You’ve probably noticed that Christians talk about forgiveness a lot! If you’ve ever prayed the Lord’s Prayer, you’ll recognise the words from chapter 6 of Matthew’s Gospel: ‘Forgive us our debts [you might know the older versions of ‘sins’ or ‘trespasses’] as we also have forgiven our debtors‘.
Since this is such a big part of our faith, we need to understand what it is and what we need to do about it. Here’s a video from Rick Thomas to tell us more.
VIDEO NEEDS EDITING TO INCLUDE CORRIE TEN BOOM CLIP
Questions to talk about in your group
What difference does it make to your life, knowing you are forgiven by God?
What are some of the biggest challenges to us when we try to forgive others?
Why is it so important that we forgive people who have hurt us?
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34
This can be a really challenging topic, as it forces us to think about ways that we have been hurt or have hurt other people. However, forgiveness brings freedom and new life with it. For the next section, we’re going to take a bit of time to each think about the questions on our own. You don’t need to share your answers with the group. Grab a pen and paper if you’d like to write down your thoughts at this point.
Questions to think about on your own.
Is there someone you need to forgive?
Is there someone you need to ask to forgive you?
Sometimes, forgiving someone has to be an ongoing decision, where we wake up each morning and choose to forgive them again. Over time, it grows easier. Where are you in this journey of forgiving?
Going deeper
Just like last week, we’ve got some ideas here of things you can read, watch or listen to, if you’d like to go deeper in this topic.
Read ‘Through Gates of Splendour’ by Elizabeth Eliot. This is the true story of a woman whose husband was murdered by the people he had tried to tell about Jesus. She not only forgave her husband’s killers, but travelled across the world to meet with them and offer forgiveness in person.
If you were struck by Corrie Ten Boom’s video, you can read more of her powerful story in her book The Hiding Place
This New Life 