SkyRiver Christian Resources

What they did was conduct a survey and this is what survey asked:

• Would you forgive someone who murdered someone in your community?
• 41% said yes they would and 59% said they would not.

• Would you forgive someone who raped someone in your family?
• 23% said they would and 77% said they would not.

• They asked the women directly would you forgive someone who raped you?
• 27% said they would and 73% said they would not.

• In response to the question would you forgive someone who murdered your children?
• 19% said they would and 81% said they would not.

Given those situations in every answer the overwhelming majority of responses said that if we had to choose we would choose bitterness rather than forgiveness. How many of you all who are reading this today is a slave in bondage to the master of bitterness.

There are three rules to forgiveness: 

The Golden rule:

You should forgive others the way you would want others to forgive you.

God’s rule is this:

You will be forgiven the way you forgive others.

Then there’s the Grace Rule:

The way you should forgive others is the way God has forgiven you.
Forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.

Now, from the other direction:

I should forgive you the way I would want you to forgive me.
I will be forgiven the way I forgive you.
The way I forgive you is the way God has forgiven me.

The reason why forgiveness doesn’t come very easily is because it doesn't come very naturally. Do you know what the word forgiveness literally means? It means to let go. When you forgive someone you release both the offender and the offence to the Lord and say God I’m turning it all this over to you and I’m going to let you handle the matter.

There is only one cure for the cancer of bitterness and that is the cure of Forgiveness. Forgiveness is giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me. Most people say I’ll forgive you but I want my pound of flesh first. True forgiveness means no strings attached and no conditions. Forgiveness must be free, full, and final.

How many sins has God forgiven you? If you are his child God has forgiven all sins. When God forgives God forgets. Bitterness is like a cancer you must remove all of it to heal. You know some people might think that when you become a Christian and take a stand for Jesus Christ and be the witness that God wants you to be that everybody will like you.

If you stay in God’s will long enough people will mistreat you, people will miss judge you, people will miss use you. If you want to be a witness for Jesus, you had better do it for Jesus, Because if you don’t you’ll wind up a bitter person, Bitterness not only can get into your life. It can hook onto you and follow you all the way to the grave.

DL Moody said that the one sin that is keeping revival from coming to the church, more lost people from being saved, and more of the blessings of God from coming upon his people is the sin of a unforgiving spirit.

The Apostle Paul talks about the disease of bitterness in Ephesians 4 31-32

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice and be kind to one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.

Acts 8 23 speaks of being poisoned by bitterness.

For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of sin.

Speaking for myself I fear bitterness more than any other emotion because bitterness is an emotional cancer that will eat you up from the inside out. Friend when someone does you wrong forgive them quickly before bitterness has a chance to grow. As a follower of Jesus Christ forgiveness is not an option, forgiveness is a command by Jesus Christ Himself.

Why would God give us this command? Because God knows best and He knows the destruction that un-forgiveness can cause to both us and the offender. I believe that when God closes the curtain of time that we are going to look back and see that bitterness destroyed more than anything else. The bible has a dire warning for those of us who might be struggling with bitterness in our lives.

Hebrews 12 15-16 says: Looking carefully lest any one fall short of the grace of God lest root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled. It’s very easy to plant the seed of bitterness and very difficult to weed out the root of bitterness. A bitter root will bring forth-bitter fruit and it takes up more and more of the soil of your heart.

Dr. James Merritt

The question was brought up to me on the job one day. What do you think about the death penalty, and of course my answer was I think that if a person murders somebody else then yes, they should be put to death. I sure would hate to think that I was the one pulling the switch on the man sitting in the electric chair, but I guess it’s just one of those jobs like being an undertaker, someone has to do it as long as it’s not me.

As I said this I new in my spirit that what I said was wrong. First off, an undertaker only works on people who are already dead. God’s conviction came upon me so I said no more about it. Well I woke up about 4 am with this question still eating away in the back of my mind. Which one is it? "An Eye for and Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth" or "If you do the crime you do the time"…

What a terrible country this would be if we really believed in the death penalty with liberty and justice for all. Because right now in our country we have about 4,000 of our citizens each day that are hiring Hit Men to murder the most innocent in our communities. And what’s most horrible to me is that they hire them to pull off their own children’s heads and cast them into a trash can and without a proper burial.

I ask you is our country still standing on the principle of liberty and justice for all? Where is the justice? If we truly believe what we say there should be 4,000 mothers and 4,000 abortion doctors being executed each day with no mercy for the size of their bank account or social status. Liberty and Justice for all means equal rights for all citizens. Why are the rich in our society allowed to buy their way out of trouble when a poor man is punished to the full extent of the law without the mercy extended to the powerful through their wealth?

The bible says "That there is a way that seems right unto man but the end there of is death". Our generation has taken this bible verse to both extremes, but God’s word remains the same and yes, the end is still the same. In our country. Abortion and Execution is justified only by sin and the end there of is still death.

We just pad the results to cover the sin in our lives instead of hiding behind the cross of Jesus Christ and using His blood to cover our sins. Are we a country of liberty and justice for all? Everyone will have to answer this question on their own one day and yes I still believe that if you do the crime you should do the time, but when I look at the choice between justice for all or mercy.

I’ll choose mercy because we all need mercy in our lives. As Christians we all have to ask what would Jesus do. I have come to the conclusion that the same as abortion the death penalty is wrong. Yes, what a terrible country this would be if we really believed in the death penalty with liberty and justice for all.

It's easy to say in a generic response that you support the death penalty and the judicial system behind it. But when it becomes personal with you then it's a different story. Would you still support the death penalty if it was your mother or father, or maybe your son or daughter. How about just a close friend. Sadly the Death Penalty only generates more victims of the offenders loved ones and of course generates lots of money for the lawyers, judges and judicial system.

It saddens my spirit when I hear a fellow Christian say that "It’s an eye for an Eye and a tooth for a tooth"  when Jesus Himself said in Matthew - You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue you by the law, and take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. And whosoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two. Give to him that ask of you, and from him that would borrow from you turn not away.

You have heard that it has been said, You shall love you neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward do you have? Don't the publicans do the same? And if you salute your brethren only, do you anymore than others? Don't the publicans do the same?

Be perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" and to the response of "What would Jesus do". They say "That if Jesus were a witness at the execution He would be the first one to throw the switch". Friends, I certainly don’t have a problem with you having your own opinion and you can be wrong if you want to, but believing this is denying the forgiveness and mercy of Christ’s teachings. It amazes me how people have labeled a person who has made the decision to stand for life as a fanatic or an extremist that is way out in right field somewhere.

But I really shouldn’t be amazed because Jesus (Speaking about Himself) said in John 7-7. The world cannot hate you; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Sadly I have found something that most Christians and non-Christians alike agree on and that is "That to take another persons life as a premeditated act of vengeance is Ok and justified". 

Don't mistake forgiveness for weakness - I will protect my life along with my family and friends with every fiber of my being, but once I am dead my spirit rests in the hands of God. The people that remain here on earth will in most cases want revenge and their most popular reason is "So the Victim can rest in Peace" but what they really need is the spirit of forgiveness. Friend I won’t need revenge in order for me to be at peace because I have accepted Christ’s payment for my sins. 

Our constitution says "Of the people, by the people and for the people". Just as our countries laws prohibit us from taking the law into our own hands and killing a offender years later in God’s eyes our government has no right to premeditatedly take a life. My bible say’s that "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord". "God" is the only one who gives life and God should be the only one to premeditatedly take live and unless our government has become our God they have no right to premeditatedly take anyone’s life. "Born or Unborn".

Dennis Lynn / 1999