BREAKOUT | Crosstraining 8.22.12

Matthew 18:23-35 One of the most popular storylines in many movies and TV shows is a helpless individual who has racked up huge debts by gambling and now fears for their life because someone is ready to make them pay up. The person in debt hides and makes all kind of excuses. They blame their situation or other people…they do or say anything possible to try to get off the hook. We do this often in our own lives. When we’ve messed up, we always have an excuse. We blame our parents for the way we were raised, we blame genetics claiming “that’s just my personality,” we say that because of the way someone is that “they had it coming,” or any number of excuses to explain away why we made a mistake…we want off the hook when we screw up. While we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt when we mess up, we don’t offer the same to other people. When they’ve messed up or wronged us, we often immediately write them off as a bad person and offer little hope of forgiveness or reconciliation. Maybe today it’s time to realize all that God has forgiven you for and thank him for all those second chances by forgiving others the way Christ has forgiven you. While this doesn’t always mean that you’ll repair a relationship and be best friends (and, in the case of abuse and similar situations, it shouldn’t), but it does mean that you’ll begin to let go of the bitterness and grudges that you’ve been holding on to and begin to allow yourself to move on. The only way to kill the root of bitterness in your life is by pulling the roots with forgiveness.]]>