I’m still waiting for my loophole. If you only knew my story, you’d agree I am an exception. I thought this message was about letting me hold a grudge. There are no loopholes, no exceptions, no grudges. At some point we all come to the same moment, we must release the emotional debt we are holding against someone who has harmed us. But how we release that emotional debt matters. Or also, how we encourage someone else to release that emotional debt matters. If we ask them to forgive someone when it is actually mercy that is needed, we could end up contributing to someone getting stuck in their grudge. If we ask them to give mercy when it is actually forgiveness that is needed, we could end up forestalling the releasing of an emotional debt. The same is true for ourselves. How we think about mercy and forgiveness can cause our own postponement of releasing that emotional debt. Scripture gives us more than one path for releasing emotional debts and knowing which one is needed matters…otherwise God would not have provided for us two paths. Last week began with me asking those questions that are quickly becoming my conclusions. And this week we will explore further forgiveness vs. mercy and consider some other pressing questions that tend to accompany conversations about forgiveness and mercy. Some are forgive and forget, forgiveness means reconciliation, and forgiveness means forgoing justice. Thank you for sharing your Saturday with us…come visit us for a live, in person service soon!
by City Life