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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Free Bible Study: Dealing With Emotional Baggage

Q Can you remember a time where someone close to you really upset you? How did feel?
Q Can you remember a time where someone not close to you really upset you? Do you remember it vividly?
Q Which happens more often? Why?

Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"  22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]    23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.   26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' 27 The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.    28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.  29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'  30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.    32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.    35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Q What was the problem with the unmerciful servant?.. Hard time letting go, holding a grudge.
Q How did that hurt him? …anger, resentment.. Biggest thing was he had a hard time appreciating or remembering that God forgave of him.
Q Have you ever felt this way and justified for being angry?
Q To what lengths did his un-forgiveness take him? Hatred, retaliation, eventually prison..Some of us can in-prison ourselves because we are unforgiving.


Make a Commitment to God (Read this out Loud)
"Jesus, today in front of you and these witnesses, I come to rid myself of this past, to drop the heavy load of baggage, to free myself of past hurts. Today I burn up the bad things of the past, "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead." (Philippians 3:12) Moreover, I apologize for taking it out on others, and hurting others. By the cross, you show me that is not the way to behave. Today, I burn that way of life and take on a new way of life, your way of life. Tomorrow I will still have my hurts, but starting today I chose to not hurt others. Some things that hurt me were unacceptable behavior; However, today I chose to not behave unacceptably From now on I take responsibility for my actions and chose not to blame those who hurt me or behave poorly. The chain of events stops here. It stops today. I need forgiveness. I need you help, God. I do not need others to treat me perfectly or even very well. I only need the cross. May it start with me and spread to others."