Forgive to Live

Unlock Your Life by Releasing Others From Blame

What’s Not To Be Offended By?

Our Family, Friends

Our government

Racism, religious prejudice

Rejection of biblical sexual values everywhere

Our enemies

Forgiveness

What It Is & Is Not

The Power

The Process

The Practice

What Is Forgiveness

The conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness.

The Process of Forgiveness:What It is

Choosing to completely free the offender from any blame

Feeling released from the anger and other negative feelings you had toward the offender

The path to reconciliation if the offender is willing

The best way to live with unmet expectations

The Process of Forgiveness:What It is Not

Pretending to forget the offense

Minimizing the severity of the offense

Rationalizing that we should not have been offended

Committing yourself to reengage with a person who might offend you again.

God & Science AgreeForgiveness is Powerfully Good!

God & Science Agree:Forgiving Offenses is Life-giving

Forgiveness makes us happier..and those around us!

Forgiveness improves our health

Forgiveness protects relationships

Forgiveness is essential for healthy marriages & families

God & Science Agree:Forgiving Offenses is Life-giving

Forgiveness boosts kindness and connectedness

Forgiveness can help heal deep emotional wounds

Forgiveness can heal individuals, communities, cities and nations.

What They DidReleased Life From Death Through…

God & Science Agree:Forgiving Offenses is Life-giving

Dr. Fred Luskin is the director of the Stanford Forgiveness Projects at Stanford University

U. Of Massachusetts wrote a professional paper on how forgiveness training helped heal the wounds of Rwanda from the 1994 massacre of 750,000 people.

God & Science Agree:Forgiving Offenses is Life-giving

Dr. Loren, a psychology professor at Luther College, taught forgiveness in 2002 to the survivors of the terrible war in Sierra Leone with impressive results.

Forgiveness helped overcome apartheid in South Africa:

“…when the security police routinely tortured him, he used to think, “These are God’s children and yet they are behaving like animals. They need us to help them recover the humanity they have lost.”

Physically Healed by Forgiving

Former Prostitute in Brazil

Lady in Foley, MN.

Grandma in Brazil

About 70% of physical illnesses may be due to stress

Emotionally Healed by Forgiving

Me & Pop

Millions of Christians

Multitudes of non-Christians

Spiritually Healed by Forgiving

Forgive to be forgiven: Matthew 6 & Mark 11:25-26

Good will discipline us if we do not forgive: Matthew 18:34-35

Why Is God So Concerned That We Forgive Others?

He Is Trying to Protect Us!

Forgiveness: God’s Escape HatchTo Avoid the Prison of Anger & Resentment

The ProcessOf Forgiving

Who To Forgive

Others

Yourself

God

How to Pray Forgiveness For Others

“I forgive them for what they did that made me feel____

I release them from all blame for _________________

I bless them in Jesus Name and Pray that God will restore our relationship

How to Forgive Yourself

I confess my fault (________) to God and accept His free and full forgiveness for that mistake that Jesus paid for on the cross.

“I forgive myself for ___________________

I no longer blame myself for that mistake.

How to Forgive God

I acknowledge that whatever God does in my life is done out of love for me. I admit that many things happen to me that are not caused by God.

I admit that I have blamed God for ______________

I release God from all the blame I unjustly held against Him

I receive God’s forgiveness for accusing Him wrongly.

Reasons To Not forgive

How Unforgiveness Seems to Benefit Us

It empowers us

It protects us

It validates that a wrong has been done to us

It is a form of revenge

His Truth for Our Reasons

Allow your self to feel the anger for the offense

Discovery what is the hidden benefit of not forgiving

Hold that belief before the Lord for His perspective

Our feelings and reasons will always change when we sense God’s truth replacing our reasons

The PracticeOf Forgiving Everyone

Others to Forgive

Family & friends

Authority figures in government, at work, at school, in the church

Organizations, companies, militant groups, all enemies

Let’s Forgive NowSo We Can Enjoy Our Lives with God’s Strongest Blessings