Please turn with me in your Bibles or scroll in your app to the letter of 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Verses four to seven, as we continue to walk through this passage, but primarily looking at verse five this morning. And the title for the morning's message is, Love is Not Resentful. Love is not resentful. And the word of God says, love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Please join me in a moment of prayer. Our gracious God, heavenly Father, Lord, once again, we pray that as we continue to walk through this passage on love, what love is, what it should look like, how it should manifest itself in our lives. Father, we recognize that we often fall far short of displaying the perfect love of Christ in our lives. And so, Father, we pray this morning, as we walk through this series, Lord, we pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would sanctify us. Lord, we pray that by your Holy Spirit, you would not give us a renewed zeal and effort to do better. Father, we pray that you would change our hearts We pray that you would give us hearts that truly love. We pray that you would give us hearts that love more. You, with all our heart, mind, and soul, give us hearts that love more those around us, Father, so that the love that you desire to see in us and flowing out from us would do so naturally. as we are transformed from one degree of glory into another, into the face of Jesus Christ. Father, we plead that you would do this for us, that you would help us in this endeavor. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. So this morning, as most of you probably figured out when you got the email where I sort of introduced the sermon topic that's coming up, this morning we're gonna be talking about one of the most difficult aspects of love, forgiveness. Forgiveness, while this text doesn't exactly say that, The meaning is that love does not hold a record of wrong. In our translation that I'm using, the ESV, it says love is not resentful. It doesn't hold onto a record of wrong. It doesn't harbor animosity. or anger or bitterness toward those who have wronged you. Hence, love is not resentful. It does not harbor resentment toward other people. And admittedly, this is an incredibly difficult thing for people to do or to not do. both for, certainly for unbelievers, but for unbelievers as well. When we have been wronged by someone else, when we have been sinned against, treated unkindly in a way that we believe we don't deserve, especially when we believe that it may have been intentional, or when the offense, when the grievance or the consequences of the offense are severe, it can be difficult to forgive. Even when the person asks for forgiveness, if the sin is so severe or the consequences of that person's actions, the results, the fallout, is so significant it can be difficult to forgive. One of the places we see that often in our world and even in scripture is in the area of adultery. There's a reason God permits a divorce for that sin. Does not command it. Okay, understand that God doesn't command it, doesn't require it, and it is not pleasing to him, though he permits it. Understand that divorce, regardless of the reason, never brings a smile to the face of God, because God would much rather see the marriage reconciled. He would much rather see the husband and wife begin to treat each other in the way that they should treat each other. Sometimes that's not possible because one or both isn't willing to work at it. When that happens, God allows a way out. But it is not pleasing to Him and it is not God honoring. But He allows it because that's one of those situations. When a spouse is unfaithful to another, it can be incredibly hard to overcome that. Even when the guilty spouse is remorseful, pleads for forgiveness, is willing to do whatever is necessary to mend the broken relationship, there are times when the innocent spouse just cannot find it in their heart to forgive. They just can't get past. and it can be a challenge. Or the offense or the mistake results in significant financial damage or bodily harm. I read a story not long ago, just a few months ago. It happened this summer. It's one of those heartbreaking stories you read on the news of a a husband and wife who both worked. They had two children, one is a toddler, the other is an older child in elementary school. And they had a typical morning routine where the wife would drop off the toddler at daycare on the way to work and the husband would drop off the older child at school on the way to work. The older child would sit in the front seat because big enough to sit in the front seat. And one day the wife is running late And so they change their routine. And they agree that the husband will take the older child to school and drop him off, make his way to the daycare, drop off the toddler, and then head to work. You probably know where this story is going. He drops off the older child at school like he normally does. Child gets out. Well, the toddler is fast asleep in the car seat right behind him. And so he drives to work. This is midsummer in Louisiana. He parks. He goes in. He does not realize until late that afternoon when the wife calls the daycare center to check on the child and they inform her he was never dropped off. So she calls the husband. And as soon as he hears his wife's voice, he immediately realizes what he's done. So he runs out to the car, and of course, the story ends tragically. Sadly, this is, well, it's an accident. It is something that is not as uncommon enough in the United States. In my research, I discovered that according to kidsandcars.org, on average, 38 children in the United States alone die in hot cars every year. 38. And while these sort of events are purely accidental, What I also learned preparing for this message doing some research reading some articles that when these events happen it puts an enormous strain on the marriage. Sometimes a marriage will end in divorce as both parties are pointing the finger at the other. Why did you have to run late for work. Why did we have to change things up. How could you forget about your own child in the back of your car. and it can be difficult for them to get past what was purely accidental. But the consequences of such a mistake are enormous and irreparable. But scripture tells us love is not resentful. Love is not resentful. The Greek phrase that this comes from is really quite interesting. I found it interesting as soon as I looked at it. Because the phrase can literally be translated in a number of different ways that all communicate the Greek text accurately. Could be translated as, love does not consider the wrong done. Consider the wrong done. Or, love does not impute. evil motives. Love does not impute evil motives. Or it could be love does not reckon or credit the wrong or the evil that has been committed. Love does not reckon or credit the evil or the wrong that has been committed. Hence, we have a variety of translations from our English text. The ESV reads, love is not resentful. The New American Standard reads, love does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not take into account. The NIV says, love keeps no record of wrongs. The Young's Literal Translation reads, love does not impute evil. That seems quite different, doesn't it? Love does not impute evil. And the King James and the New King James read, love thinks no evil. Love thinks no evil. Those all seem quite different. So which is it? Love is not resentful. Love holds no record of wrong. Love does not impute evil. Love does not think evil. Well, None of these translations are entirely wrong. Not one of them quite captures perfectly the essence of what Paul is saying. And the reason for that is, because this is what caught my attention, the main Greek verb that Paul uses is the Greek verb λαγίτσαμαι. And if you are familiar with theology and important Greek words, particularly the doctrine of justification by faith alone, then you'll immediately recognize that is a really important word, logitsimae. It is a word that is used all over the Bible. It's a technical term, and it's technically an accounting term, like financial accounting. It's technically an accounting affirm. It can mean to account or to credit or to reckon, such as to credit to someone's account, to impute, or to consider, to think of someone in a particular way. And so this word, one of the best places we see it used where we can really get the idea of what this word means is from the book of Romans, chapter four, a place where the apostle Paul does argue quite strongly for the imputed or accredited righteousness of Christ. In the opening verses of Romans chapter four, verses one to 12, that word legitimized used eight times. eight times in 12 verses. We see it in verse 3, 4, 5, 6, verses 8 and 9, 10 and 11. He'll use it four more times in chapter 4 alone. That word legitimae will appear 19 times in the book of Romans. very significant passage, a Greek word when you're talking about the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and when you're talking about the imputation of Adam's guilt in Romans chapter five. In fact, that word is so significant that it appears 160 times throughout the Bible in both the Old Testament, in the Septuagint, and in the New Testament. So let's look at Romans chapter four for a little bit. Starting in verse 3, Scripture says, For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. That word counted is the word that we're looking for, legitimae. Abraham believed God, and it, his faith, his belief in God, his belief in the Word of God, is counted. It is credited by God as righteous. as a righteous act, or God considers Abraham, because of his faith, God considers Abraham to be righteous. He thinks of Abraham as being righteous. He treats Abraham as being righteous. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted. There's the word again, are not counted as a gift. To the one who works, his wages are not credited as a gift. but as is due, something that he earned. But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted, legitimai, his faith is counted, his faith is credited, his faith is reckoned, his faith is thought of by God as being righteousness. Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Right? So are you getting the flavor of this important word? David speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. David speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God, Legitimi, considers to be righteous apart from works. the blessing of the person to whom God thinks of as being righteous apart from works. He goes on to say in verse 7, blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. And I think here's the biggie. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. And there's your word again, the word count, legitimate, blessed, happy, joyful, is the person against whom the Lord will not record his sin, tally his sin, keep a record as in a financial law, keep a record of his sin. Blessed is the person against whom the Lord will not credit or impute, impute his sin to him, or think of as being sinful. Thus, when God forgives, He no longer considers our sin is the point. That's what Paul is talking about here. The moment we put faith in Christ, We come to God remorseful over our sins, asking for forgiveness. At the moment that we do that, God no longer considers our sin. He no longer credits our sin to our account. He no longer records our sin in the financial log, if you will, that he's going to keep track of. He doesn't impute our sins to us. He doesn't reckon us as being sinful. It does not mean that God forgets our sin, because God is omniscient. He's all-knowing. God doesn't forget anything. The present is just as real and clear in the mind of God as the distant past and the distant future, right? That's what it means to be omniscient. I know that's mind-blowing, but that is the mind of God. But when God forgives, He does not dwell on our sin, legitima. He doesn't dwell on it. He doesn't ponder it. He doesn't think upon it. He doesn't think of the one He has forgiven as being sinful. Yes, we are sinners who have been forgiven, but He does not think of us as being sinful. He does not credit our sin to our account. So what else does it look like when God forgives? Well, secondly, God only requires repentance and confession for forgiveness. Right? 1 John 1.9, one of my absolute favorite verses in the entire Bible, that if we confess our sins, Based on that confession, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The moment we come to God and we say, I am sorry, please forgive me. God says, forgiven, done. God does not say, what many people say, what many Christians say. Unfortunately, what is being wrongfully taught in many biblical counseling courses, that if you are truly sorry and seeking for forgiveness, you have to do certain things in order to prove that you are remorseful. You have to meet certain criteria. You've got to check off the box. I need to see evidence. that you really are sorry and you really are seeking forgiveness. That's not biblical forgiveness because that's not the model that God provides for us. God says you are remorseful, you want forgiveness, forgiven. Done. Thirdly, what God's forgiveness looks like is it's immediate. It's immediate. Right? God doesn't say, well, I hear what you're saying, but you know, it's going to take me a while to forgive you. I'm going to have to work on forgiving you, so you're just going to need to give me some time. Thank the Lord he doesn't say that. Because we don't know how much time we have. God's forgiveness is immediate. You are remorseful. You're asking for forgiveness. God says forgiveness is granted. Fourthly, when God forgives, He restores the relationship. Thankfully, right? Thankfully, God never says to us, I forgive you, but we can't have a relationship. I forgive you, but I'm going to love you from a distance. You've got to go over there, but I forgive you. I just can't be in the same room with you. That's not forgiveness. When Adam and Eve sinned, they placed all of humanity outside of fellowship with God. Fellowship with humanity was broken because of sin that entered the world. And the moment one person places faith in God, confesses their sin, repents of their sin, that relationship is restored. It's the parable of the prodigal son, right? The father says, come to me with open arms. The relationship is restored. We're good. You've asked for forgiveness and I forgive. When we seek forgiveness from God, the relationship must be restored. And forgiveness is granted immediately. But that can be hard to do, right? As I was working on this message, I shared this with my wife. It brought to mind an old country song, a little known secret, or maybe not a known secret. I kind of like country. Not all of it, There's quite a few out there that I just cannot listen to. But I like the good ones. But it brought to mind a song that is not a good one, by the way. So I didn't remember it because it's a favorite, but it was popular. And I'll just read to you a part of the lines, a portion of it. It says, I've been up since five thinking about me and you, and I've gotten to tell you the conclusion. I've got to tell you the conclusion I've come to. I'll never leave. I'll never stray. My love for you will never change. But I ain't ready to make up. We'll get around to that. I think I'm right. I think you're wrong. I'll probably give in before long. Please don't make me smile. I just want to be mad for a while. Some of you have maybe heard that song. I just want to be mad for a while. Right. How many of us have been there. Right. I wanna forgive, I'm gonna forgive, but darn it, I'm just gonna stay mad at you for a few days, a few weeks, give you the silent treatment. This isn't the end of our marriage, don't worry. I'm just gonna ignore you for a few days. Because we wanna somehow punish them. We wanna somehow convince them and show them how hurt I've been. See, if I forgive immediately, it communicates the message that maybe I wasn't really hurt. So if I stay mad at you for a while, then it communicates it. That is worldly thinking. That is worldly forgiveness. That is the way the world thinks about reconciliation. That is not biblical God honoring forgiveness. When Christians forgive, we should use Christ, we should use God as the model, which means, number one, we do not keep a record of the wrongs that have been committed against us. Doesn't necessarily mean we're gonna forget them, but we don't credit them to their account. We don't hold it against them. Number two, when we forgive, we should require only repentance and confession. not add some additional standards before they can be forgiven. Number three, forgiveness should be immediate. It should be immediate. Like Paul says in Ephesians 5, don't let the sun go down on your anger. Well, how do you do that? You immediately forgive. We're not going to go to bed mad. Or we're not gonna go to bed at all, we'll stay up all night talking about this. I'll make a pot of coffee, we need to figure this out. Number four, the relationship should be restored to where it was previously. It should be restored to where it was previously. Whatever that relationship looked like. In the marriage it means, we're gonna go to bed together. I'm not gonna sleep in another room and we're certainly not gonna separate from each other. But that may look different in the workplace. It means that the person that offended you, that sinned against you, that maybe slandered your reputation, that you've been struggling with, now you don't wanna work next to them, you don't wanna work on projects with them, you don't wanna share the company car with them, they come to you and they say, I'm sorry, will you forgive me? The relationship is restored to where it once was. Yes, let's work together. Let's share the company car together. There are so many passages that talk about the importance of forgiveness and why as Christians we must forgive. Of course, one of the most important passages is the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew chapter 18. You're probably familiar with that story. Beginning in verse 23, Jesus tells the story of a king who has two servants and he calls one to himself to settle his account. And when he calls the one servant to settle his account, whom we're told owed the king 10,000 talents, which by the way, in today's money, would be the equivalent of $6 billion. He owed the king $6 billion. And this person comes before the king and he says, forgive me. We're told in verse 26, he fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. Immediate, immediate, forgiven. But then that servant goes out. And he come across another servant who owes him the equivalent of a hundred denarii. A hundred denarii. So let's put it in perspective. Today's money, guess how much that is? 12,000. $12,000. And he finds that servant and he begins to choke and says, give me my money. You owe me pay up. The guy says, deja vu. Have mercy on me. Have patience with me. I'll throw you into debtor's prison." Seriously? But how many of us have been that servant? We're told that the master, the king, heard of what he did and he calls that servant in front of him and says to him in verse 32, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. I didn't require anything from you. should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you." What Jesus is teaching his disciples is that we have to consider the enormous amount of debt that God forgave us for. How many grievous intentional sins have we committed against God throughout our lives over and over and over again? And yet God the Father says to us, forgiven, forgiven. But someone does something to us that doesn't even come close to what we've done to God. And we simply cannot forgive. We just won't forgive. We struggle with forgiving that person. It's also interesting, I think, and worth pointing out that the parable of the unforgiving servant comes on the heels of two significant passages. First, it's in response to Peter's question In verse 21, Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times, Jesus said to him, I do not say seven times, but 77 times. Now the Greek can also be translated 70 times seven, which is a much higher number. It's about 500. But nonetheless, Jesus gives this large number, not because he expects you to track, right? When you get to 490, you're done. Jesus says, you know, as many times as he sins against you, essentially. To make sure Peter understands, he tells this parable. But what's also interesting to note is that this parable comes on the heels. Peter's response is actually in response to Matthew 18, verses 15 to 20, which is also known as the passage on church discipline. Beginning in verse 15, and if your brother sins against you, go to him and tell him your fault between you and him. And then he goes through the various stages. But each time he says, but if your brother hears you, you've won your brother. Peter's question comes on the heels of that. The parable of the unforgiving servant comes on the heels of that because the point is this. If your brother or sister sins against you, regardless of what it is, and you go to them and they hear you, forgive. The relationship is restored. Be reconciled. Don't harbor animosity or anger or bitterness in your heart. But I think what we can't overlook with this passage is the very end of the parable, verse 35. Jesus concludes the parable by saying this, and so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. What the king did to that unforgiving servant, throwing him into prison, Jesus says, your heavenly father will do to you if you do not forgive from your heart. That's important, from your heart. If you underline in your Bible, underline that, from your heart. Jesus isn't saying just be nice to them, be cordial with them if you run into them in the grocery store or when you have to work with them at work. Forgive them from your heart. In Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15, Jesus says something similar and equally as powerful. Jesus says, for if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive, listen, listen carefully, if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses. Just like the parable of the unforgiving servant. The king said, you're not going to forgive your fellow servant. I'm not going to forgive you. Jesus is actually issuing a warning that to those who are unwilling to forgive, they ought not to expect forgiveness at the day of judgment. They ought not to expect mercy at the day of judgment for those who are not merciful. That's why I said the reading of the law this morning was quite timely. Judge not that you be not judged, for with the judgment that you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure that you use, it will be measured to you. God is saying the same standard that you use for others, expect to receive the same standard against you. If you're not gonna forgive others, don't expect to receive forgiveness from God. You're not gonna be merciful to others. Don't expect to receive mercy from God. But what about those who do not seek forgiveness? That's always the question, right? They haven't asked for it. They don't even care. They don't even know they've done anything wrong. Even when I've told them they did something wrong, they still don't think they did anything wrong. They're just mean, mean, mean, mean. Living Grinches. Their hearts are two sizes too small. What do you do with them? Luke 23, 34 is what you do with them. There's your answer. Luke 23, 34 is your answer. Jesus is hanging on the cross and he's looking at the people who have just beat him, wrongfully accused him, accused him of things that he didn't do, slandered his name and his reputation in the worst possible way that any Jewish person's name could be slandered. He was accused of blasphemy. That's worse than being accused of being an adulterer. He was accused of blasphemy and the people believed it. He's a blasphemer. Of course, Jesus in his mind and all of his disciples know that's not true. It's not true. The people who just destroyed his reputation, beat him, falsely accused him, flogged him, nailed him to a cross. He hangs there, looks out at them, and prays, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. They did this in ignorance. Forgive them. And even then, he's being compassionate. Yes, they didn't realize they were actually crucifying the Messiah, but when he says they did not know what they do, I mean, that they didn't know. But let's face it, there was a lot of sinful motives behind some of the Pharisees wanting Him dead. Jealousy, envy. They did it on purpose. They wanted to get rid of Him. But He prays, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And Jesus' prayers are always answered. So I have to believe that they were forgiven for that sin of crucifying the Messiah, crucifying the Christ. And I've heard people say, yes, but you notice Jesus didn't say, I forgive them. Because Jesus always thinks in the theologically accurate terms. And he understands that all sin ultimately is against God. Because God is the judge of the universe. It is before God that we will have to stand, not other people. Even when we sin against other people, yes, that's a sin, but it is a sin because we failed to uphold the law of God, which says, love your neighbor as yourself, which says, do unto others what you would have them do unto you. We sin against God. Jesus wasn't the only one who understood that. David understood it in Psalm 51. After his sin with Bathsheba, he murders her husband to cover up his sin. That's horrible. I mean, you're talking about conspiracy to commit murder, actual murder and adultery. He writes Psalm 51 afterwards, remorseful. And it's always very interesting that in there he says, against you and you only have I sinned. Well, wait a minute, David, against you and you only, but he sinned against Bathsheba. I mean, he sins against her husband, sinned against the nation of Israel, but he understands that all sin ultimately, ultimately is against God. And so Jesus amazingly acts as their high priest for a moment, which theologically speaking, according to the author of Hebrews, he is the high priest. The whole priesthood, the line of Aaron, all of that pointed forward to Christ. And he intercedes on their behalf and says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. So the answer is yes, we can and we should forgive those who do not ask because that's what Jesus did. And 1 Peter 2.21 says, And Christ left us an example that we should follow in His steps. He left us an example to follow. Jesus is God. And Ephesians 5.1 says, As beloved children of God, be imitators of God. Be imitators of God as His beloved children. We are to imitate Christ and forgive those who do not ask for it. What then does it mean to forgive, right? Okay, what does that look like then? Here's a definition for you. It's my definition, but this is how I define forgiveness. Forgiveness is restoring the relationship when forgiveness is sought and it is putting aside bitterness and anger when it is not, but instead leaving it to the justice of God. Forgiveness is restoring the relationship when it is sought by the other person and putting aside, out of your heart, bitterness, anger, and wrath when it is not, when forgiveness is not sought by the other person, and simply leaving it to the justice of God. Now, I'm getting that from Romans chapter 12, verses 17 to 19. There scripture says, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, right? Repay no one evil for evil. Don't try to get back at them. Don't be mad at them for a while. Make them feel what they've done. Repay no one evil for evil. but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all, to do the right thing, if possible, so far as it depends on you. See, sometimes it doesn't depend on the other person because they don't want to live peaceably. They don't want to reconcile. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceable with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, listen, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine and I will repay, says the Lord. You see, the real reason we struggle to forgive, whether they ask for it or not, but especially when they don't ask for it, because deep down inside we think they're going to get away with it. They have got to pay for what they did. Even if it means just me giving them the cold shoulder, cutting them off from my life. They got to pay for what they do. But what Paul is reminding us of is this. If they're a believer, then guess what? Their sins have been paid for. That's number one. Number two, Hebrews 12 says, God will discipline them. If they are believers, God will discipline them for their sin. If they are unbelievers, They will pay for their sins. At the end of the day, no one gets away with sin. And so what Paul is telling us is, look, leave it to God. Don't live your life filled with anger and bitterness and hatred because these people did this to you and they haven't even asked for forgiveness. Put all bitterness and anger aside and leave it to God. Let God deal with them. In fact, we are commanded to do this. Ephesians 4, starting in verse 30, verse 30 to 32. Ephesians 4, 30 to 32. And I do always hope you flip in your Bible and look at these passages with me, because there is nothing more impactful than looking at the Word of God with your own eyes. Because even when you just listen to someone read it, I know it can be easy to think, yeah, he's probably not reading that right. So I hope you'll look at these passages with me. Ephesians 4 verse 30, And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. Well, how do we do that? How do we avoid grieving the Holy Spirit? Read on, "...let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted..." Listen, "...forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." As God has forgiven you, And yes, even of sins that you did not ask forgiveness for, because how many of us commit sins that we don't even realize we've done? We entertain thoughts that we don't realize are displeasing to God. We probably commit sins all the time that we're not even aware of. We're not asking forgiveness for those specific sins. We don't even know we've done it. We don't even know we've offended God. But we have been forgiven. forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. This is how you not grieve the Holy Spirit. If you love the Holy Spirit, which you should, because He's a person, He's a part of the Godhead, He has emotions, He is your friend in this world. If you love the Holy Spirit, if you appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, you should not want to grieve the Holy Spirit. You don't want to break His heart. And we do that by forgiving one another and, listen, putting aside all bitterness and wrath and anger. Paul commands us to do that. Why? Because by the Holy Spirit, we have the power as born again believers who are freed from the bondage of sin. We have the power to put these things outside of our lives and to say, that's not going to be me. I'm not going to do it. Scripture commands us to do that. and for good reason, for good reason. Not only does it grieve the Holy Spirit, it will destroy you. Because the old adage is absolutely true, not forgiving someone else is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die. Because most of the time, they don't even know that you've drank the poison. They're living their life. They may or may not know that they've sinned against you or offended you, whatever, they're moving on. And here you're left with bitterness and anger toward that other person. And if you leave it there, it will grow and it will make you into a bitter, angry, impatient, unloving person that nobody wants to be around. So Paul says, don't do that. Put that outside of your life. Leave it to the wrath of God. Trust that God will take care of them. Love is not resentful. Love is not resentful. Love holds no record of wrong against those who have wronged us. Love does not credit their offense to them. Love does not impute negative thoughts or motives to them. Love does not think upon them as being evil or consider them In a way that we ought not to consider them. We ought to love our neighbor as ourselves. We ought to love our enemy. Love is not resentful because love is desiring and doing what is best for someone else regardless of personal cost. Because to forgive someone sometimes the personal cost is laying aside your pride. Love is desiring and doing what is best for someone else, regardless of personal cost. And forgiving someone is always what is best for them. Forgiving someone else is always what is best for them, and it is always what is best for you, especially if they have not sought forgiveness. Christ prayed for the forgiveness of those who crucified him because he loved them. Because he loved them. Because love is not resentful. Love holds no record of wrong. And he wanted them. He wanted what was best for them. And he wanted them to be forgiven of the sin of crucifying him. The point is that regardless of what someone else has done to you in the past, regardless of how painful it may have been or maybe still is, it cannot be as serious as being flogged, beaten, crucified, and nailed to a cross. Understand that forgiveness does not mean forgetting the wrong that has been done. That's not what that means. Holding no record of wrong, especially if it was an extremely painful event, you will likely remember it for a long time to come. It does not mean not having raw emotions over the offense when you think about it. It may hurt for a while. It may sting for a long time to come. Forgiveness does not necessarily mean having warm, fuzzy feelings toward the person. Again, the coworker situation. You never had warm, fuzzy feelings for the person in the first place. You just worked with him. Doesn't always mean having warm fuzzies. Forgiveness means restoring the relationship. When forgiveness is sought, and forgiveness is sought and putting aside all bitterness and anger when it is not sought and simply leaving it to God, laying it at the feet of Christ and saying, you take care of this. I'm not going to let bitterness grow in my heart. I am going to forgive. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, Lord. Lord, I know just from living life that there are a lot of people in this room who during the course of this sermon were probably reflecting back on past grievances, sins, wrongs that were committed against them that they are still smarting over. They still wrestle with. They're still painful memories. Father, we pray our deepest prayer is that you would make us more like Christ, who was able to hang on the cross and pray for the forgiveness of those who put him there. Father, we pray that you would enable us to not be the unforgiving servant of Matthew 18. that we would ever remember the incredible debt that was paid for us, the amazing mercy that it was extended toward us. Not because we deserve it, not because we earned it, but like that servant in the parable, simply because we pleaded with you. We asked for forgiveness and you forgave. Lord, we pray that you would help us to be forgiving people. Help us to truly love people, all people. Help us to love our enemies, Lord God, and to pray for them, just as Christ prayed for those who crucified him. So that we might bring you great glory and honor, so that we might not grieve the Holy Spirit. Help us to put aside all the anger and the bitterness in our lives, and choose to forgive. And Lord, we pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. So we go to the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is just a wonderful reminder to us of this truth, right? Because even when you think about the parable of the unforgiving servant, you know, obviously it's a parable and every parable will break down if you press it too far. And the one thing about that parable that would have made it a little more accurate, not that Jesus was inaccurate in anything that he said, but it would have gone something more like this. The servant who says, look, I know I owe you $6 billion, but be merciful. And so then the son of the master says, I'll tell you what, I'll work off the debt for you so that you can go free. Colossians 2 14 says that there was a debt that stood against us and Christ, by his death on the cross, canceled the certificate of debt that stood against us. So unlike the parable, God doesn't just forgive willy-nilly. He doesn't just say, all right, you know, that's fine. You can just go free. Sin has to be paid for. Someone has to pay the debt. Christ, on his death on the cross, stepped out of the glories of heaven and said, I'll pay that debt. I'll pay their debt. Even though they don't deserve it, they didn't earn it simply because he loved us that much. And so the Lord's Supper that we take every Sunday in our church is available to all believers. If you've placed faith in Christ, you've repented of your sins, and you have placed faith in Christ, and you are trusting in Christ alone, nothing else, for your eternal security, then the Lord's Supper is available to you. We welcome you to come forward down the center aisle and take the elements. There are two cups stacked on top of each other, so make sure you take them both. One has the Fruit of the vine, the other has the unleavened bread. But if that does not describe you, then I encourage you to please don't come forward and take the elements, but instead remain seated and place your faith in Christ. Commit your life to Christ. Admit to God that you are a sinner in need of a savior. Parents are encouraged to please monitor your children. They are under your care. If you're not certain that they've placed faith in Christ, don't let them take the sacrament. It is only for believers.