Romans 12:17-21 We have an obligation to forgive. God has forgiven us. We must forgive if we want forgiveness from God. Unforgiveness is harmful to us. How do we forgive those who hurt us so badly.

1. FORGIVENESS: OUR OBLIGATION

2. Romans 12:17-21 Do not repay anyone evil for
evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes
of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it
depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave
room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is
mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20
On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed
him; if he is thirsty, give him something to
drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals
on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.

3. FORGIVENESS
A. Forgiveness is at the very foundation of our
Christian faith.
B. Even though forgiveness is at the very center
of our faith, it is the one thing we seem to
have the most difficulty doing.
C. Sometimes it seems as if Christians are the
most unforgiving people...
D. When studying forgiveness, we first must
see that:

4. I. GOD HAS FORGIVEN US.
A. When God forgave us of our sins:
1. The Bible says that He remembered them no
more. (Heb 8:12) "For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more."
2. This means that they no longer exist.
B. Only God has the ability to take away sins.
1. When He forgives us, they are actually removed.
2. This is why the Jews said that Jesus blasphemed
when He said, "your sins are forgiven." (Mat 9:2)
"And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of
the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their
faith said unto the sick of the palsy; son, be of
good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”

5. II. WE MUST FORGIVE OTHERS.
A. When we forgive others:
1. We don't actually remove the sin like God
does, but we imitate God by refusing to hold
the sin against them.
2. When we forgive:
a. That means we will not bring it up to that
person again.
b. We will not bring it up to anyone else.
c. We will not bring it up to ourselves and
dwell on it.

6. II. WE MUST FORGIVE OTHERS.
3. This sounds like a fairly easy thing to do, but
why do we have such a hard time doing it?
a. Because we want to punish those who hurt
us. (vs.17) Man's heart is sinful, and the
first thing that he desires to do is to strike
back when he is hurt or violated. (example:
someone hits us, cheats us, lies, etc...)
b. Our pride keeps us from accepting the
wrong done to us by forgiving.
c. We don't have enough faith to let God
handle the situation, so we try to handle it
ourselves.

7. II. WE MUST FORGIVE OTHERS.
B. How many times must we forgive someone for
sinning against us? Peter asked Jesus the same
question, implying that a person only deserved
so many chances. What was the reply of Jesus?
An infinite number of times! (70x7) Another
good answer could be "you forgive the other
person as many times as God has forgiven you.”

8. III. WHAT DOES UNFORGIVENESS DO TO US?
A. It keeps us in bitterness.
1. We keep turning over and over this hurt in our
mind, always keeping it fresh, always ready to
strike out again.
2. It is a vicious cycle.
3. A bitter person is always angry about something.
B. It keeps us in bondage to past mistakes.
1. If we don't forgive, we are always living in some
past hurt.
2. We constantly re-live it in our minds.
3. We never seem to get free from the anger. (even
when we want to.)

9. III. WHAT DOES UNFORGIVENESS DO TO US?
C. It keeps us in guilt.
1. A Christian who lives in the bondage of
unforgiveness is also living in guilt.
2. He knows that he must forgive, but he also knows
that he doesn't want to.
3. He carries this weight around with him, not being
able to get rid of it.
D. It is a cause problems for us.
1. Physically (such as ulcers)
2. Mentally (sustained anger will cause you to
become mentally sick)
3. And spiritually (unforgiveness will cause you to
drift away from God)

10. IV. HOW DO WE FORGIVE SOMEONE
THAT HURT US SO BADLY?
A. (vs.20) We stop thinking of those who hurt us as
enemies, and we start to honestly seek God for their
good.
1. We need to earnestly pray for blessings in their lives.
2. It is very difficult to be angry or unforgiving towards
someone whom you are earnestly praying for!
B. We look to God as our example.
1. Could you forgive someone who killed your only son?
God did.
2. He does not allow the sin to be remembered
anymore.

11. IV. HOW DO WE FORGIVE SOMEONE
THAT HURT US SO BADLY?
C. We look to Jesus as our example.
1. What did Jesus say while he was hanging on
the Cross?
2. While He was experiencing the worst pain a
person could experience?
3. While the blood was dripping from His hands,
and His flesh was tearing at the nails?
4. He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they do.“

12. WHAT ABOUT YOUR FORGIVENESS?
A. If Jesus could forgive those who were killing
Him, we must forgive those who have hurt us.
B. If we wish to be spiritually healthy, if we wish to
be free of condemnation, then we must forgive
those who hurt us.
C. Do you need to experience the forgiveness of
God tonight?
D. Do you need to demonstrate the forgiveness of
God tonight?

14. TONIGHT’S SERMON
INCORRUPTIBLE THINGS