DNA: God Is Forgiving
Our goal should be to become more like God. Since God is love, then we must take on the same attributes of love that we see in 1 Cor 13. This was the challenge we had during Sunday service. Pastor Jeff focused on 1 Cor 13:5 “Love is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong.” (NIV) Unfortunately, right in the middle of note taking, someone sent me an “urgent” text message and I lost most of my sermon notes because I wasn’t saving well. But here are the highlights.
Several Scripture passages mentioned
- Psalms 103:8-13
- Parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)
- John 21 – the forgiveness of Peter (Mr Extreme). Jesus did not replay all of Peter’s wrongs, rather he repaired the relationship.
- 2 Cor 5:19
- Matt 6:14-15
What has God forgiven me for and has forgotten?
For what do I still need to ask God forgivenss?The only one that gets hurt by anger and keeping track of wrongs is the one angry and keeping track. When we choose to not to forgive we close doors to abundant living.
Of course I got side tracked by something pastor Jeff said, almost in passing. God doesn’t do “acts of God”. We blame God for natural disasters when God is not that kind of God. It really got me to thinking. All too often we find it easy to blame God for all the bad and yet never give Him the praise and thanks for all the good. It is all wrong!
First of all, God has used nature to punish the wicked. But those are rare and they have clear reasons (with prophets warning of impending doom and the like). To blame God for every bad thing that comes from a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or flood is I suppose almost blasphemous.
Yes, all nature is of God. It was put into place by Him and by Him nature exists. But it is sinful man that has brought evil into this world. The bad things that happen are a result of us being us. A tornado in and of itself is not evil, it has no thought or desire to bring misfortune upon us. And God certainly isn’t one to throw a hurricane at us just out of a whim, to see how we would react.
And I guess this brings us back to Pastor Jeff’s point. God is Love. He is forgiving. He is not easily angered nor does He keep a book of wrong doings that He holds over our heads at every little opportunity. When God forgives us, we are washed white as snow by the blood of His Son, Jesus. Our sins are forgotten.
Something Pastor didn’t say, actually, he almost did the opposite, was to say that we need to forgive ourselves just as God forgives us. How often do we keep a book of our own wrong doings and beat ourselves up with that book when God Himself has erased all?
God has a book. Interestingly, the only thing that seems to be in it is a list of names. It is the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev 21:27). There are no lists of wrong doings there, just forgiveness. And so I ask you, is your name in that book?