14 May Pardon Me (Because my forgiveness does not begin with your apology) PART 1

Decades ago when I was a single man, I was a volunteer in youth ministry for my local church. I
loved youth ministry…it was a huge part of my life!

At that time, we had a contingency of very dysfunctional adult youth leaders. It was almost
comical the band of adults that were working together with the teenagers. I remember that
there was a single woman who worked with me. She was a military daughter and a pretty
tough young lady. I remember she was upset with me one day in the youth wing of the church.

This Christian young lady hauled off and hit me in the stomach when I was not looking! I must
tell you she had quite the right hook! She actually knocked the breath out of me!

Now of course as a big young man, I could not let her know this. So I held it together until she
left the room. Then I doubled over trying to get my wind back! I was rightfully angry and had
every reason to hold unforgiveness against this young lady. I knew, however, deep down in my
heart…I had to forgive her!

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:30-32, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are
sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and
evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”

Please allow me to break down a few of the key words in these powerful Bible verses. The
Greek word translated “bitterness” is pikria which means “to be sharp or bitter.” The Greek
word translated “wrath” is thumos which means “to breathe hard.” The Greek word for
“clamour” is krauge, which literally means “to throw a fit.” The Greek word for “evil speaking”
is blasphemia, which means “to slander.” The Greek word for “malice” is kakia, which means
“bad or badness.”

In verse 32, the Greek word translated “tenderhearted” is eusplagnos, which denotes “from the
heart.” Finally the Greek word for “forgiving” is charizomai, which means “to grant favor,
forgiveness or pardon.”

Now let’s take a deep dive into the powerful subject of forgiveness.
Notice that we are to forgive “…as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”

How did God forgive us?
1. Fully!
2. Finally!
3. Freely!

God forgave us fully, finally and freely and that is exactly how we should forgive others…fully,
finally, and freely! We must not allow ourselves to become bitter.

Join us over the next few weeks as we continue this series…