During World War II, Corrie ten Boom and her family saved Jews from being sent off to concentration camps by hiding them in a room in their home. When Nazi officers learned what was going on, the house was raided and Corrie was sent to a prison, political concentration camp, and finally a death camp. But, miraculously, she survived.
As you can imagine, there were many moments of hardship that Corrie had to overcome even after the war ended. One such moment was at a church where she saw a former SS guard who had abused her in the concentration camp. As the man approached her to shake her hand, the horrid pain this man had brought upon her and her sister came vividly to mind. And even though Corrie often spoke of the need to forgive others, she knew she couldn’t forgive this man in her own strength. God had to do it through her. Corrie writes, “When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.” God gave Corrie the strength to forgive and love the man when she could not.
Perhaps you’ve not had to forgive the weight of offense that Corrie ten Boom had to, but we all have to face asking for and granting forgiveness in this world. In this lesson we are going to discuss what forgiveness looks like in our lives.

Goals for lesson

• To understand how to forgive someone or ask for forgiveness from someone in your life
• To take the step this week to initiate that conversation

Warm Up Question

Share your best high school memory with the group. If you have time, share your worst memory as well.

Bible Study: Matthew 18:23-35

Throughout his ministry Jesus made use of stories called parables to illustrate important ideas. A parable can be described as a heavenly story with an earthly meaning. Perhaps you’re familiar with the parables of the Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan. Today, read out loud the parable in Matthew 18 about a king settling accounts with his debtors.
Matthew 18:25 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 “At this 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 silver coins.[a] 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 it 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 outraged 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 handed 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 or sister from your heart.”

Discussion Questions

• What did you learn about God in this passage?
  

• What do you learn about forgiveness in this passage?
  

• When have you found it most difficult to forgive another person?
  

Talk by Jason Romano
Listen to the talk by Jason Romano entitled: Forgiveness given at the 2021 No Regrets Men’s Conference. It can be found on the No Regrets app, under Conference Media/2021 Platform talks.

Jason Romano is an author, speaker, and media professional with more than 20 years of broadcasting experience. For 17 years, he was a producer and senior manager at ESPN who created and produced content for shows such as SportsCenter, Monday Night Football, and many more. In 2017, Jason left ESPN to pursue sports ministry, launching the Sports Spectrum podcast, an interview-driven show that features athletes, coaches, and other media personalities sharing their stories on the intersection of sports and faith. Jason serves as the host, producer and editor for the podcast which has had over a million downloads since its debut in March, 2017. He is a popular public speaker and has authored a book titled Live to Forgive.

Notes:

Discussion Questions

• Why is it helpful to understand God’s forgiveness of us in order to forgive others? Refer to Colossians 2:13-15, Ephesians 4:31-32.
  

• Discuss how we are set free when we forgive someone.
  

*Forgiveness involves three aspects:
1. Giving Up: the right to get even, to accuse, to bring suit, seek revenge.
2. Giving Notice: to clearly communicate the hurt, pain, how you were wronged
3. Giving Gifts: the commitment not to bring it up again or hold it over them, but to serve and love them.
Discuss your experiences with working out these practices in your own relationships.
Can there be restoration in a relationship without forgiveness?

“A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” -Ruth Graham

Sharing and Prayer Time

Jason spoke of having a box in the attic that we “store away” so that we don’t have to deal with what’s inside. Is there a box that you need to take down and clean out? Share with the group what that situation is about.

Spend time praying for one another about acts of forgiveness you are prompted toward in response to this lesson.

Assignment for next week
For next week you will be listening to a talk given by Bryan Carter at the 2021 No Regrets Men’s Conference. The talk was entitled: Biblical Masculinity and can be found on the No Regrets app under Conference Media/2021 Platform speakers.

*The app will not necessarily save your fill-in notes. Please click on Email and email the lesson with your notes to yourself.

“Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred.” -Corrie ten Boom