You Can't - The Pivot and the Process
The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ big coming-out speech. All the people who followed him out there to hear it were trying to figure out what He was about, similar to a campaign speech.
At this point, a lot of people were trying to connect the dots about Jesus – the Messiah. So, they’re all waiting for him to drop the hammer on all the injustice they were feeling, and instead, He goes in a different direction.
Matthew 5
34 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
Throughout the speech, Jesus contrasts the way of the world around us and His way. When we act in His way, it proves which kingdom we are a part of. This concept was deeply underwhelming, even disappointing, because enemies was not an abstract idea. They were expecting Him to start a revolution, but instead, it’s about forgiveness, not justice.
Matthew 6
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread.’
We think of God’s Kingdom coming as something that will happen. We also think of it as a place (heaven) that is somewhere else. Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is among you – at hand.”
We think of God’s will be done as God’s map of events. But it’s more like God’s way of doing things. Not just in the culmination, but now.
And we are on board. However, that changes when Jesus tells us how:
Matthew 6
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
How did God forgive our debts?
Completely without us deserving it and at a significant cost to Him and His only Son, Jesus. And we like that part, especially when we reflect on our worst moments. But then there’s “as we forgive our debtors.”
Like God forgave us, people who have been forgiven work to forgive others in the same way.
Matthew 6
13 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
We often think this verse about temptation and evil is standalone. It’s not. It’s tied to what’s before and after it.
If you don’t want to fall into evil, you must prioritize forgiveness. Forgive what you’ve done to others or what they’ve done to you. Take the initiative and begin now. If we don’t take forgiveness seriously, we are handed evil because it’s the fruit of our chosen direction.
Jesus says, “Pray that God helps you see people (and) things clearly, as they truly are, how He sees them.”
But there is part of this that screams, you can’t.
Matthew 6
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
This may seem harsh to most of us. Isn’t God’s forgiveness unlimited, unconditional? Does God really understand what that other person said to us, what they did? Does God really understand how they hurt us or someone we love?
So, does this mean that God has a limit to His forgiveness?
When you don’t forgive others, you’re holding on to something. And that something blocks your ability to receive from God.
Granting this forgiveness is difficult. We’ve all faced it, and there’s a lot of us carrying around a weight or chains from bondage because we misunderstand how forgiveness works.
Forgiveness is a pivot and a process.
To walk in freedom and receive the fullness of God‘s mercy, we have to make the pivot and offer it to others. But that’s not the end. There’s a process, and this process may take years. It may not be completed in this lifetime. The process is what surprises us.
The pivot is a change of your heart’s direction, but it’s not the completion of the journey of the process.
We may think that the pivot is everything and there’s no process afterward. But that's incorrect. Have you ever done the act of forgiving someone, but you still feel things? These feelings might even bubble up in the aftermath.
As Christians, we may feel a lot of guilt in these moments, and it condemns us or freezes us from moving forward. It’s based on a misunderstanding.
We’ve all heard of the phrase “forgive and forget.” And God forgets our sins, but only God can do that. We can’t. With small things that don’t matter a lot, we can usually do that, but we can’t with the big things. Only God can.
We all wish we could eliminate certain memories – something that was said, something that was done, or something that was lost. And if we could do that, it would make the command much easier, but we can’t just push something out of our minds by a sheer act of will.
Forgetting isn’t easy, but God may not want us to forget.
When we feel the hurt, it leads us to learn from it. But we do have a choice in what we do with that sense of debt. We have a choice to replay the hurt and let bitterness set in or put in the work and forgive.
There is great freedom in forgiveness because unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
/watch
The problem occurs when the grudge is easy to hold onto because it feels like the only thing we have any power over. But holding onto that leads us toward temptation and then evil. It consumes us.
Ironically, it doesn’t give us the power we seek but actually gives it to the other person. Why would we want to give the other person that kind of power? Now, it is important to remember that forgiveness does not equal trust or mean that you let people back in right away, or ever. Trust needs to be rebuilt through the other person’s actions. That’s the only way to gauge an actual heart change.
Proverbs 22
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
If we do not move toward forgiveness and ultimately forgive others, bitterness will get ugly and take root. Damage will continue to be done within ourselves. We must forgive if we want a genuine, soft heart that shows grace and reflects a heart of freedom and peace in Christ.
So, our “you can’t” is less about God withholding forgiveness and more about us not being able to receive it and live in it.
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Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
At this point, a lot of people were trying to connect the dots about Jesus – the Messiah. So, they’re all waiting for him to drop the hammer on all the injustice they were feeling, and instead, He goes in a different direction.
Matthew 5
34 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven.
Throughout the speech, Jesus contrasts the way of the world around us and His way. When we act in His way, it proves which kingdom we are a part of. This concept was deeply underwhelming, even disappointing, because enemies was not an abstract idea. They were expecting Him to start a revolution, but instead, it’s about forgiveness, not justice.
Matthew 6
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread.’
We think of God’s Kingdom coming as something that will happen. We also think of it as a place (heaven) that is somewhere else. Jesus said, “the kingdom of God is among you – at hand.”
We think of God’s will be done as God’s map of events. But it’s more like God’s way of doing things. Not just in the culmination, but now.
And we are on board. However, that changes when Jesus tells us how:
Matthew 6
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
How did God forgive our debts?
Completely without us deserving it and at a significant cost to Him and His only Son, Jesus. And we like that part, especially when we reflect on our worst moments. But then there’s “as we forgive our debtors.”
Like God forgave us, people who have been forgiven work to forgive others in the same way.
Matthew 6
13 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
We often think this verse about temptation and evil is standalone. It’s not. It’s tied to what’s before and after it.
If you don’t want to fall into evil, you must prioritize forgiveness. Forgive what you’ve done to others or what they’ve done to you. Take the initiative and begin now. If we don’t take forgiveness seriously, we are handed evil because it’s the fruit of our chosen direction.
Jesus says, “Pray that God helps you see people (and) things clearly, as they truly are, how He sees them.”
But there is part of this that screams, you can’t.
Matthew 6
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
This may seem harsh to most of us. Isn’t God’s forgiveness unlimited, unconditional? Does God really understand what that other person said to us, what they did? Does God really understand how they hurt us or someone we love?
So, does this mean that God has a limit to His forgiveness?
When you don’t forgive others, you’re holding on to something. And that something blocks your ability to receive from God.
Granting this forgiveness is difficult. We’ve all faced it, and there’s a lot of us carrying around a weight or chains from bondage because we misunderstand how forgiveness works.
Forgiveness is a pivot and a process.
To walk in freedom and receive the fullness of God‘s mercy, we have to make the pivot and offer it to others. But that’s not the end. There’s a process, and this process may take years. It may not be completed in this lifetime. The process is what surprises us.
The pivot is a change of your heart’s direction, but it’s not the completion of the journey of the process.
We may think that the pivot is everything and there’s no process afterward. But that's incorrect. Have you ever done the act of forgiving someone, but you still feel things? These feelings might even bubble up in the aftermath.
As Christians, we may feel a lot of guilt in these moments, and it condemns us or freezes us from moving forward. It’s based on a misunderstanding.
We’ve all heard of the phrase “forgive and forget.” And God forgets our sins, but only God can do that. We can’t. With small things that don’t matter a lot, we can usually do that, but we can’t with the big things. Only God can.
We all wish we could eliminate certain memories – something that was said, something that was done, or something that was lost. And if we could do that, it would make the command much easier, but we can’t just push something out of our minds by a sheer act of will.
Forgetting isn’t easy, but God may not want us to forget.
When we feel the hurt, it leads us to learn from it. But we do have a choice in what we do with that sense of debt. We have a choice to replay the hurt and let bitterness set in or put in the work and forgive.
There is great freedom in forgiveness because unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
/watch
The problem occurs when the grudge is easy to hold onto because it feels like the only thing we have any power over. But holding onto that leads us toward temptation and then evil. It consumes us.
Ironically, it doesn’t give us the power we seek but actually gives it to the other person. Why would we want to give the other person that kind of power? Now, it is important to remember that forgiveness does not equal trust or mean that you let people back in right away, or ever. Trust needs to be rebuilt through the other person’s actions. That’s the only way to gauge an actual heart change.
Proverbs 22
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.
If we do not move toward forgiveness and ultimately forgive others, bitterness will get ugly and take root. Damage will continue to be done within ourselves. We must forgive if we want a genuine, soft heart that shows grace and reflects a heart of freedom and peace in Christ.
So, our “you can’t” is less about God withholding forgiveness and more about us not being able to receive it and live in it.
For more LHC content, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Instagram.
Want to play catch-up, or are you looking for a specific topic? Check out our collection of sermons here.
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