Today is the first Bible study of the year at work. Here is message that I’ll be sharing …
We’ve just started another year. So, today, I want to share 3 things to help us start this new year for a fresh future.
1. We need to forgive those who have hurt us
2. We need to forget the things that lie behind us
3. We need to follow where Jesus will lead us
Let me ask you, has there been someone who has hurt you last year? Probably the question should be was there anybody who has NOT hurt you last year? We’ve all been hurt by somebody. It could be a small thing, or it could even be a life shattering thing. Do you feel uncomfortable, or upset, or hurt when you think of that person? What are we to do? Let me challenge you to do this. Forgive them. Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Matthew 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
When we don’t forgive, the person being tormented is not those who have hurt us, it is ourselves. We need to realize that if God can forgive them for all the sins they’ve committed against Him, then surely we can forgive whoever has done things to hurt our little ego. We need to forgive those who don’t do things we want them to do and it gets us mad. We need to forgive those have insulted us or used us or even abused us.
Or maybe it’s not another person who is holding us back, but ourselves. Perhaps we’ve made mistakes in 2002 and can’t stop feeling guilty or regretful over it. If it’s a sin, we simply ask for God’s forgiveness, He’ll completely forgive us. If it’s a mistake, we learn from it, and go on. If it’s a difficulty, we need to realize that all things will work together for good, even though it might not seem that way.
And then after confessing it and learning from it, put it in the past and don’t dwell on it. Just because you walk and stumble, it doesn’t mean you have to keep staring at the hole in the ground. Just continue walking and watch out for any more potholes in your path.
Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do , forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Lastly, we’re called to press on towards Jesus. Let’s have as our number one goal this year to simply follow the steps of Jesus.
Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
So, let’s start off 2003 by forgiving all the people who have hurt us in the past. Let’s forget all the negative things in the past. And let’s follow Jesus and see where He takes us this year.