Unforgiveness

[00:00:07] Speaker A: Welcome to the weekday podcast of Sugar Hill Church, where we desire to help you know God and discover your purpose, whether you're exercising, driving, meditating, or just hanging out while you tune in with us today. Thanks. We hope these next five minutes help you feel encouraged and inspired for your day. [00:00:22] Speaker B: Hi everybody. Pastor Chuck Allen here with another weekday podcast where let's take a look from Eugene Peterson's the message today in Paul's letter to the church ephesus in Ephesians 4:32. I love how Eugene Peterson says this. Forgive one another as quickly and as thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. I mean, I just love that. Forgive one another as quickly and as thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. Who do you spend the most time thinking about? Well, probably those you love, maybe. But there may be another group of people who fill your thoughts sometimes daily. Those folks who have hurt you, folks who have said things about you or done things to you or things that maybe you have conjured up as worse than what they were. You might replay those misdeeds over and over again. And at times, if you're like me, if you're not careful, you can ruminate on those. And before long we literally just grow angrier and more upset and more anxious. And along the way you get more hurt the more you feel. And the more hurt you feel, the more blame you place on the other person. But you can give forgiveness even when there's no apology. Think about that. You can give forgiveness even if there's no apology, even when the offender never asked to be pardoned. But forgiveness doesn't mean an automatic renewal of friendship or trust. You can forgive an offense, but if the offender doesn't change the behavior, you might not be brought into close confidence again, right? I mean, you can forgive, but we rarely should forget. You should forgive as God forgave you to prevent a bitter root from springing up in your heart. According to Hebrews 12. Are you willing to let go of offenses today that you might be holding onto? Because the challenge is when we hold onto offenses, we're literally stunting our spiritual development and our joy in Christ. Maybe our prayer should be, lord, would you please help me forgive those who have hurt me or done me wrong, and give me wisdom as to how much I should trust them. In Jesus name I pray these things today. Amen. God bless you, friend. Thanks so much for joining me on another weekday podcast. [00:02:51] Speaker A: Thanks so much for joining us today for the weekday podcast. Our prayer is that the encouragement you just heard would help you live more like Jesus today. We would love to see you at Sugar Hill Church for one of our gatherings each Sunday at 9, 15 and 11. And we're always streaming live at live Sugarhill Church. Thanks again for joining us today. As always, if today's message encouraged you, share it with friends and family by tapping the share button. Have an awesome.