I’m a Christian, but It’s Hard to Forgive

Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig Audio Podcast

Skip Heitzig

Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 631 Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A Turkish soldier beat a Christian prisoner until he was barely conscious. He kicked him and shouted, “What can your Christ do for you now?” The bloodied soldier responded, “He can give me strength to forgive you.” One of the hardest areas in the Christian life is forgiving people (even other Christians) who have hurt us in the past. In this passage, let’s see what help Jesus can give.

I. Forgiveness is Difficult

II. Forgiveness is Divine

III. Forgiveness is Demanded

IV. Forgiveness is Doable

A. Start Upward

B. Move Inward

C. Reach Outward

Talk with God: Ask the Lord to show you where you’ve chosen to hold on to hurt, anger, or bitterness, and ask Him for the strength to choose forgiveness.

Talk with others: Ask a mentor or trusted believer to pray for you as you work through any anger or bitterness you’ve been harboring.

Talk with kids: Why did God have to punish Cain for his sin? How was God merciful, even in punishment?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Calvary Church with Skip Heidde.
0:02.8	We're so glad you've joined us today.
0:05.5	Being a Christian is hard.
0:07.3	Whether you've been a believer for a day or a decade,
0:10.4	faith in Jesus won't make you immune to the challenges and troubles of life.
0:14.4	We all need a little help, and we find the help we need in Scripture.
0:18.7	So, let's dive into God's Word, the ultimate source of truth, wisdom, and supernatural comfort.
0:25.6	Welcome to church.
0:27.6	Would you turn in your Bibles to Matthew Chapter 18, please?
0:32.6	Matthew Chapter 18.
0:33.6	When I first became a believer, I was brand new, born again, so excited, couldn't wait to find out what's next.
0:41.6	I've started reading the gospel of Matthew because I had a New Testament, good news for modern man,
0:47.2	and I went through the birth of Jesus, John the Baptist, started reading the sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter 5, all is good
0:56.4	until I get to the very last verse of chapter 5 of Matthew where Jesus said, therefore be perfect,
1:07.6	even as your father in heaven is perfect.
1:17.4	And I remember thinking, I'm going to need a lot of help in this Christian walk.
1:20.4	Well, that's what this series is all about, called help.
1:23.9	There are certain areas that we all struggle with.
1:28.9	And, of course, we're not going to cover all of the areas, but we are going to look at several of them as we have already. And this is a message called, I'm a Christian, but it's hard to
1:35.2	forgive. I'm a Christian, but it's hard to forgive. There was once a boxing champion from Ireland, who was very well known.
1:48.0	He converted to Christ, he joined the ministry, and he was going from town to town, setting up a tent, sharing the gospel.
1:57.0	He was in one town, and he was setting up his his tent and a couple of thugs walked in in the
	...

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