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We're told this is supposed to be the season that the Roman Catholic Church decided to set aside to remember that the Second member of the Trinity took on flesh in the form of a newborn (nearly 2,000 years ago) with the purpose of reconciling man with God. 

Jesus would become the perfect sacrificial Lamb Who would take away the sin of the world.

And after being falsely accused, arrested, beaten, scourged (had the skin flailed off His back), mocked and spat upon, the first words out of Jesus' mouth while enduring an unbearable crucifixion were "Father forgive them... "

Christians are instructed to strive for that same level of genuine forgiveness... 

Matthew 6:14 "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,"

Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Matthew 5:44 "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"

What could you, and what could you not forgive?

Is there a line?

God asks us not to have a line because He doesn't have a line for us.

Is it possible (with God's help) to forgive a person any wrong that they have done to you?

I believe that it is, and I'd like to share with you three stories of Christian forgiveness that illustrate that...

CORRIE TEN BOOM

 

Corrie ten Boom, along with her sister and father, were sent to Ravensbruck, a Nazi concentration camp, for hiding Jews.

Her sister and father died there, but Corrie was released, due to a “clerical error.”

Corrie ten Boom likened forgiveness to letting go of a bell rope. If you have ever seen a country church with a bell in the steeple, you will remember that to get the bell ringing you have to tug awhile. Once it has begun to ring, you merely maintain the momentum. As long as you keep pulling, the bell keeps ringing.

Corrie ten Boom says forgiveness is letting go of the rope. It is just that simple, but when you do so, the bell keeps ringing. Momentum is still at work. However, if you keep your hands off the rope, the bell will begin to slow and eventually stop.

It is like that with forgiveness. When you decide to forgive, the old feelings of unforgiveness may continue to assert themselves. After all, they have lots of momentum. But if you affirm your decision to forgive, that unforgiving spirit will begin to slow and will eventually be still. Forgiveness is letting go of the "rope" of retribution. (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)

You get past the bitterness by refusing to hang onto it.

Let go of the rope.

Stop nursing the grudge. This is unforgiveness, and as we’ve looked at time and time again over these past few weeks, it is sin.

And that sin will destroy not the person you’re refusing to forgive. It will destroy you.

Let me give you something else from Corrie ten Boom:

After the war she returned to Germany to declare the grace of Christ.

“It was 1947, and I’d come from Holland to defeated Germany with the message that God forgives. It was the truth that they needed most to hear in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I liked to think 

that that’s where forgiven sins were thrown.

‘When we confess our sins,’ I said, ‘God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. And even though I cannot find a Scripture for it, I believe God then places a sign out there that says, ’NO FISHING ALLOWED.’

The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a cap with skull and crossbones. It came back with a rush—the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were! That place was Ravensbruck, and the man who was making his way forward had been a guard—one of the most cruel guards.

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, Fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!" And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course—how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women? But I remembered him. I was face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard there." No, he did not remember me. "But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein,"—again the hand came out—"will you forgive me?"

And I stood there—I whose sins had again and again been forgiven—and could not forgive. Betsie had died in that place. Could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? It could have been many seconds that he stood there—hand held out—but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it—I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. 

But forgiveness is not an emotion—I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling." And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust out my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!" For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then. But even then, I realized it was not my love. I had tried, and did not have the power. It was the power of the Holy Spirit.


[Holocaust Victim Forgives Captor, Citation: Corrie Ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord (Berkley, 1978)

Folks, here’s the bottom line:

To forgive is to be like Jesus.

Jesus refused to be bitter toward His torturers and executioners. He refused to withhold forgiveness to those who had manipulated the system to bring about His death.

Jesus knew that forgiveness was the ultimate Kingdom purpose. Forgiveness of sinners so they could live forever in His presence and the presence of the Father and the Spirit.

He bought your forgiveness and modeled how we should give it.

Will you withhold the very thing He died to bring?

 

 

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CHRIS CARRIER

On the last day of school in 1974, every kid in America was thinking of the fun they’d have on their Christmas break, including 5th grade Chris Carrier. But Chris’ Christmas holiday would not be filled with joy; instead, it would be rocked with terror.

On the walk home from school that afternoon, Chris was two doors away from his house when a strange man walked up to him and introduced himself as one of his father’s friends. The older man told Chris he was throwing a party for his dad, and asked if he wanted to help prepare the decorations. Chris eagerly agreed, and hopped into the back of the man’s motor home. 

While little Chris made himself comfortable, the stranger sped past the Miami city limit sign. Reaching the outskirts of town, the man stopped the truck, pulled out a map, handed it to Chris, and asked him to find a particular road. While Chris busied himself with the search, the man excused himself “to get something.”  

Moments later, as Chris leaned over the map, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his back. He twirled to see the strange man standing over him holding an ice pick. The man grabbed Chris out of the vehicle and proceeded to stab the young boy in the chest several more times.

Through the pain, Chris pled with his abductor; if the man would only stop hurting him, he wouldn’t tell anybody. 

The man threw Chris back into the motor home, promising the boy he’d drop him off somewhere. From the floor of the vehicle, Chris asked the man why he was doing this to him. The only answer the older man gave him was that Chris’ dad “had cost him a lot of money.” 

Roughly an hour later, the man pulled the vehicle over and led Chris into the Florida Everglades. The man told Chris to wait; his dad was coming to pick him up.

Of course, Chris’ father wasn’t coming. He didn’t even know where his son was.

It would be six terrible days in the wilderness before a hunter would find Chris. The little boy was not only hungry and weak, but had been stabbed several times, and even shot in the head, though he had no memory of it.

The tragedy left Chris blind in his left eye. Miraculously, he suffered no damage to his brain. The worst part of the whole ordeal in Chris’ mind was that his captor was still on the loose.

Police sketch artists put together a few drafts of what the assailant might look like based on Chris’ description of his attacker. Chris’ father and uncle immediately recognized the man in the drawing; David McAllister had been hired by the family to nurse a great-uncle after he suffered a stroke.

Even though a motor home and pistol matching the caliber of Chris’ wound were found at McAllister’s home, forensics were not what they are today, and McAllister was never brought to justice for the crime he committed.  

Chris had a rough adolescence. He was acutely aware of his disfigured appearance, and he couldn’t play any of his favorite sports because of the harsh injuries he’d sustained.

But around the age of 13, Chris began to change. He was no longer consumed with animosity, bitterness, revenge, or self-pity. He realized he couldn’t stay angry forever.

22 years would pass between the date of the attack, and a life-changing phone call. A police officer on the other end of the line said McAllister, now blind from glaucoma and bed-ridden in a nursing home, had admitted to being Chris’ captor.

The next day, accompanied by a friend, Chris went to the facility where McAllister was, to meet the man who had changed his life.

Chris’ recollection of that encounter should challenge all of us:

When I first spoke to David, he was rather callous. I suppose he thought I was another police officer. A friend who had accompanied me wisely asked him a few simple questions that led to him admitting that he had abducted me. He then asked, “Did you ever wish you could tell that young boy that you were sorry for what you did?”

David answered empathetically, “I wish I could.”

That was when I introduced myself to him. Unable to see, he clasped my hand and told me he was sorry for what he had done to me. In return, I offered him my forgiveness and friendship.”

Chris meant what he said. He visited McAllister in the nursing home many more times, talking about both of their lives. Finally, one day, Chris got a chance to tell McAllister about the life-saving forgiveness that only Jesus Christ can offer. McAllister – in the presence of the one he’d tried to kill – bowed his heart to Christ.

Three weeks later, the elderly kidnapper and attempted murderer died. Forgiven.

Chris was doing something akin to what Christ did 2,000 years ago. Jesus willingly forgave and befriended those who had scorned Him the most and hurt Him the deepest. He has called every one of His disciples to do the same: 

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ADELE

Adele is one of the most remarkable women that I’ve ever met. Let me tell you her story. Pastor Rugelinyange, my host, said to me, “Pastor Mark, I want to take you to a woman who is so remarkable that you will be deeply impressed for the rest of your life with her story. Her husband was a pastor. He was brutally murdered, massacred, macheted to death before her eyes. And the story that she will tell you will change your life. ”So we traveled on rough roads over ravines out to a little African village. As I entered Adele’s home, I noted the picture of her pastor husband on the wall. I stood there for a few moments looking at the picture. And then I sat down and Adele and I made small talk. And then I said, “Adele, I know your husband was brutally killed, would you like to share his story with me?” And with a tear in her eye and her lips quivering, she began to share the story. She shared how the rebels came closer and closer to her village. She and her husband fled into a Catholic church. The rebels entered that church. 

Adele thought they would find sanctuary there, they did not. As the rebels came in, they began screaming for the pastor to stand up. Nobody stood. They continued to scream because they were going to kill all the community leaders first. The pastor stood. And the rebels ran and began to flay at his body with the machete. They struck him again and again and again. 

Finally, his throat was cut and blood was spurting from his body and he was breathing his last, praying for those who killed him. Adele began to scream and in that melee, in that confusion, 45 people were slain, and 15 fled. And as Adele told me the story, she pulled back her black hair and I saw a scar across her forehead, a scar that went deeply into her skull.

They had run at her with machetes, and she was left on the floor for dead. She had a large scar on her head. She had scars on her back, and her wrist was partially chopped off.For three days, Adele lay among the dead bodies. Her heart was faintly beating. When the towns people came to bury the dead, they found Adele lying there. 

They picked her up in their arms, and they bathed her wounds. They brought her to the hospital. By now the rebel leaders had moved on. It took three years, but Adele recovered. And she began to think, “I can be a bitter, angry, resentful old woman, but I’m not going to do that. I’m going to go into the prisons and minister to the murderers. ”There was one prison not far from her house and Adele became known as the mother of that prison. She brought in food. She brought in clothing. She ministered lovingly to the prisoners.

She told me, “Pastor Mark, one day a young man named Luis fell at my feet and he was weeping and kissing my feet. And as I looked down at his face, I saw that he was the young man who rushed in with the machete and killed my husband. He was the young man who put this scar on my head. And he looked up and me and said, "Adele, would you forgive me?’ I pulled him up and I embraced him and said, 'In the name of Jesus, I will forgive you.’”She continued, “Pastor Mark, my heart was racing, but I knew that Christ had forgiven me and that I could forgive this murderer. I began studying the Bible with prisoners, and Luis came to the Bible studies. He made a decision that he would follow Jesus and be baptized.

But he said, ? Before I’m baptized, I want to stand before the prison publicly and ask you, Adele, for your forgiveness.’”On the day of his baptism, he stood with Adele and said, “Adele, I brutally murdered your husband. I put a knife mark, a machete scar, on your head, will you forgive me?” She said, “Before those prisoners, before he was baptized, I forgave him. My son took his father’s death so hard. And Luis said, "I want to talk to your son.’ And my son went to his cell. And Luis said, "I want you to forgive me.’”“Luis became a model prisoner. 

The grace of Christ was flowing through his life. He was a new young man. After three years, the government let him out of prison for good behavior. But he had no place to live because Luis had his father and mother murdered in the genocide.

”“And I said, 'Luis, you come and I’ll adopt you as my son.’ And for the last couple of years, he has been living in my home. Pastor Mark, would you like to meet Luis?”I tell you, friend, there was a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as Luis walked into the room and Adele embraced him and said, “He is my adopted son today.

”I’ve thought so many times in my life that maybe I’ve been mistreated. So many times in my life people have said something and I’ve gotten upset. So many times in my life people have done a little thing and I’ve been angry. And I thought of Adele, how she could reach out in such a loving forgiveness? If there is somebody that has hurt you today and wounded you, in the spirit of Jesus, you, too, can forgive them.The lesson of Rwanda is the lesson of a nation learning to forgive, because Jesus has forgiven them.

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3 hours ago, daviebee said:

And yet Scotty won't forgive Ryan Jack...

I wasn't even sorry to see him go.

As Deek said, "There's a way to leave a team."

I think you're confusing 'forgiving' with 'condoning'.

I don't agree with his manner of exit, but hold nothing against him.

Best wishes to Ryan Jack and his family. :ok:

2 hours ago, ParisInAKilt said:

Do we forgive priests who are touchers or those who help facilitate it? 

As above, 'forgiving' isn't 'condoning'.

Criminals should be subject to the law and should have to pay their debt to society.

Is any case beyond reconciliation?

No, I don't believe that it is.

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I am not religious therefore do not believe in  Jesus and Gods forgiveness etc, however  I do like that bell rope analogy . People let things eat away at them and can waste their lives on things they cannot move on from or change. Life is too short for this. 

I hope however to never be in a position to test this. 

 

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9 minutes ago, ParisInAKilt said:

Agreed. Sadly it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s 2017 and priests are still being exposed and almost in every case they’ve tried to hide it. 

It's as if their role (the plan) is to mis-represent Bible-believing Christianity through Roman Catholicism so that any casual observers would condemn and stay clear of Christianity altogether (and the enemy's mission of 'don't look here' is accomplished).

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5 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

I hope however to never be in a position to test this. 

Sadly, it's not uncommon, but I agree that folk shouldn't let things eat at them (let alone for years).

Does anyone have a relative/close friend that they fell out with and don't to talk to anymore?

What are the chances of you ever reaching out to them?

 

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I see it more as peace of mind rather than forgiveness however, it is a pity that more people don't seem to have learnt from all this and revenge is still such a strong feature in the human psyche. Unfortunately, it may take a moment of madness from either Kim Jung-Un, Trump or both of them before more of the people in power take the forgiveness route..............

 

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It would be a lot easier to forgive those who show remorse for what they have done and who actively seek to do something to help orhers .

What about those who have no remorse for something like murder ? I am not sure my forgiveness could stretch that far. 

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7 hours ago, bonzo said:

FFS if I want to see pictures like that I'll look for them. 

 

7 hours ago, Fairbairn said:

FFS Scotty, take that picture down.  It has absolutely no place on this forum.

What was the picture? 

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