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Cadyville Wesleyan Church

Identity- Week 9- I am Forgiving

Identity. It influences every area of your life. It dictates what you do. If you see your identity as somebody worthless, you will act in a worthless manner. If you see yourself as smart, you act smart (or at least as a smart aleck). If you identify as an idiot, you'll act accordingly. But who does God say that I am? When you spend some time in the Scriptures, you will begin to unpack the identity that Christ desires for you and the Holy Spirit empowers you to become. In a new series that launches this Sunday, we will discover our identity in Christ and who that empowers us to become. Our identity matters. Discover a new way of seeing yourself as we launch our new series Identity: Who You Are Defines What You Do!

Locations & Times

Mosaic Church

2083 NY-3, Cadyville, NY 12918, USA

Saturday 6:00 PM

Bitterness has an incredible ability to consume you.

The more personal the betrayal, the more significant the hurt, the more inconceivable the prospects of forgiveness seem.

Bitterness as a result of being wounded can not only feel like a natural response but even a right response.

Hebrews 12:15

Love keeps no record of wrongs, but bitterness keeps detailed accounts.

Bitterness may be a natural response, but it is anything but harmless.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Ephesians 4:32

“Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.”
- Luke 23:34

Ephesians 2:3-5

The problem is that for many of us, giving grace just doesn’t feel like an option.

If you always waited to begin the journey of forgiveness, you’ll be locked in a cage of bitterness your whole life.

“The litmus test for the reality of grace you have received from God is the extent to which you give grace and offer forgiveness to the person who’s hurt you the most and deserves it the least.”
- Kyle Idleman

Colossians 3:13

Forgiven people forgive people.

“When we received forgiveness instead of judgment, we, too, were made ready to forgive our brethren. What God did to us, we then owed to others. The more we received, the more we were able to give!”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Grace flows. That’s the nature of it. If it doesn’t flow, it isn’t grace. Grace is only grace if it is received AND extended.

We are never more like Jesus than when we show grace to those who deserve it the least!

“Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.”
- Luke 23:34

Luke 6:27-28

When you pray for your enemies, you aren’t changing their heart; you’re changing yours!

It’s hard to hate someone when you lift them up to God. It’s hard to be bitter towards someone when you pray blessing on them. It’s hard to hate someone when you speak words of love over them.