Friday January 30, 2015

Read 1 John 4:13-16a.

Lucas was abandoned as a baby by his natural parents and spent most of his life being shunted from family to family. To date he has lived in over 15 homes. In many of these homes he has been physically and/or sexually abused. How can he possibly show love to his natural birth parents, whom he has now recontacted? How can he love the families that abused him?

Michaela was bullied at school. She was horribly treated and pushed to the outer by her peers. She was the butt of most jokes and was rarely included in socials and weekend outings. She was often the recipient of on-line threats and taunts. How can she show love to her school peers as she prepares to graduate from high school?

Mack has been married for 40 years but feels that his wife loves her career and her prestigious house more than she loves him. He feels that he comes second, actually last, in his wife’s heart. Can he love her? Can he still have feelings for this woman he’s been with for the last 40 years?

The million dollar question in so many broken lives is, ‘How can I show love to those who have not loved me?’ We need to realise certain truths and draw on them for strength. In and of ourselves loving those who should have loved us but didn’t is virtually impossible.

If you are a believer then you live in God and God lives in you. You are united to God and God is united to you. There is a fundamental relationship between you and God that gives you the resources and the power of God. By the power of God we understand and internalise and apply to our own lives the truth that God sent Jesus into the world out of love to save us. God reached out in love to us personally even when we didn’t reach out to Him in love. Put bluntly, God loved me (and you) when I (and you) were unlovable. OUCH!

If God reached out to me in love before I even thought of reaching out to Him, then I can reach out to others in love. If God reached out to me in love even as I was rejecting Him, I can reach out to others who are rejecting me. The love I have experienced from God equips and empowers me to love others, even others who have hurt me.

It may be difficult to admit and to realise but this fundamental truth has to be admitted and accepted. Even though I may have suffered horrendous wrongs, my sin against God is greater than anyone’s sin against me.  If God can forgive me and love me freely, can I not then forgive and love those that have hurt me? V16 sums it up. .

1 John 4:16 (NIV84)

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

If Lucas, Michaela and Marcus are to move forward, if you and I are to move forward, we have to come to God to receive and bathe in His love. We have to admit our sin against Him and we have to be refreshed by His love.  To move forward I have to admit my shortcomings and abuse of God and I have to receive the cool, refreshing waters of His forgiveness. As that happens, the love of God allows both you and I to love and forgive others. He allows us to move through the pain and the hurt, the anger and bitterness towards love and forgiveness.

Prayer:

Use the day’s reading notes and Bible passage to pray meaningfully:

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

· Pray that your congregation would grow in love for God, in love for each other and in love for the community in which it serves and worships.

· Pray that your Session would be filled with men who love God and His Word, take it seriously in their own lives and practice what they preach. 

 Discussion & Reflection

1. What could you say to Lucas, Michaela or Mack if they said to you that they just can’t seem to forgive those that hurt them?

2. What is the biblical position regarding a Christian and forgiveness?

3. What are the negative effects of not forgiving someone?