Relationships and Community on Revenge

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Can You Forgive a Monster?

Author

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:44, Proverbs 20:22, Mark 11:25, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 12:19-21, Matthew 6:14-15

Revenge and forgiveness are major themes of Michael Christopher’s play, The Black Angel. In it, Herman Engel is Nazi general responsible for killing over 200 French Jews. Convicted of his crimes by th...

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Bitterness only Hurts Ourselves

Author

R. T. Kendall

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:19, Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Luke 6:37, Romans 12:17-21, 1 Peter 3:9

When we are bitter, we delude ourselves into thinking that those who hurt us are more likely to be punished as long as we are set on revenge. We are afraid to let go of those feelings. After all, if w...

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R.C. Sproul & The Social Pariah

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 18:21-35, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13, John 8:10-11, Psalm 103:12, Isaiah 1:18

The pastor R.C. Sproul was studying in the Netherlands in the last 1960s and randomly struck up a conversation with a Dutch woman. The conversation was a common, enjoyable interaction, but when it was...

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:13, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 17:14, Psalm 139:23-24, Galatians 5:16, Psalm 51:10

Deliver me, O Lord, from that evil man, myself.

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Tearing the Leech Off

Author

Gary Preston

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Romans 12:17-21, 1 Peter 3:9, Proverbs 19:11, Luke 17:3-4

There’s a story about a traveler making his way with a guide through the jungles of Burma. They came to a shallow but wide river and waded through it to the other side. When the traveler came out of t...

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The Echo of an Argument

Author

John Ortberg

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:18, Psalm 34:18, Romans 12:18, James 1:19-20, Proverbs 15:1, Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:13

Philip Yancey writes of a friend whose marriage was choked by hostility. One night the friend reached the breaking point: “I hate you!” he screamed at his wife. “I won’t take it any more. I’ve had eno...

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Forgiveness is a Gift

Author

James Bryan Smith

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Matthew 6:14-15, Romans 12:18, Matthew 5:23-24, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32

God has given us all a message of reconciliation-that God, in Christ, has reconciled the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). The first place we are invited to practice this reconciliation is wit...

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Author

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 12:19, Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 3:9, James 1:20, Proverbs 20:22

By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better justice-maker than I am.

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Author

Charles Williams

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 28:13, Matthew 6:14-15, 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, Luke 17:3-4, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13

Many promising reconciliations have broken down because, while both parties came prepared to forgive, neither party came prepared to be forgiven.

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What can we say, O Lord, to justify

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:12, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 61:1, Genesis 45:1-15, Ephesians 4:32

What can we say, O Lord, to justify ourselves? You shower us with grace upon grace. Your mercies are new every morning. And we find it hard to forgive others. Sometimes we are petty and hold grudges f...

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Making the Devil Pay for It

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

1 Kings 17:8-16, Exodus 16:4-35, Genesis 50:20, Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:19, Psalm 37:25

Once, there was a devout woman who prayed every day in her small apartment, expressing her faith loudly and fervently. Her neighbor, an atheist, often overheard her prayers, which drove her nuts. When...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

Matthew 18:21-22, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, Luke 6:37, Mark 11:25, Matthew 6:14-15, Romans 12:17-19

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.

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LORD, too often we live for ourselves

Author

Austin D. Hill

Keywords

Scripture

Philippians 2:13, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 4:22-24, Isaiah 55:7, Psalm 51:10-12, Matthew 6:33, Romans 12:2

LORD, too often we live for ourselves instead of how You have called us. Please forgive us for the times when we don’t strive to bring about Your kingdom here and now. Forgive us for the lack of imagi...

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Holy Spirit, you have come to reconcile

Author

Chip Hardwick

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:12-13, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Psalm 139:23-24, Matthew 18:21-35

Holy Spirit, you have come to reconcile us to each other, but we resist your work to bind us together. We hold onto grudges. Even though we know God has forgiven us in Jesus Christ, we are slow to for...

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Author

Rick Warren

Keywords

Mercy

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32, James 2:13, 1 John 1:9

God's mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to others. Remember, you will never be asked to forgive someone else more than God has forgiven you.

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Author

Augustine of Hippo

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:24, 1 Kings 3:1-15, Luke 10:38-42, Philippians 3:7-8, Colossians 3:2, 1 John 2:15-17

For though [something] be good, it may be loved with an evil as well as with a good love: it is loved rightly when it is loved ordinately; evilly, when inordinately.

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Author

Ambrose of Milan

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Proverbs 20:22, Colossians 3:12-13, Romans 12:19, 1 Peter 3:9, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 5:44

No one heals himself by wounding another.

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Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Keywords

Forgiveness

Scripture

Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:37, Mark 11:25, Proverbs 19:11

Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.

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Gracious God, we know that You have

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:10, 1 John 1:9, James 5:16, Matthew 6:14-15, Romans 12:18, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Gracious God, we know that You have forgiven us in Jesus Christ, but we often remain slow to forgive one other. You have sent Your Spirit to reconcile us to each other, but we resist Your work to bind...

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Forgiveness Among Americans, a Study

Author

Fetzer Institute

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 18:21-22, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 17:3-4, Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13

According to a study performed in 2010 by the Fetzer Institute: Sixty-seven percent of Americans agree that the US population is composed of generally forgiving people, but 58% also agree that ther...

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Heavenly Father, we come before Your

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

Keywords

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 6:14, Titus 3:5, Ephesians 1:7, Romans 12:2

Heavenly Father, we come before Your throne of grace to confess our sin. We have been selfish instead of generous; we have been proud instead of humble; we have held grudges instead of forgiving; we h...

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“Dear Paco,”

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:20, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Ernest Hemingway grasped some of the difficulty that characterizes relationships between fathers and sons in his short story, The Capital of the World . The story revolves around a father and his t...

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Author

Miroslav Volf

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 3:23, Luke 6:27-28, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 6:14-15, 1 John 1:8-9, Proverbs 24:17-18

Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.

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Dysfunctional Greeting Cards

Author

Wayne Stiles

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5, Matthew 6:6-8, Matthew 6:6-8, Galatians 50:20

I’m convinced some company today could make a killing if it had the guts to market dysfunctional greeting cards. Most birthday or holiday cards gush with flowery sentiments such as, “To the greatest f...

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Moving Forward With Your Life

Author

Ray Pritchard

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:31-32, Colossians 3:13, Philippians 3:13-14, Isaiah 43:18-19

After the Civil War, in an incident recounted by Charles Flood in Lee: The Last Years, Robert E. Lee visited a woman who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her home. There she cri...

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Thinking Critically about Power

Author

Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 6:42, Matthew 6:12

For years Kyle and I [Jamin Goggin] had no trouble looking critically upon others in their quest for power. We bemoaned the rock-star pastors who were in the spotlight, whose churches appeared to be m...

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Merciful God, you pardon all who truly

Keywords

Scripture

Micah 6:8, Psalm 51:null, Psalm 103:12, Ephesians 4:22-24, Matthew 6:33, Joel 2:13

Merciful God, you pardon all who truly repent and turn to you. We humbly confess our sins and ask your mercy. We have not loved you with a pure heart, nor have we loved our neighbor as ourselves. We h...

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Settling Accounts

Author

William E. Brown

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 6:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 37:25-26, Ecclesiastes 3:1, Galatians 6:9

The story is told of a farmer in a Midwestern state who had a strong disdain for “religious” things. As he plowed his field on Sunday morning, he would shake his fist at the church people who passed b...

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What Drives Success?

Author

Donald Miller

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Galatians 1:10, Philippians 2:3-4, Matthew 23:1-12, Romans 12:2

In his book, Scary Close , Donald Miller acknowledges that over time he developed a mask, or a persona that kept even those closest to him from experiencing with him. As he began to peel back layers ...

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Heavenly Father, we confess that in our pursuit

Author

Allen Thompson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-32, James 4:8, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Psalm 115:1, Romans 12:2

Heavenly Father, we confess that in our pursuit of good, we often miss opportunities to bring you honor and glory. We try to address our shortcomings by compensating for them, rather than by orienting...

relationships and community on Revenge

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