I went to Honey Lake Church this weekend and heard Renee Napier. You should go online and hear her powerful testimony. She talked of reaching a point in her life whereby she was able to offer complete and genuine forgiveness to a drunk driver who plowed into the car of her daughter killing both her and a friend. Additionally she assisted with getting him released from his 22 year prison sentence early.
One thing I didn’t know about her story until I heard her speak, was that she was also able to forgive her ex-husband for coming home one day and deciding he didn’t want to be married anymore and divorcing her after 21 years.
Don’t think she wasn’t hurt and filled with the same kind of desire for vengeance that ordinary people experience concerning both of these incidences. She felt the same grief, bitterness, and anger that we all feel; however she was able to draw close to God. It was His desire for us to forgive as He has forgiven us that led her to obedience. It was the best thing that ever happened to her and it miraculously released her from all of her bitterness.
Songwriter Matthew West often writes songs based upon true stories that people tell him. He wrote the hit song, “Forgiveness” based upon Renee’s incredible willingness to follow the lead of Jesus and forgive. She often goes on tour with him now and puts a face to the lyrics which so accurately describe the heart of the matter:
It’s the hardest thing to give away
And the last thing on your mind today
It always goes to those that don’t deserve
It’s the opposite of how you feel
When the pain they caused is just too real
It takes everything you have just to say the word . . .
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
It flies in the face of all your pride
It moves away the mad inside
It’s always anger’s own worst enemy
Even when the jury and the judge
Say you gotta right to hold a grudge
It’s the whisper in your ear saying ‘Set It Free’
Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness, Forgiveness
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness
It’ll clear the bitterness away
It can . . .
As our nation mourns another brutal terrorist attack, we struggle to understand how we can even entertain the thought of forgiving those who hate our God, our freedom, and way of life. The last thing on anyone’s mind is forgiveness and many have the opinion that we should just kill them all. One person who is not in that mindset is Jesus Christ.
A friend of mine wrote this morning and said in part:
“Jesus wept over the lost. Seeing the sinful condition of man, He willingly gave His life so that we might be reconciled with the Father. That was a transaction . . . He gave . . . and on our part, we had the opportunity to receive . . . if we would just turn from our sinful ways, repent and be reconciled to Him.” She went on to say that salvation was not cheap, it cost Him everything.
God loved us so much that He gave it all in order that we might be reconciled. ALL means all. Thus we have a path to reconcilement in spite of our many sins. The same plan that worked for the least of the sinners works for the worst of the sinners. God’s forgiveness is extended to all who choose Him. God told us to do as He has done and He is not offering this as a suggestion by the way. It is a command!
Matt. 6:15
But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
June 13, 2016 – Click here to listen