2 Corinthians 2
The Art of Forgiveness!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, October 9.
It was said to me in a very tender situation that “forgiveness is the heart of Christianity.” I was at a very low moment in my life and, honestly, I was bracing myself to be taken even lower when this person said this to me. Through Christ’s shed blood on the Cross, this person’s forgiveness released me. I will never forget and I praise God!
As you read 2 Corinthians 2, you will hear Paul writing about a very difficult situation in the church that brought much heart ache and pain. Through this incident we learn about the awkward work of mutual accountability and the harder work of forgiveness. It is never one without the other—there is always a need for both. Church discipline is a call to both because it’s all about reconciliation and restoration!
Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, “But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
Is there someone you need to talk to today? The initiative is in your hands to reach out and reconcile and restore your relationship with them. Do you feel that you are justified to ignore or hang on to the offense? Do you think it’s their responsibility and not your own?
Praise God Jesus didn’t think that way; He didn’t wait for us to come to Him before He came to us! You and I are forgiven because that is the work of the Cross, for undeserving people, like you and me and whoever this other person is. Forgiveness is the heart of Christianity!