Extreme forgiveness
Don't say, “I'll do to them just what they did to me! I'll get even with them!” ~ Proverbs 24:29 (GNT)
Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive. ~ Luke 17:4 (NLT)
KEY IDEA:
God calls his people to excerise extreme forgiveness.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into the world to carry out extreme forgiveness through the cross and resurrection. I am a beneficiary of your forgiveness. I certainly don't deserve it. It's all a gift. I'm confused, though, as to why it is so hard for me to extend that same kind of forgiveness to those who offend me. It's so hard to let go of my anger and rage. Help me with that so that my life becomes a reliable witness of your extreme forgiveness --
and so that I can enjoy a rage-free life in you. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
