Winning your Battle against Bitterness Part 1

Bible Text: Matthew 18:21-35 | Presenter: Pastor Joel Jocelyn | Series: Winning your Inner Battles | Series:
“Winning your Inner Battles”
Part 6
“Winning your battle against Bitterness Part 1”
Text: Matthew 18:21-35
Whenever you are involved in any relationship, it is a given that people will sin against you, will disappoint you, and may hurt you.
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“To miss the mark”

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Bitterness and unforgiveness have the potential to transform into harmful bacteria that will slowly kill relationships.
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Bitterness is how we punish ourselves for another person’s sin
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“As my sufferings mounted, I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation…

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…either to react with bitterness, or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Matthew 5:23-24
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While forgiveness must be unconditional, reconciliation is not!
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Three necessary conditions for reconciliation or restoration to take place:

Responsibility
Repentance
Reparation or restitution

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Forgiveness is the gift you give to yourself
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Seven reasons we must forgive others.

We forgive because of the example of Jesus Christ
We are most like God when we forgive
It is in the character of the Christian to do so
Forgiveness frees us from the cancer of bitterness
Forgiveness delivers us from the grip of Satan
Forgiveness frees us from the chastening of God
Forgiveness enables us to experience God’s forgiveness

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What happens when you harbor bitterness and do not forgive others?