Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] Chuck Allen. And welcome to another weekday podcast. And today I want to talk about a subject we all struggle with, and that is forgiveness. It's not easy, doesn't come easy. None of us are terribly good at it. Most of us struggle with it. But I really appreciate you spending a few minutes to talk with me about it.
[00:00:26] Not the Instagram version of forgiveness, not the easy kind where everybody hugs at the end. I'm talking about the real kind, the kind where you roll up your sleeves and you have one of those gut level, Lord Jesus, help me mean this kind of forgiveness.
[00:00:44] Scripture keeps bringing this up over and over and over again because God knows how much unforgiveness goes wounds us.
[00:00:53] From Eugene Peterson's the Message Jesus says in Matthew, chapter six, beginning in verse 14 in prayer, there's a connection between what God does and what you do.
[00:01:05] You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.
[00:01:16] Now, I don't know about y', all, but that is uncomfortable. I mean, seriously, I, I really, I don't know about you, but I'd love it if Jesus had just softened that one a little bit more.
[00:01:31] But I think that's the whole point. Forgiveness isn't supposed to feel tidy. It's not supposed to feel fair.
[00:01:39] It's supposed to feel like mercy.
[00:01:42] And the Mott calls forgiveness, and I quote, giving up all hope of having had a better past. End quote. That hits hard because somewhere inside we keep holding out for a version of life where that person didn't say what they said, where we didn't get hurt the way that we did. But forgiveness is how we stop letting that past hold the pen that writes our future.
[00:02:07] Paul puts it this way In Ephesians, chapter 4, beginning in verse 31, again from the message, make a clean break with all cutting back biting and profane talk. Be gentle with one another sensitive, forgiving one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
[00:02:27] It sounds so stinking simple, but we know it's holy surgery. Forgiveness doesn't mean we forget. It doesn't mean what happened was okay. It means we finally hand the heavy stuff over to God and we say, I don't want to carry this anymore. Lord, take it. Because carrying bitterness is like drinking a poison and waiting for the other person to get sick. Meanwhile, God's standing there with living water saying, set it down, let me handle that. And maybe for you today, forgiveness will look more like a process than a moment, maybe even a season.
[00:03:05] You may have to wake up tomorrow and forgive that same person all over again. Could I just stop and say that's okay?
[00:03:12] It's not spiritual failure, it's just our humanity catching up to grace.
[00:03:18] Here's a hard truth that's also really good news. Forgiveness doesn't set them free as much as it sets you free. It unclenches your hands so you can get back to the business of living.
[00:03:32] It makes room for joy again in your soul.
[00:03:37] So let's pray God, for every heart carrying the weight of resentment, anger or hurt. Give us the courage to release that. Teach us what it really means to forgive like you forgive not because it's easy, but because it's the only way to heal.
[00:03:53] Thank you that you never ask us to do it alone.
[00:03:57] Amen, Amen and Amen.
[00:04:00] You've been listening to the Weekday podcast with Chuck Allen and if today's message encourage you, share it with someone who might need a little reminder that grace is still big enough.
[00:04:11] See you next time on the weekday podcast. Bye now.
