BREAK FREE #4

RECAP PREVIOUS EPISODE:

 

EPHESIANS 4:26-27, 31-32 NKJV [Paul said], Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give PLACE to the DEVIL. ... 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING one another, EVEN AS God in Christ FORGAVE you.

 

BEGIN WITH DEFINITION OF FORGIVENESS:

  • Aphiemi - To send away or set free
  • Aphesis - To release as from prison
  • Charizomai - To bestow a favor or extend mercy

 

RECAP BIG IDEA:

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free

and discover the prisoner was you.”

- Lewis B. Smedes

WHAT FORGIVENESS IS:

FORGIVENESS is when I

MENTALLY and EMOTIONALLY

SEPARATE the OFFENDER from “ME,”

to heal my sense of Self.

  

FORGIVENESS is when I

RELEASE the OFFENDER from

SUPPORTING my identity,

hopes for the future

and what was lost.

 

FORGIVENESS IS NOT:

  • Reconciling/restoring the relationship
  • Rebuilding trust
  • Minimizing/justifying the wrong
  • Letting the offender off the hook
  • Letting the offense recur again and again
  • Reverting to back to victimization
  • Is not forgetting

 

TODAY'S BIG IDEA:

Seeing our offender’s hidden pain,

spawned by a life of grievous sufferings,

will disarm our most ardent hostilities.

 

EPHESIANS 4:26-27, 31-32 NKJV [Paul said], Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give PLACE to the DEVIL. ... 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING one another, even as God in Christ FORGAVE you.

 

FINDING COMPASSION / GRIPPING EMPATHY

 

CONTEMPLATE…

  1. Child-victim versus adult-perpetrator
  2. Possible privation and under-privilege
  3. Supernatural evil driving their pain
  4. Life-pressures they are under
  5. Your own propensity to hurt others

 

NOW WHAT???

  1. Identify your offenders
  2. Reflect on the offences
  3. Release/Forgive the offender
  4. Receive God’s healing
  5. Pray for the offender’s healing

 

MOVING FORWARD THIS WEEK:

  • WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THIS? 
  • HOW WILL YOU USE IT TO HELP/SERVE OTHERS?

 

SPECIAL RESOURCE:

SAMMY RANGEL STORY (TED TALK) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOzJO6HRIuA

Patrick NorrisComment