THE DISCIPLINE OF FORGIVENESS

Main Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Additional Scriptures: John 16:7-11, 1 John 4:11, 1 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, 1 Peter 4:8, Colossians 3:13

POINTS:

• We all owe a debt to God that we can never repay.

• Our debt of sin doesn’t just affect us it affects those around us.

• The Holy Spirit brings us into the courtroom and puts us on the stand so that we can see we have a debt that can never be repaid.

• Jesus pays the debt we owe God through His sacrifice on the cross.

• We are to extend the same forgiveness we receive from Christ to others.

• The mental courtroom is where we place our performance and the performance of others on trial.

• The mental courtroom is a form of self-torture. Unforgiveness tortures us.

• When we build our case against others we also build the debt they owe us, which means we will have more to forgive.

• Once you are in a mental courtroom with one person you will eventually be in there with more and more people.

• The people close to you feel your bitterness or shame and therefore end up being tortured by your unforgiveness.

• The Mental courtroom creates ruts in our brains, we quite literally get stuck in a rut. These ruts become enemy strongholds.

• The divine weapons that demolish the enemy strongholds in our minds are kindness (compassion) and forgiveness = Love.

• Forgiveness is exercising the compassion of God by paying the debt yourself.

• To forgive is to persist in love.