Improving Your Serve
Chapter 4
The Servant as Forgiver
Let’s Recap… Weeks 1 & 2
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We signed up to be servants…
– By identifying ourselves with Christ, we’re called to
serve!
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Mark 10:45
Romans 8:28-29
Matthew 20:25-28
Christ-like service isn’t seeking glitz and
glamour!
– Todd mentioned three characteristics for a good
servant image
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Transparent Humility
Genuine Humility
Absolute Honesty
Let’s Recap… Weeks 1 & 2
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We are selfish (I, Me, Mine, Myself)
– Been that way since sin entered the world…
 Genesis 3
– Jesus called us to a different way
 “…whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant…” (Matthew 20:26)
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We can serve through giving
– Overcome our selfishness by giving of our resources.
(Phil. 2:3-5)
 We should give anonymously, generously (sacrificially),
voluntarily.
 And not just $$, but personally of our time and care…
The Servant as ‘Forgiver’
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Think of what we’ve been given by God through
Christ…
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Psalm 103: 10-13
“He does not deal with us according to our sins , nor
repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as
the heavens are above the earth, so great is his
steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as
the east is from the west, so far does he
remove our transgressions from us .
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the
LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.”
Forgiving.. A ‘required course’
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If we are really going to take becoming
good servants seriously, we “must come
to terms with forgiving others as well”.
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Two people have an argument…
– Someone is offended/hurt
– The other has offended/hurt them
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What is our obligation?
Being peacemakers…
Ephesians 4:31-32
Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and
slander be put away from
you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, as God in
Christ forgave you.
If you are the Offender…
Not that it could possibly be you! Right?
 Matthew 5:23-25
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“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and
there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift there
before the altar and go. First be reconciled to
your brother, and then come and offer your
gift.”
4 Steps to Seeking Forgiveness
1.
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3.
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5.
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7.
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STOP what you’re doing!
“leave your gift there…”
GO to the other person
“go your way…”
Seek RECONCILIATION
“First be reconciled to your brother…”
RETURN to your business
“then come and present your offering.”
If you are the Offended…
Do we forgive ‘those who trespass against
us’ the way we should?
 Matthew 18:21-35
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– How often should we forgive someone?
 Verses 21-22 -> “seventy times seven.”
– What happens if we don’t?
 Verses 23-35 -> Yipes.
Refusing to Forgive…
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... is hypocritical!
– Verses 32-33: “And should not you have had mercy
on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”
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… causes inner torment for us.
– Verse 34-35: “… in anger his master delivered him to
the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my
heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do
not forgive your brother from your heart ."
How do we put it into practice?
1.
Focus on how we’ve been forgiven.
 Psalm 103
 Colossians 3:8-14
2.
Deal promptly with ‘the issues’
 STOP! (Ephesians 4:25-27)
 Go!
3.
Deal directly and honestly with any
resentment…
 Air it all out!
Forgive and Forget?
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Can we really forgive without forgetting?
After all, “it’s only human” to keep score,
right?
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More on that next week…
In “The Servant as Forgetter”!