Sermon Title: Transforming Our Pain
Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

“Forgiveness is my personal act to release the one who sinned against me from my personal right to collect on the moral debt; to pay them back for their offense. Instead of giving them back the pain they gave me, I absorb the pain into myself with God’s help.” Dr. Gary Bershear

4 Dimensions of Forgiveness ( Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity, - Ronald Rolheiser)

1. Forgive others for hurting us
2. Forgive ourselves for our own mistakes
3. Forgive life for being unfair
4. Forgive God for not saving us the way we think he should

Nobody comes into adulthood unwounded. And if that pain isn’t dealt with, it doesn’t go away. If we don’t allow God to transform pain, we’ll simply transmit it.

“Any pain or tension that we do not transform we will transmit. In the face of jealousy, anger, bitterness, and hatred we must be like water purifiers, holding the poisons and toxins inside of us and giving back just the pure water, rather than being like electrical cords that simply pass on the energy that flows through them.” Ronald Rolheiser