Don't Feed the Wildlife

Don't Feed the Bitterness

Don’t Feed the Wildlife

Lesson 1: Don’t Feed the Bitterness

July 2 & 3, 2016

 

If you don’t choose forgiveness by default you choose bitterness.

 

1 Corinthians 1:18 I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. New Living Translation

 

Forgiven people forgive.

 

Ephesians 4:26 If you are angry, don’t sin by nursing your grudge. Don’t let the sun go down with you still angry - get over it quickly. 27 for when you are angry, you give a mighty foothold to the devil. The Living Bible

 

Ephesians 4:31 Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Contemporary English Version

 

“I know from personal experience how damaging it can be to live with bitterness and unforgiveness. I like to say it's like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die”. Joyce Meyer

 

Ephesians 4:32 Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ. Contemporary English Version

Six Things It Is

  1. Cancelling a debt
  2. A decision and a process  
  3. A gift for them
  4. Genuinely wanting good for them
  5. Letting God avenge you
  6. Removing the person’s control of you.                                    

 

Choices lead, feelings follow

 

“I will never allow another man to control my life by allowing him to make me hate him.” Booker T. Washington

 

Five Things It’s not

  1. It’s not diminishing the sin
  2. It’s not a response to an apology
  3. It’s not forgetting
  4. Forgiveness isn’t trust
  5. It’s not reconciliation