How Do You Forgive?
BY
RICK WARREN — NOVEMBER 3, 2016
“God has done it all! He sent Christ
to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making
peace between himself and others. What we mean is that God was in Christ,
offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us
the work of sharing his message about peace. We were sent to speak for Christ,
and God is begging you to listen to our message. We speak for Christ and
sincerely ask you to make peace with God” (2
Corinthians 5:18-20 CEV).
In 1956, five
American missionaries headed to the rainforest of the eastern Amazon in Ecuador
to make a second visit to the Huaorani tribe, which anthropologists said was
the most vicious, violent society on the face of the earth. They had a culture
of killing, and studies showed 60 percent of the tribe died by homicide.
As soon as the
missionaries got out of the plane, they were speared to death by members of the
tribe. The brutal murders made news around the world and the cover of Life magazine, Time, and Newsweek.
Many newspapers reported the deaths of these men, who included Nate Saint and
Jim Elliot.
A couple years
later, Elisabeth and Valerie Elliot, wife and daughter of Jim, and Rachel
Saint, sister of Nate, moved into the Huaorani village to show love and
forgiveness and minister to the people who had killed their family. Eventually,
Mincaye, the leader of the tribe, and the five men who participated in the
missionary murders all became Christians.
The kind of
forgiveness that Elisabeth Elliot and Rachel Saint modeled doesn’t make sense
until God has forgiven you. Once you’ve experienced it, how do you forgive? You
do the four things that these women did:
#1. Relinquish your right to get even. Romans
12:19 says, “Don’t try to get even. Let
God take revenge”(CEV). Leave it up to God. He’ll take care of it, and
he’ll do a much better job than you ever could.
#2. Respond to evil with good. How can you
tell when you’ve completely forgiven someone? You actually pray for God to
bless the person who hurt you. The Bible says, “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for
those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27b-28 NIV).
#3. Repeat these steps as long as necessary. Peter
asked Jesus in Matthew 18:21, “How many
times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times
enough?” Jesus replied, “Not
just seven times, but seventy-seven times!” (CEV) Sometimes
forgiveness has to be continual.
#4. Rescue others with the Good News of God’s
forgiveness. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, “God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace
between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between
himself and others. What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and
forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of
sharing his message about peace. We were sent to speak for Christ, and God is
begging you to listen to our
message. We speak for Christ and sincerely ask you to make peace with God.”
Talk It Over
- Why do you think it’s so difficult to let go of our need to get even or “have the last word”?
- What can you do to model forgiveness in your life?
- Who in your life needs to hear God’s message of peace and salvation?
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