The King & Queen Of Unforgiveness
The Five Kings: Part 5
Joshua
June 2, 2024
Key Scriptures
Key Points
- The king/queen of unforgiveness is the only unwanted ruler that can cause hatred in your heart.
- The Greek word, aphesis (ἄφεσις), is used when referring to forgiveness more than 40 times in the New Testament. It means to send the obligation of debt away.
- To not work towards forgiveness is a sin.
- The first step to forgive someone is to count the cost: acknowledge the hurt, the injustice, and the loss. Do not try to forget it.
- The second step is to identify the wrongdoing as the sin of another sinner. Do not judge them any differently than God would judge you for your own sin.
- The third step is to release them from the obligation to pay the debt and absorb the cost, just like Jesus did to forgive yours.
- Imagine releasing them from the choke hold of your hate.
- The fourth step is to aim for reconciliation if/when possible. This is what Jesus did and continues to do for us after forgiveness occurs.
Discussion
- Have you experienced a journey of unforgiveness? Please share.
- How would you help others when they are stuck in unforgiveness?
- Explain what it means to absorb the debt.
- Pray for those who are struggling to forgive.
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperOne, 2001), 125.