Tag: love

4 Steps to Forgiving Those I Hate

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How can we forgive people we hate? How can we show grace to those we can’t stomach? The honest truth is that we can’t! In our own strength, we are unable to forgive those who have hurt us deeply, but with God’s help, it is possible.

4 Steps to Forgiving Those I Hate

1. Turn our hurts over to God. We should remind ourselves that nothing happens that God does not allow. As a result we should acknowledge our hurts and ask God to help us with them. He may choose to teach us through them and shape us into the person He wants us to be. God never wastes a hurt!

God never wastes a hurt!

2. Ask God to transform our hate to love. In time, God will change our hearts to match His heart if we allow Him to do so. We should pray and ask God to start the process of healing and forgiveness in our hearts.

3. Read what God’s Word says about forgiveness. The Bible is replete with verses on this topic. Reading what God says is a major part of how He moves us towards a heart of forgiveness. Here are a couple of passages on the topic:

“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) 

“He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:  Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'”  Luke 11:2-4 (NIV) 

4. Remember that we sinned against God. God forgave us when we didn’t deserve it, so we should forgive others when they don’t deserve it. We are never more like God than when we grant forgiveness to undeserving people.

Don’t spend the rest of your life without rest in your life!

If you’re struggling with hard feelings toward someone . . . if you’re mad, hurt, bitter, or all the above rolled into one, then let it go! Forgive! Do it for their sake! Do it for your sake! Do it for the Lord! Don’t spend the rest of your life without rest in your life. Unforgiveness can slow down or even sidetrack your spiritual growth.

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Love is FIRST!

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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

Recently I’ve been preaching a sermon series on the fruit of the Holy Spirit from Galatians 5. When I addressed the fruit of love, one of my points was that “love is first on the list.” After a casual reading of the text, you might be tempted to say “duh.” “Brother Steve, that’s so obvious! You went to seminary for that? And don’t you have a doctorate?” Look, I know it’s listed first, but it’s not just listed first, it IS first.

“It’s not just listed first, it IS first!”

In the New American Commentary, Timothy George wrote, “It is significant that love heads the list of these nine graces of the Christian life. Paul might well have placed a period after love and moved on into the conclusion of his letter, for love is not merely ‘first among equals’ in this listing but rather the source and fountain from which all of the other graces flow.’”

3 Key Conclusions about LOVE:

God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 teaches this marvelous truth. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8   

The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is mentioned by name is the second verse of the Bible and referenced in the first verse because He is part of the Trinity. He fully participated in the creation of the world. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:1-2

The Holy Spirit is love. Since God is love and since the Holy Spirit is God, the Holy Spirit is love. He wants to produce the fruit of love in our lives above everything else. He wants to produce a love for God, a love for fellow believers, and a love for those who are lost without Christ.

Love is FIRST on God’s list. Is love first on our list and first in our lives? When we’re full of the Holy Spirit, the answer to both those questions will be YES!