Zach Peters' Podcast
A place for sermons, reflections, and general pondering on life and stuff.
Zach Peters' Podcast
Unescapable Sin Undefeated Forgiveness
Jesus challenges our understanding of murder by revealing that anger, insults, and harmful words make us just as guilty before God as physical violence.
• The Sermon on the Mount shows Jesus fulfilling and deepening our understanding of Old Testament law
• Murder is wrong because it destroys something God created in His image
• Name-calling and verbal attacks are forms of "emotional murder" that damage someone's identity
• Reconciliation should take priority over religious rituals and offerings
• Jesus commands us to make peace with opponents before legal disputes escalate
• Our relationship with God requires regular "foot washing" through confession and forgiveness
• Corrie Ten Boom's story demonstrates that true forgiveness comes from God, not our own capacity
• The Holy Spirit provides the love and forgiveness we need when our own resources are insufficient
• Self-righteousness cannot stand before God's perfect holiness
• Jesus doesn't just raise the standard—He provides the grace to meet it
If you've been carrying anger or holding onto broken relationships, ask the Holy Spirit to give you His supernatural ability to forgive as you've been forgiven.
Let's jump into this A bit of a review. Up until this point, we are in the Sermon on the Mount. Sermon on the Mount this is Jesus' first recorded discourse, his first teaching that we have in the Gospels. He starts His teaching ministry. He gives us this introduction of who he is and what he's all about by talking about the kingdom of heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven? What does it look like? How is it different than the Judaism that the audience that he was preaching to was familiar with? And so he's talking to these people. He's talking to his disciples, his followers, but he's also talking to a crowd of various other people. He's talking to religious leaders, and of course they're knowledgeable in Scripture and so they're very critical of Jesus. And he's talking to skeptics. He's talking to moms and dads and brothers and sisters. He's talking to some kids. He's talking to fishermen and carpenters and farmers and lawyers and tax collectors and physicians and everything in between. His disciples were listening in a place of belief and acceptance in Jesus. Others were not quite at that point yet and maybe they never would be, and so all of this impacts how we read the Sermon on the Mount and how we take what's in the Sermon on the Mount and apply it to our life and ultimately and hopefully you get this by now ultimately it is faith in Jesus. It is faith in Jesus that is the key to understanding the kingdom of heaven. Nothing else matters unless we get that first. His disciples understood that somehow, some way, even though they didn't fully get it yet. But that's the key. Jesus is the key.
Speaker 1:All of you in the room right now are fairly certain that you already believe, and that belief should impact how we read and study and listen to this scripture. We've talked about the Beatitudes, the kingdom, blessings that we live in that are distinct from the world, blessings that we see around us. We've talked about being salt and light and how this distinctive nature of living out the Beatitudes and living this blessed life makes us stand out, it makes us salt, it makes us light. We're going to be different. Light places up. We're going to make the world a better place because of our connection to God. We've talked about last week how Jesus is not doing something radically brand new, but in fact he's fulfilling something and bringing back into importance something very old. He's giving the Old Testament and the law a brand new meaning for us. He's bringing back into our attention what the law really means. And now we're moving into some fairly practical moral teachings, relational teachings. You're in the kingdom of heaven. You believe in Jesus. You're at church right now. You're in the kingdom of heaven. You believe in Jesus. You're at church right now. You call yourself a follower of Jesus. What does that mean on a relational level? How do we get along with people? How do we function as a group, as a society? And that's what we're getting into a little bit here.
Speaker 1:Matthew, chapter 5, verse 21 through 26. You're going to be reading from the ESV on the screen. I'm going to be reading from the ESV on the screen. I'm going to be reading from a different translation. I'm doing that on purpose, because I think it provides some distinction and some clarity so that you really can get a grasp of what's being said here. But Matthew, chapter 5, verse 21 through 26.
Speaker 1:You have heard it said that the ancients were told you shall not commit murder and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. And whoever says to his brother You're good for nothing shall be guilty before the Supreme Court and whoever says you fool shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell or the fire of Guyana. Therefore, if you are presenting your offering at the altar and then remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and present your offering. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law, while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly, I say to you, you will not come out of there until you've paid the last cent. Matthew 5, verses 21 through 26.
Speaker 1:Also, just so we're on the same page, I just try to swipe up on my Bible. So been a little bit since I've used a paper Bible and I'm just trying to what's going on. I don't get it. Anyways, I thought that would get more laughs because I was trying to swipe my Bible like it's an iPad or a phone and in my head it wasn't making sense for a brief moment. And I'm trying to read and trying to pay attention and I'm thinking what's happening right now and then I'm like oh, hold on a second, this is actually real, it's right here, all we dive in.
Speaker 1:Let me say some things I've said before in the series we are in that will help us. I'm going to say these things multiple times again. The only way that these teachings, these moral teachings, these are ethical teachings the only way that they don't become too heavy for us to bear is that we remember that Jesus offers us grace so that the law does not crush us. Because we're going to read through this, we read through anger, we're going to read through some other stuff here over the next couple of weeks and, to be honest with you, whenever you break it down and you think about it, it's heavy, it's difficult, it's hard.
Speaker 1:The law provides instruction, it provides order. It is God's way of looking at existence, it's how we live and also we ought to know we can't live up to it on our own. But it's good. It's a good thing, it's a useful thing, it's a tool. It is God's truth, and part of that truth is is that you can't do it, so Jesus did it for you and did it perfectly Doesn't mean we don't try to live up to the standard. It doesn't mean that we try to justify away the law and the standards and the holiness of God. But we got to be all about Jesus, baby, right? That's what it's all about. Is Jesus Got to have Jesus up front, otherwise none of this matters. That's partially what he's trying to do to the people that he's talking to. We just read the start of some relational moral teachings. How do we live with others? How do we live with people around us? How do we do life with people in church, with our family, outside of our church family? We're talking about anger. Anger that's how Jesus starts this family. We're talking about anger. Anger that's how Jesus starts this thing.
Speaker 1:We know anger can be bad. We know that. Now, anger is not a sin. Let me make that clear. You can get angry and that's not a sin. The problem with anger is that it so often leads you to do sinful things. Okay, that's the problem with anger. That's why it says be slow to anger. Okay, that's the problem with anger. That's why it says be slow to anger. Okay, that's why Proverbs is full of warnings against being rash and being angry. And that's why Scripture says don't hold on to your anger, let it go At the end of the day. If you're angry about something, say, okay, I've had my day of anger, let it go.
Speaker 1:Anger leads to problems and we know it's a bad thing. We know murder is bad. We know adultery is bad. We know sexual immorality is bad. We know that not being honest is bad, bearing false witness we know these things. In fact, most cultures have figured out, whenever you are doing life with other people, that anger, murder, adultery, sexual immorality people have figured out, without the law that was given to Moses, that these things were bad. It's not rocket scientists, in fact, it's sort of embedded into who we are, because God made us all. In fact, there's apologists and philosophers who point to the fact that we all sort of understand this basic morality. They point to that as a fact that we were all made by a single source, ie God. So that's a different sermon, that's a different time. But people have figured out that these things are not healthy, they're not good.
Speaker 1:Jesus, in this moment, he's affirming God's order. He's affirming God's order. He's he's telling people that everything that has been laid out in the old testament is true, it is correct, it is for you, it's how we're supposed to live. But also he's doing it in a way that, hopefully, the religious leaders listening to him and the religious people listening to him who were, who were connected to judaism, would recognize that, even if they get all the boxes marked in their self-righteousness, they still fall short. And so when we read these, when we read about anger, when we read about murder, when we read about treating people kindly and we read about using names and using titles for people, I hope that we're convicted. When we're reading about sexual immorality, I hope we're convicted. When we read about giving and praying, I hope we are convicted. I hope we know that we fall short. I hope we know that we're not perfect. I hope we get encouraged that God gives us grace so that this actually matters for us. These instructions matter for us. Now We've got the Holy Spirit helping us, we've got grace and mercy, but we read through this and you ought to know you're not going to get it right all the time. You can't. That's what Jesus is saying here. He's talking to some people who live their entire existence following exacting standards and yet he's telling them you're missing the whole point.
Speaker 1:It's not just about murder, because there's things deeper than that that are just as sinful in the kingdom of heaven. You've heard it said to those of old you shall not murder and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you and to everyone who is angry with his brother, you will be liable to judgment. But I say to you and to everyone who is angry with his brother, you will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to counsel and whoever says you fool, will be liable to hell fire. What we have here is Jesus saying you have taught this and you have been taught this, or you have heard this, but this is what it really means. In other words, he's saying you say this, but this is what it really means. In other words, he's saying you say this, but this is what it really says. This is the formula that Jesus uses throughout the Sermon on the Mount. You say this, but I say this Jesus is reclassifying some stuff.
Speaker 1:He's showing the true depth of the law. We know that murder is bad. You've heard that murder is bad. Duh, duh. Yes, murder is bad. If you're murdered, you're going to be found accountable for that murder and you can be punished accordingly to that murder. But what Jesus points out is that it's not just murder, but it's the mere thought of murder, it's the mere thought of violence or disrespect that is birthed from anger and outbursts that makes you liable to the same punishment that you deserve.
Speaker 1:If you murder somebody, let that sink in for a second. Murder equals that you will be killed yourself. That is the biblical punishment for murder. And Jesus is saying if you call somebody the wrong name, if you have a moment out of line, even in your own head, you are just as guilty. Just as guilty.
Speaker 1:Such is God's holiness, right In God's court of law, when he's looking at us. He's going to look at us and he's going to see everything laid bare and all of it is filth and all of it deserves death in comparison to his righteousness. Do you understand that? Now let me say this In practical terms obviously, calling someone stupid is not going to have the same impact as murdering somebody, but spiritually it's the same thing. Sorry, god doesn't give a rip, god doesn't care. Yes, there are sins that he hates worse, but all of it's sin, every single bit of it, every part of it. In the context of where Jesus is and who he's talking to, he's talking to people who certainly knew they did not live up to the standards of Judaism, and he's talking to people who completely believe that they don't do anything wrong. He's talking to two groups of people and everything in between, and what Jesus is doing by drawing this out is leveling the spiritual playing field, saying that whether you think you get everything right or you know you don't get everything right, you're all in the same spot. You all deserve judgment. All deserve judgment. Also, what we see here is that Jesus is cut into the heart of murder.
Speaker 1:We know murder is bad, but why is it bad? Why exactly is murder a sin? Murder is a sin because God created each of us in God's image. We are images of who God is. He put his life into us. It's like he created the light and turned on the light in our life. Whenever somebody is murdered, it means someone is taking it upon themselves to end something that God started, and that's murder. That's what murder is. You are arrogantly saying I'm going to end something that God created. I'm going to kill something good that God made. That's why murder is bad, because you were doing something to something God created in a pretty permanent way. It's arrogance, it's anger, it's all. Murder is bad Because you were doing something to something God created in a pretty permanent way. It's arrogance, it's anger, it's all of these things. It's all of these things.
Speaker 1:Name-calling seems a little small compared to murder. Practically it is Like I already said you can murder someone and that's clearly going to have an obvious impact almost immediately on somebody. Number one. You murder someone Number two, that dude is dead, so at least two people are involved, but everybody's connected and so you are impacting somebody's life. You call somebody a name and we know it's bad, but we whatever move on. Okay, that's not right, that's not it.
Speaker 1:When you look at the culture first century Judaism and even before that and not just Judaism, other cultures names actually meant something. Your name that you were given at birth meant something. Your name and title that people called you meant something. Your last name meant something. It was part of your identity, it was part of your value. It was part of something good in your life. That's what a name meant.
Speaker 1:And so whenever you call somebody empty-headed which is what raka means, which is what that insult word means in the SV what you're really saying to that person is that your title, your good thing, your identity that is wrapped up in this thing doesn't matter. You are actually this you are harming someone's identity, you are harming someone's value when it says you call somebody a fool. And this word fool is more closely related to the word moron. Right, I grew up thinking that if you call someone a, I grew up thinking that if you used the word fool, it was almost like a curse word. That's not really what it is. Okay, that word means moron, moron. If you call someone a moron and you mean it, that's bad.
Speaker 1:And I'm not saying you should go around calling people fools either, because it is the same, but there are some differences there. All right, the same, but there are some differences there. Alright, I, you can call someone foolish without calling them a moron, but you know the difference. You see the difference? Right, calling someone a fool is different than saying you are being foolish, all right. Just want to clarify that for all of us.
Speaker 1:But whenever you call somebody a name, what you're doing is you are, you are, in a way, socially attacking their identity. So in a way, especially in first century Judaism, whenever you call somebody a name, you are murdering their value, you are murdering their identity. It's emotional murder, it's emotional murder. Murdering their identity, it's emotional murder, it's emotional murder. That's how Jesus can look at us and say that you're just as guilty, because he sees through all of it. He sees through the core of existence and the core of humanity and understands and knows that whenever you take time in anger to call somebody something that they are not, and whenever you are mean, you are casting negative value on something that he created positive value in. It's the same as murder, a little different. And again, practically that plays out differently, but spiritually it's the same.
Speaker 1:We all have fallen short of the glory of God. That verse seems a little more relevant to me when I recognize the significance of God's holiness and righteousness. We couldn't be any further from God on our own, couldn't be so much further away that ultimately we deserve death. Jesus was telling us that all of this is serious enough to be punished, as though we actually murdered. Now remember, jesus is also talking to disciples with these words and he's just got done telling them that you're going to be light and salt and that you're going to be blessed, but the blessings are going to be different. You're going to be blessed, but the blessings are going to be different. But if you're going to be salt and light to the world. If you're going to make a difference in the world, if you're going to light up dark places in the world as followers of God, you shouldn't murder. Fairly obvious, okay.
Speaker 1:If you go to a church and they're talking about murdering people, it might not be in a church, it might be in a cult, it might be in a false religion, you might be in Islam, I guess, if I'm honest and I'm not going to edit that out, but I won't okay, but like, don't murder. You want to be a good church, don't murder people. But also don't murder people relationally with your words. Maybe we're not dragging people around and beheading them, maybe we're not hanging people or anything like that based on silly things. But there is plenty of church hurt where we get in trouble with people, even in our own families and own churches. Where we have division, we have division.
Speaker 1:But part of the way that we are light, part of the way that we are salt, is that we seek to repair relationships. We seek forgiveness, like if something is wrong in a relationship. As Christians, we are called to repair that relationship, as annoying as that might be. That's your calling. Matter of fact, it's so important. Let me point out some stuff real fast that Jesus points out. That makes this really evident of how important this is.
Speaker 1:First, when Jesus is talking about presenting your offering, right, he says if you're presenting your offering, leave it and go make things right with your brother who you have something wrong with, and then come back and do your offering. Well, here's what that means. Offerings were expensive. You had to buy a lamb, you had to buy a goat, you had to buy a dove, and no matter where you were, as a Jewish person, the only place you could really offer a sacrifice was the temple in Jerusalem. And so if you lived in Galilee, which was miles and miles away, without a car, not only did you have to buy the offering, you had to supply, you and yourself and your family, a way to travel to go to the temple. That costs money, not to mention if you were further away. If you were a Jewish person who lived in Greece or in Turkey or in Rome, you had to pay a lot of money to get back to offer your sacrifice and give your offering to God.
Speaker 1:And Jesus says if you've got a problem with your brother or sister, leave your offering, go all the way back home and make it right and then come back and give me an offering. There's priority in forgiveness above sacrifice. Right, we like offering, we like being generous, we like the idea of giving things to God even though he doesn't need it. But Jesus says before you offer me anything, go make your relationships right with your brother and with your sister. Make it right, it's a priority. And then Jesus tells his disciples make friends with the people that you have issues with out in the world. Right. Make friends quickly, my translation said with the opponent at law. If you don't, there's a chance everything's going to go horribly wrong. You're going to be thrown into prison and you won't come out until you've paid the last cent of what you owe.
Speaker 1:Living in unforgiveness sets you up for problems and practical and emotional litigation. You're going to get all tied up right when you've got problems with people that you're not dealing with correctly and spiritually. You're going to set yourself up to walk into problems. Make things right, even with people outside the church. Make them your friend. Develop healthy relationships. Again, living in unforgiveness sets you up to walk in dire straits. Jesus says avoid that by developing good and healthy relationships. We are salt and light, primarily through good relationships, and so if you've got a problem with somebody outside the church, make it right, and maybe that's a tool God uses to let them see the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ for the first time.
Speaker 1:Relationships matter. Our existence is based on relationships. By the way, there's a double meaning here. If Jesus takes seriously the call to fix our person-to-person relationships human-to-human, don't you think there's some obligation that we've got to make sure that our relationship man to God, human to God is fixed as well? Before we take our offerings to God, before we offer anything to God, how about we make sure that we're right with God, that we have set ourselves up for success with God through forgiveness? Let me. I'm talking about something. Yes, I'm talking about being saved for the first time.
Speaker 1:But even when you get saved, things crop up in your life. You're not always going to make the right choice. What do you do when that happens? What do you do when you go through a season and you look back on that season and you recognize, oh man, I was living a little bit in sin, even though I was going to church, even though I didn't stop believing in God, even though I still love God, I was doing some things I wasn't supposed to do? What are you supposed to do? Let's take you a field trip. John, chapter 13, verses 4 through 10. Let me read this real quick, just part of it.
Speaker 1:Jesus got up from supper and laid aside his garments and, taking a towel, he girded himself. Jesus got up from supper and laid aside his garments and, taking a towel, he girded himself. Then he poured water into the basin to begin to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. So he came to Simon Peter and he said to him Lord, do you wash my feet? And Jesus answered and said to him what I do you do not now realize, but you will understand it hereafter. And Peter said to him Never shall you wash my feet. And Jesus answered to him If I do not wash you, you have no part in me. And then Simon Peter said to him Lord, then wash not only my feet but also my hands and my head, amen. And Jesus said to him he who has bathed needs only to wash his feet. But it's completely clean and you are clean, but not all of you. He was referring to Judas in this environment.
Speaker 1:We don't have time to dive into all of this, but I want you to take note the one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but it's completely clean. Just because you got some mud on your feet doesn't mean you got to wash your entire body and just like whenever you're walking with Jesus. Just because you make a couple of mistakes doesn't mean that you're a horrible horrible person and that you've got to restart everything. It just means that sometimes you've got to get to get with Jesus and on a relational level, say Jesus, I have sinned against you. I've got some stuff that I've done to you. Can you please forgive me? Because ultimately it's our obligation to ask for forgiveness if we've done something wrong, not just to a brother or sister, but to God. You've got to make stuff right relationally. Relationally, you've got to fix some things in your life. You've got to get forgiveness. You've got to build right relationships. This might seem like we're zooming all over the place, but do not let your relationship we're talking about relationships don't let your relationship with God suffer because we don't take the time to seek forgiveness. Sometimes we all got to get our feet washed. Spiritually, maybe God's washed you clean a long time ago. That's great, but don't forget to keep your relationship with God repaired by basically being honest with yourself and God and say God, this is standing between me and you right now. Can you help me out? And Jesus is gracious enough to bend down and wash our feet for us Again.
Speaker 1:Relational damage is horrible, horrible, especially for those who call themselves followers of Jesus. How can we be salt and light? How can we bring people to the gospel and bring people to church whenever all of our relationships are messed up? How can we be salt and light? How can we bring people to the gospel and bring people to church whenever all of our relationships are messed up? How do we do that? The answer is you can't. You can't Turns out.
Speaker 1:Fulfilling the law's command do not murder is not simply accomplished by just avoiding legal homicide, which is, you would think, that's the basic understanding when God gave Moses the law that says do not murder. That seems pretty obvious. What people did not understand and what Jesus reveals, is that that command is deeper than just the physical murdering. It's an attitude of murder. It is something that we all struggle with, whether we realize it or not, in our anger, with our words, with our actions, the way that we all struggle with, whether we realize it or not, in our anger with our words, with our actions, the way that we treat other people. So often we murder, not physically but spiritually and emotionally, and you're just as guilty. Jesus reveals that the intent of the law is not just to avoid homicide, but it is to avoid killing, nurturing relationships in our life. Jesus' disciples me and you must have daily urgency about maintaining the healthy life of the relationships that we have around us, both with other disciples, people in our church, people, other Christians, but also people outside the church that we rub elbows with on a regular basis. And anything that we do that strips away the personal value and distinctiveness of a brother or sister is sin, sin, and it's our responsibility to become reconciled. Almost finished.
Speaker 1:Corrie Ten Boone. I talk about her quite a bit because she means a good bit to me and how I view the world. Corrie ten Boone obviously was a Dutch woman and during World War II her family took the time to hide Jewish people in their house and they were caught and they were sent to a concentration camp where she was stripped of her dignity. And they were caught and they were sent to a concentration camp where she was stripped of her dignity. She saw her father and her sister die basically of malnourishment and being mistreated, and she herself suffered more than I'll be honest with you. I pretty much know all of your stories in here. I'm going to tell you your suffering doesn't match hers. Sorry, right, I've had people die in my life. My suffering does not match her suffering Just doesn't Not the same. So she had significant suffering, horrible suffering, painful suffering, and this is precisely why and I'm going to read this in a second she has an encounter with forgiveness. And because of her suffering, forgiveness and because of her suffering, this whole inner forgiveness and relationships and the suffering and the pain her story means something, should mean something to all of us, because she's demonstrating something that we have to have ingrained into our heart and into our mind. Let me read this. This is her account of something that happened to her after the war. Let me read this this is her account of something that happened to her after the war.
Speaker 1:It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former SS man who had stood guard at the shower door in the processing center at Ravenbrook, which is a concentration camp. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there, the room full of mocking men viewing us naked, the heaps of clothing, betsy's pain blanched face. He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing how grateful I am for your message, furline. He said To think that, as you say, he washed my sins away. His hand was thrust out to shake mine and I, who preach so often to the people in Bloomingdale the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side, even as the anger and vengeful thoughts boiled through me. I saw the sin of them.
Speaker 1:Jesus Christ had died for this man and he was going to ask for more. And I was going to ask for more. Lord Jesus, I prayed Forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile and I struggled to raise my hand. I couldn't do it. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness. And I took his hand and the most incredible thing happened from my shoulder, along my arm and through my hand, a current seemed to pass from me to him, and while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger. That almost overwhelmed me, and so I discovered that it's not in our forgiveness, that it's not on our forgiveness, anymore than our goodness, that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When he tells us to love our enemies, he gives, along with the command, the love itself. Forgiveness can be hard, but it's not in our forgiveness that the world's healing hinges, but on his we are given the opportunity to participate in the love that Jesus extended to us In your sin, in your worst moments, in your worst failures on the cross. He knew what you would do, he knew who you would be. He had seen the worst of the worst in humanity and he died anyways and offers forgiveness to you anyways, knowing that you're still going to mess up, even after forgiveness sometimes, and he's inviting us and providing for us to be a part of that same process.
Speaker 1:Relationships matter, forgiveness matters, and I ain't saying it's easy. I'm not saying it's easy. What I am saying it's not your forgiveness to give, it's his that we're offering. It's easy I'm not saying it's easy. What I am saying it's not your forgiveness to give, it's his that we're offering. It's his love that we're offering, because ours is not enough. So once again. We look at this and we talk about forgiveness and we talk about anger and we talk about murder and we look at it and, like I said at the beginning, I hope you're convicted and know that I don't measure up my forgiveness, doesn't measure up my love for my brother or my sister, doesn't measure up my capacity to look at somebody who has wronged me and say I forgive you what. It's not enough because it's not about your forgiveness. He will give you the forgiveness and the love that you need. It ain't about yours. That's the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount. Over and over and over and over again. He makes clear that you are not enough but he is and we have access to Him. We have access to Him.
Speaker 1:All have fallen short of the glory of God. We all, in our anger, think maybe we never do anything. Maybe you've got real self-control and hopefully at this point in our lives we've got some self-control so that in our anger we don't do stupid stuff. But I've got to tell you, as your pastor, I still do stupid stuff in my anger sometimes. So I need grace. So I need grace. I need grace. I need to make my relationship with God right because of that, but also I need to make my relationship with other people right with that.
Speaker 1:Amen, let's pray, let's pray, and as we pray, I pray that God just encourage you. I'm going to pray that he just encourage you. I'm going to pray that he just helps you. If you've got some stuff in your life that you need help with, in particular, with anger or the words that you use towards other people, or a situation that you've got with somebody that needs to be addressed, man, I'm going to tell you right now, the Holy Spirit's good enough to step in right now and do something for your life Right now. You don't got to wait. You don't got to wait. You don't got to wait.
Speaker 1:Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name, I pray that you would come into this place and minister to our hearts, as only you can, only you can do it, only you can do it. I pray that you give us self-control so that anger does not define our life, that anger does not continually destroy things around us and anger doesn't cause us to emotionally and spiritually murder the people around us. And, lord, if we find ourselves in a place where we have wronged somebody, I pray that we would go seek and make it right. Seek and make it right. God, god, I pray that you would help us remember the power of forgiveness, the power of your grace, the power of your love and God, that we would offer it and extend it to others.
Speaker 1:Lord, I know it's tough. I know it's tough and I know that it's not always. It doesn't seem fair that somehow we were responsible for forgiving somebody who has wronged us or harmed us. They should be doing it. But, lord Jesus, you showed us the way you forgave us. You forgave my mess Before I was even born. You knew my mess and you still provided an opportunity for me to have correct relationship with you. God, lord, we love you, we thank you and I pray that we'd walk out of this place strengthened, excited, empowered by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, I pray and we all said Amen.