Forgiveness
Lesson 1 Forgiveness – Old Testament verses
NAME ________________________________________ Date ____________________
Read each verse carefully. Match each verse to the summary that describes the verse.
____ II Chronicles 7:14 a. Mercy and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God.
____ Psalms 65:3 b. Do not hide your sins but confess them for mercy.
____ Psalms 103:10-12 c. Humble yourself, pray and turn from wicked ways for forgiveness.
____ Proverbs 28:13 d. Return to the Lord and He will abundantly pardon you.
____ Isaiah 1:18 e. God pardons our sins, and He delights in mercy.
____ Isaiah 43:25-26 f. God provides you atonement to reconcile you to Him.
____ Isaiah 55:7 g. God forgives and forgets your sins.
____ Jeremiah 31:34 h. Your scarlet sins shall be as white as snow.
____ Daniel 9:9 i. God will blot out your sins.
____ Micah 7:18-19 j. Your forgiven sins are removed from you as far as east is from the west.
Lesson 2 Forgiveness New Testament verses
NAME _______________________________________ Date ____________________
Read each verse carefully. Match each verse to the summary that describes the verse.
____ Matthew 12:31 a. Confess your sins to one another, pray for one another to be healed.
____ Luke 23:34 b. List of sinners who were washed, sanctified, justified.
____ Acts 2:38 c. Disobey God & face His wrath or obey Him & become a new person.
____ Romans 6:20-23 d. The greatest example of asking God to forgive others.
____ I Cor. 6:9-11 e. Confess your sins, God will forgive you and cleanse you.
____ Eph. 4:31-32 f. All sins are forgivable except one, blasphemy against the Spirit.
____ Col. 3:6-11 g. Slaves of sin earn death; but slaves of God will have eternal life.
____ Hebrews 8:12 h. Repent and be baptized for the remission (forgiveness) of sins.
____ James 5:16 i. Put away all past negative feelings, forgiving others.
____ I John 1:9 j. Your sins are forgiven and forgotten by God.
Lesson 3 Who Deserves Forgiveness?
NAME _______________________________________ Date ____________________
Which one of us deserves forgiveness? Mercy and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, Daniel 9:9.
God pardons our sins, and He delights in mercy, Micah 7:18-10. We deserve nothing, but He offers us forgiveness, due to His mercy.
The beautiful part of the forgiveness of God is He FORGETS those forgiven sins we committed, Psalms 103:10-12, Jeremiah 31:34, Hebrews 8:12.
Forgive and forget… It is impossible for us, but not for God. Our memories of our past sins and all sins committed against us can consume us, robbing us of the JOY our God wants for us. We cannot forget these very negative memories, but does God want us to dwell on these memories? NO! Satan uses negative memories of our pasts to control our thoughts and minds, as we the devil seeks to devour us.
I Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
How do we resist the devil in his attempt to devour us? Refuse to focus on the sins in your past, and instead, focus on today and your future. Does the past control who we are today and in the future? Your past sins and the past sins committed against you can determine who you are today, or you can choose to reject these sins controlling your destiny. Refuse to repeat the sins committed against you simply by changing your mindset of acceptance of these sins and deciding that IN SPITE OF what was done to me, I choose to NEVER allow my life, my decisions, my choices to be controlled by these sins committed against me. All negative thoughts, according to Zig Ziglar, are simply stinkin’ thinkin’ and we must defeat this way of thinking. When negative memories or thoughts enter your mind, remember where they are coming from, and take command of your minds. How do you do that? Jesus tells us how in Matthew 16:23 “Get behind me, Satan!” Learn to say this over and over and over again to every negative thought and memory!
Focus on today, and your great future with your merciful and forgiving God! Memorize these verses.
Philippians 4:4-9 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
This is God’s instructions for us to focus on positive thoughts. This defeats Satan’s attempt to devour us.
I am attaching my husband, Jim’s testimonial of his childhood, where he became the amazing man he is IN SPITE OF his sufferings as a child. He refused to repeat the sins committed against him by his parents. Jesus taught his disciples (following believers) that they were his family in Mark 3:31-35.
Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. And a multitude was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” And He looked around in a circle at those that sat with Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and My mother.”
In the same sense, my Jim knew God to be his father since he had no earthly father and his real family was his church family, a very loving group of Christians.
Many of you may have suffered much more as children, but IN SPITE OF this, you refuse to repeat those sins inflicted on you. You are choosing a Godly path, a different lifestyle, raised from the waters of baptism to walk in newness of life with Jesus,
FORGIVEN!
Lesson 3 Who Deserves Forgiveness?
STUDY QUESTIONS
Name ____________________________________________ Date ________________
- God’s forgiveness is available to:
- “good” people
- Only a few people
- Everyone
- People have haven’t committed “bad” sins.
- When God forgives you,
- He keeps a record of your sins.
- He forgets your sins.
- He remembers but ignores your sins.
- He plans to judge you on those past sins.
- Satan seeks to devour you by
- Tempting you daily
- Planting memories of your past sins in your mind
- Reminding you of all the negative memories in your past
- All of the above
- How did Jesus’ handle attacks by Satan?
- He ran from them.
- He ignored them.
- He said, “Get behind by Satan!”
- He hid from them.
- Once you are forgiven, you must:
- Focus on your past sins so you won’t repeat them.
- Focus on the sins committed against you that caused you to sin.
- Focus on today and your great potential.
- Focus on the “what if’s” that could have changed the past.
- Who deserves forgiveness?
- All who ask for it.
- No one, it is a gift from our merciful God.
- Only the “best” people
- Christians only
- God wants you to be anxious for nothing – “Don’t worry, be happy now!” We do this by focusing on those things that are:
- Noble and just
- Pure and lovely
- Virtuous and praiseworthy
- All of the above
- Negative memories and thoughts are simply “stinkin thinkin” according to
- Moses
- Zig Ziglar
- Joyce Meyer
- David
- Our past controls our future
- Always
- Sometimes
- Only when we allow it
- Most of the time
- A child raised by “bad” parent(s) will be
- A “bad” adult
- A “bad” parent
- Unable to control what they will be
- Whatever they choose to be in spite of their childhood
Lesson 4 Forgiveness From Others
NAME _______________________________________ Date ____________________
As Christians, we can receive God’s forgiveness by confessing our sins and asking Him to forgive us. If our sins are public, we ask the Church (God’s people) to pray for our forgiveness with us. (James 5:16) If our sins are private, we can talk to God directly, asking Him for forgiveness. If you are not a Christian, you will receive God’s forgiveness when you become a Christian. (you can request a copy of “What must I do to be saved?”)
If we have sinned against others, we should seek their forgiveness. I believe a simple, sincere apology in writing and in person if possible is a good way to start, letting them know God has forgiven you and you are hoping and praying they can forgive you. If we have sinned against a Christian, forgiveness should be given freely to us, as Jesus commands Christians to forgive one another. Matthew 18: 21-35 Trust in God to touch the hearts of the victims of our sins, heal their wounds and help them to forgive us. Continue to pray, trusting in God to handle it for you. Visualize yourself kneeling at the Cross, leaving this with Jesus who intercedes for you. (song on next page). We have no control over others, but we know our God is an awesome God, so we must turn this over to Him!
We must accept responsibility for our sins with no excuses. There was a saying in my younger years: The devil made me do it! While this is partially true, we must acknowledge that the devil cannot MAKE us do anything. While he hurls the fiery darts of temptations at us, it is our CHOICE to either quench those darts of temptation or fall prey to the “roaring lion seeking to devour” us. Ephesians 6:14-16 “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” This is when we can take control, realize where these temptations are coming from, and order the wicked one to “Get behind me Satan!” Repeat this, over and over again to resist the devil. James 4:7 “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” I love to visualize the despicable devil fleeing from us all!
Once we have received God’s forgiveness and asked for the forgiveness of those we have sinned against, even if they have not forgiven us, we should not focus on the memories of those sins. God has forgotten them, and though we cannot forget, we must focus on today, tomorrow and our future. Those very sad, negative memories of our forgiven sins can rob us of our joy in our new life in Him and distract us from our walk with Him. We cannot let the devil shoot these fiery darts of bad memories into our minds… just say to those bad memories “Get behind me Satan!” Repeat this every time the wicked one tries to plant those thoughts in your mind. Do not let your past control your future.
If we have suffered the sins of others in the past, we should forgive them, even if they have not asked for forgiveness. Holding on to the memories of these sins continues to give them power over you and your new life. A great guy in our re-entry program had issues with his parents and the way they raised him. He focused his thoughts on them and constantly talked about it. He was allowing his past and the fact he had bad parents to keep controlling his life now. Another saying I remember from when I was younger: Today is the first day of the rest of your life. We should all focus on today; all we are guaranteed is this very moment. What will we do with this moment, this day, the rest of our lives? Focus on the past or focus on the present? The past may be very negative, but the present is very positive, due to FORGIVENESS!
Lesson 4 Forgiveness from Others
STUDY QUESTIONS
Name ____________________________________________ Date _______________
- If you have sinned against someone, you should…
- Explain the reasons (excuses) for your sin against them (I was drunk, on drugs, influenced by bad people)
- Accept the responsibility for your sin and give them a simple, sincere apology in writing and in person.
- Give it some time and maybe they will forget.
- Deny it and hope they believe you.
- After you have apologized and asked for forgiveness from someone, you should.
- Turn it over to God and pray about it.
- Repeat your apology over and over again until they accept it.
- Withdraw your apology if they do not accept it.
- Focus your thoughts on that sin until they forgive you.
- You can quench the fiery darts of Satan by arming yourself with
- Truth
- Righteousness
- The gospel of peace
- All of the above
- Resist the devil and he will…
- Keep attacking you.
- Double down on you
- FLEE
- Laugh at you.
- Memories of your past sins will rob you of your joy if you…
- Focus on them.
- Relive them in your mind over and over again.
- Are distracted daily by those negative memories.
- All of the above
- Who has control over the choices you make?
- Your friends
- Satan
- You
- Your parents
- You must command Satan, the wicked one, to…
- Please leave me alone
- Pick on someone else.
- Get behind me, Satan.
- Give me a break
- If you allow sad, negative memories to fill your mind, you are…
- Allowing Satan to rule your mind.
- Controlling your own thoughts as best you can.
- Focusing on your new life in Christ.
- Trying to focus on your future.
- The sins committed against you in your life…
- Have all power over you forever.
- Cannot be forgiven.
- Will determine your future.
- Will only control you and your destiny IF you allow it.
- How much time do you have left?
- A lot of time because I am young.
- This moment.
- Many years.
- Just a few years because I am old.
Lesson 5 Forgiving Ourselves
NAME _______________________________________ Date ____________________
To forgive ourselves, we must know the great mercy and grace of our great God. We are loved by our God just as we are. With his forgiveness, our sins are REMOVED from us, as far as east is from the west. We must believe God when he says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (song on next page) We must believe God when He says He will blot out our sins. We must accept God’s forgiveness which cleanses us of those sins and focus on cleansing our minds of the guilt we feel for our sins. We can never forget our sins of the past, but we can focus our minds on today and create new memories. We must meditate on the things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, good, virtuous, praiseworthy! (Philippians 4:8) What acts of kindness, encouragement, inspiration and uplifting good deeds can we do today for others?
Philippians 4:6-7 Please memorize this verse. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication (an earnest, humble request), with thanksgiving (always thank God), let your requests be made known to God; and the PEACE OF GOD, which surpasses all understanding, will GUARD your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The peace of God overcomes all guilt, regret, bitterness, heartache, and sorrow we are holding in our hearts and minds, when we forgive ourselves.
None of us are perfect, only One was perfect. Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come BOLDLY to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We have all fallen short. Romans 3:23-26 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation (atonement) by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
Paul in his letter to the Romans 4:7-8 quotes David from Psalms 32:1-2 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute (lay the blame or responsibility of) sin.” This describes God’s forgiveness which we can be blessed to receive. David received God’s forgiveness for his sins which included adultery and murder.
When we are blessed with forgiveness, we must also forgive ourselves. God in his almighty wisdom offers forgiveness, so if we refuse to forgive ourselves, we reject God’s wisdom. Remind yourself often – “I am forgiven!” Thank God everyday for his grace and mercy! Let go of the guilt, grab hold of the grace! Let go of the past, focus on your future! Let go of the misery, grab hold of the mercy! Begin your NEW walk with God, cleansed, washed as white as snow,
FORGIVEN!
Lesson 5 Forgiving Ourselves
STUDY QUESTIONS
Name _____________________________________ Date ________________
- You are loved by God…
- If you never sin again.
- Just as you are.
- Only when you are perfect.
- In the future if you “shape up”.
- Once your sins are forgiven, you can forget your sins…
- If you refuse to think about them.
- If you focus on the future.
- If you stop repeating those sins.
- You will never forget, only God does that.
- With God’s forgiveness, your sins are…
- Blotted out.
- Turned from crimson to white as snow.
- Removed from you as far as the east is from the west.
- All of the above
- What will guard your heart and mind from anxiety (worry)?
- The Peace of God.
- You yourself.
- Taking anti-depressants.
- How can you obtain mercy and grace in your time of need?
- Talk to your minister.
- Consult with friends and family.
- Come BOLDLY to God in prayer.
- Ask others to help you.
- When you forgive yourself, you received the Peace of God that removes…
- Your heartaches of guilt.
- Your regrets and bitterness.
- Your sorrows and sadness.
- All of the above.
- There is no such thing as big and little sins. Sin is sin. David received forgiveness from God for…
- All of his sins including adultery and murder.
- Killing a giant.
- For “little sins” (we call them misdemeanors).
- Who has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?
- Felons only.
- Christians only.
- Only you.
- If you forgive yourself, you are…
- Accepting God’s wisdom in offering His forgiveness to you.
- Being selfish.
- Still guilty and sad.
- Miserable but dealing with it.
- Once you have forgiven yourself, you will be able to…
- Focus on your future.
- Stop focusing on the negative sins in your past.
- Create new beautiful memories in your new life.
- All of the above.
Martin Luther King, Jr. “Thank God almighty we are free at last!”
You are no longer a slave to sin, YOU are
FORGIVEN!
Jim’s Testimonial
Jim’s “father” was missing in action most of Jim’s life. Jim was six months old before his “father” returned from one of his many escapades and learned Jim existed. Jim’s mother worked hard to financially support Jim and his sister, Linda, who was 11 months older than Jim. Due to her working to support them, she had little time to spend with them.
Jim had polio at age 4 and survived (this was before the vaccination) but he was hospitalized for 10 months, part of the time he was in an iron lung. At that time, many children died or were permanently crippled due to polio. During this time, his “father” came to visit him 2 times. When Jim was released from the hospital, his mother had to work and her mother, Jim’s grandmother, did not drive, so she arranged for Jim, age 4, to go home from the hospital alone in a taxi.
Childhood was very volatile with his missing father and working mother. There was fighting most of the times his “father” showed up. Jim developed a habit of hiding as he felt a need to protect himself. He seemed to only feel safe when he was hidden. He even hid underneath the house for hours.
When he was six years old, he had gone to sleep with his mother after becoming afraid one night. When he woke up in the morning, his mother was dead beside him. He and his sister could not wake her up, so Jim went to the neighbor’s house for help. Help arrived and they took his mother’s body away. They then went to live with their grandmother, who was in bad health and not able to get around much, but she did the best she could. She cooked for them but needed them to do all the chores. His sister did the cleaning inside and housekeeping, and Jim did the yardwork, garden and all the shopping. Jim’s “Dad” called about six months after his Mom died and wanted to talk to her, so Jim got his grandmother to the phone to tell him about her death.
Jim’s grandmother always sent them to church regularly, where Jim grew very close to God.
At some point after Jim and Linda went to live with their grandmother, Jim’s “dad” got their grandmother to pay him $500 each (which was a lot of money in the 1950’s) so she could raise them, which she did until she died when Jim was 16. Jim then stayed with an aunt and uncle to try to finish high school.
Between ages 6-11, Jim’s “dad” came to visit them 3 or 4 times but then disappeared and was not heard from again until Jim was 25. After fourteen years of no contact, Jim was united with his “Dad” and Jim forgave him.
Jim had no father here, but says he knew from a young age that he had a father in heaven, God.
Jim was on his own at age 18, sometimes homeless, on the streets, with no close family other than his sister, and he confesses he walked in the world for 23 years, but always knew God was his Father. He returned to God at age 41 and received
FORGIVENESS