before and shortly after shows what is restored and better than its previous state! Check it out below.

Click HERE to see the before and after!

What we see here is the type of process that we can offer to others. In our first sermon for our 2019 sermon series we took a very close look at the forgiveness of God and this Sunday, June 30th we take a look at the Forgiveness of Others. There is no doubt that there have been people in your life who have wronged you in major ways. Some people may look at your situation and tell you that it is nothing based on what they went through but it is still very real nonetheless. When we are betrayed, persecuted, mentally/physically abused, and sometimes even left for dead it destroys relationships. It is bad enough to have someone do you wrong but when we allow the offense to destroy our relationship it is worse! In the life of a Christian relationships are important. Christianity is not the way of life for someone who enjoys being a hermit. Christians encourage each other to continue when we feel like giving up, we lift each other up when we are down, we lovingly correct when our heads don’t fit through the door. We are family! But when we fail to forgive relationships begin to break down. They become discolored and don’t resemble what God originally intended for them to be! Then all of a sudden what used to be a beautiful creation by God for the world to see has become nothing to mimic let alone look at! If we don’t have loving relationships with each other then why would anyone want to be a part of the family of God? If God’s family is the same as any other dysfunctional family then why would someone choose God’s family over their own?

I am sure that a lot of you reading are like me and have played a part in not always forgiving. Let me give you the best definition of forgiveness that I have found taken from The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary “Forgiveness is the wiping out of an offense from memory; it can be effected only by the one affronted. Once eradicated, the offense no longer conditions the relationship between the offender and the one affronted, and harmony is restored between the two.” When relationships are destroyed they become like the old yogurt filled Super Nintendo, useless to no one and lacking purpose. But when the person who was offended chooses to allow the love of God to run through them and extend towards the offender… Watch God work! It is not an easy process! You may have to take apart the situation just like the man in the video took apart the Nintendo to see how bad the damage was. You may have to ask yourself some tough questions like “Why was I so offended by the offender and the offense?” “What was God’s purpose in allowing the offense?” “How can a mended relationship between me and the offender work for the purpose of the kingdom?” And once we go through the process of looking into that situation we, the offended must make a choice to no allow the offense to alter relationship ever again! That’s heavy lifting for someone who was the victim right? That is hard work for someone who was innocent! Just remember what Jesus did and it’ll come together. Just as Jesus was successful we can be too! God gives us the tools to not only restore but improve the relationship that existed before. Come out Sunday and let us take a look at what God has revealed to us in his word! Let us turn these nasty dying/dead relationships into something the world can look at for hope!