Sermon Title: Practical Steps Forward
Scripture: Matthew 6:9-15

“In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he emphasized the daily practice of forgiveness as a way of maintaining and sustaining relationships. Just like food, forgiveness sustains our life in community. Just like we cannot live without daily bread, we cannot fully live our lives in communion with each other and with God without the ability to grant and receive forgiveness.” “Forgiving as We’ve Been Forgiven” - Gregory Jones and Celstin Musekura

“Decisional forgiveness” involves deciding to forgive a personal offense and letting go of angry and resentful thoughts and feelings toward the person who has wronged you. “Emotional forgiveness” involves replacing the negative emotions with positive feelings like compassion, sympathy, and empathy. “Five Steps to Forgiveness” - Everett Worthington

Five Steps to Forgiveness - REACH (Everett Worthington)

1. Recall the hurt
2. Empathize

There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” Martin Luther King Jr

3 simple exercises to develop empathy:
- Pray. Ask God to activate empathy inside of you.
- Write a letter to the offender.
- Hear their side of the story.

3. Altruistic Gift. Give the altruistic gift of forgiveness.
4. Commit Publicly.
5. Hold Fast.