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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for October 12, 2009
“For Those Who Did You Dirty”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
My son is teaching a series on spiritual training.
He sent me a text message asking what I thought were the most important areas of spiritual training.
I sent him a list of all the usual suspects. I mean, what do you think of when you think of spiritual training? Bible study. Prayer. Worship. Fasting. Giving. Loving your neighbor. Obedience.
And then I mentioned a subject that I think is super important in spiritual training: forgiveness.
Recently Shane Little, who owns Papa Johns here in Tallahassee, was in the studio talking about the changes the Lord has made in his life. And he said the biggest change as far as relationships go is that he now has the desire and the ability to forgive people.
Before, he said, he was very prone to hold a grudge. If you did him wrong, then he was going to remember it and hold it against you. There was basically a bitterness toward those who he thought did him dirty.
But becoming a born again Christian changed that. “The people in my life will tell you,” he said, “there’s a dramatic, drastic change.”
What makes him so willing to forgive now, where it was so difficult before?
“It’s a very simple reason,” he said. “I can’t imagine why God would forgive me for what He’s forgiven me of, He’s forgiven me for so much. So based on that, I don’t know how I couldn’t forgive.”
And that’s exactly how we are supposed to feel about it. As Christians, the Lord has forgiven us so much, how could we do anything but forgive others?
Colossians 3:13 states it very simply. “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:32 tells us to forgive each other, just as in Christ, God forgave us.
So it’s pretty clear what we are supposed to do. Forgive people.
But that’s not enough for some people. They want more guidelines, maybe even some loopholes.
And maybe that’s what Peter was looking for, because in Matthew 18 he asked Jesus, “How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
This was the springboard for Jesus’ “Parable of the Unmerciful Servant.” A man owed the king more than he could possibly repay, so the king ordered that the man and his family be sold as slaves to repay the debt. The man begged for mercy, and the king forgave his entire debt and set him free.
So far so good. But the man turned right around and demanded payment from another man who owed him much, much less. That man begged for mercy, but he refused and had him thrown into prison.
Well the king heard about this, called that first man back in, and restored his debt! He was thrown into prison and tortured until he should pay back all he owed.
That’s the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, and what’s the lesson for us? That we must forgive as we have been forgiven.
So back to spiritual training. How can we train people to forgive?
One key is to never forget that God has forgiven us. We must keep one eye on that. We didn’t deserve forgiveness from God, and we certainly didn’t earn it. Jesus Himself paid the price for our forgiveness, not us. And the price was His own precious blood.
So we receive forgiveness simply because of the grace and mercy of God. And that is how others should receive forgiveness from us. Not because they deserve it or earn it, but simply out of grace and mercy.
And one thing that will help us be gracious and merciful to others is to keep one eye on God’s grace and mercy toward us. It’s a pay-it-forward kind of thing. God forgave us, so we forgive others.
And if we don’t forgive?
Jesus answered that in the Sermon on the Mount, right after the Lord’s Prayer. In Matthew 6:15 He said, “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
In Mark 11:25 Jesus said, “When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
In Luke 6:37 Jesus said, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Does that mean if I don’t forgive someone, then I won’t be forgiven by God? Well, there is a lot of teaching that dances all around that subject, but if you take it at face value, in plain English, what does it sound like?
But I say, why look for loopholes? Why try to drill down into it and figure out if Jesus meant this, that or the other?
It’s completely obvious what God wants us to do. He wants us to forgive people who have sinned against us.
And when we do, we open the door for so much more joy and peace and blessings from the Lord!
So when we talk about spiritual training, I think this belongs in the foundation somewhere.
Based on the immense debt that God has forgiven us, we must teach people the importance of forgiving others.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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