C
Cary
Guest
Hi everyone, I am writing a 4-6 minute speech to present to my church... the topic of the speech is "Forgiveness Is A Virtue"
Currently, I have bits and pieces of the speech together, but I'm having a lot of trouble to make everything sound like it flows... I have worked a long time on this, and I still cannot get everything in the correct order so that it sounds good... if anybody here can help me out it would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I should note, that I would like to write more about how we can accept God's forgiveness, but once again I'm having trouble figuring out where to place everything... the speech is below.
Thank you!!!'
--------------
There is a true Spanish story of a father and his son who had recently become estranged. As a result of this, the son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for hours, which turned into days, then weeks, and finally months, but he never had any success. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find his son, the father put an ad in Madrid newspaper. The ad read: "Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father."
Several days passed as his father anxiously waited for Saturday to arrive. He wasn’t sure if his son would forgive him for the arguments that they had had. Finally, on Saturday, 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
Is there somebody in your life who needs your forgiveness? Or, is it possible that you need somebody else’s forgiveness? Throughout the entire Bible, God continuously teaches us about forgiveness.
But, before we go any further, we must define the word "forgive" Webster’s dictionary defines the word as "to excuse [one] for a fault or an offense"
The Bible tells us the story of Joseph whose ten brothers first planned to kill him, and them because they lacked the fortitude to do that they sold him as a slave to traders who sold him to an Egyptian. Joseph then went from slavery to prison, and then to a place in Pharaoh’s court, and finally to being in second in charge of all Egypt, only below power to Pharaoh himself. When famine drives his brothers to Egypt, Joseph has his enemies in the palm of his hand. By society’s standards, Joseph had the right and the power to kill his brothers for their acts, but instead he tell them in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." he embraced his brothers and forgave them all for that they had done to him.
Dr. Charles Stanley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, says that forgiveness involves three elements:
1. An injury - A wrong is committed and pain, hurt, suffering or guilt is experienced.
2. A debt resulting from the injury. There is a consequence that is always detrimental and puts someone into a deficit state of some kind. Physical pain, mental anguish, guilt, and so on.
3. Finally, the third element is a cancellation of the debt.
One of the most famous things in the Bible is the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is what Jesus used as a model for others to follow, showing them how to pray. In the middle of the prayer, there are two lines which say: "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." To me, that translates basically along the lines of something like: "Before I ask God to forgive my sins, I first need to forgive those around me who did something that possibly hurt me." In Matthew 7:2, Jesus says, "For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." If you are not willing to forgive others, God is not willing to forgive you. Ephesians 4: 32 says "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Forgiveness is a two-way street. For forgiveness to be fully complete, the one being forgiven must accept the forgiveness from the one who offers it. In the same way, God has offered us his forgiveness, but we are not forgiven until we have accepted it.
When you forgive somebody, you must start all over from the beginning as though the event never even occurred. Thomas Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a "light bulb" and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. You’ve probably guessed what happened by now; the poor young fellow dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs. It took the entire team of men twenty-four more hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one.
Now, that is true forgiveness.
THE END… thinking of a way to have more of a punch to the end.
Currently, I have bits and pieces of the speech together, but I'm having a lot of trouble to make everything sound like it flows... I have worked a long time on this, and I still cannot get everything in the correct order so that it sounds good... if anybody here can help me out it would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I should note, that I would like to write more about how we can accept God's forgiveness, but once again I'm having trouble figuring out where to place everything... the speech is below.
Thank you!!!'
--------------
There is a true Spanish story of a father and his son who had recently become estranged. As a result of this, the son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for hours, which turned into days, then weeks, and finally months, but he never had any success. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find his son, the father put an ad in Madrid newspaper. The ad read: "Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father."
Several days passed as his father anxiously waited for Saturday to arrive. He wasn’t sure if his son would forgive him for the arguments that they had had. Finally, on Saturday, 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
Is there somebody in your life who needs your forgiveness? Or, is it possible that you need somebody else’s forgiveness? Throughout the entire Bible, God continuously teaches us about forgiveness.
But, before we go any further, we must define the word "forgive" Webster’s dictionary defines the word as "to excuse [one] for a fault or an offense"
The Bible tells us the story of Joseph whose ten brothers first planned to kill him, and them because they lacked the fortitude to do that they sold him as a slave to traders who sold him to an Egyptian. Joseph then went from slavery to prison, and then to a place in Pharaoh’s court, and finally to being in second in charge of all Egypt, only below power to Pharaoh himself. When famine drives his brothers to Egypt, Joseph has his enemies in the palm of his hand. By society’s standards, Joseph had the right and the power to kill his brothers for their acts, but instead he tell them in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." he embraced his brothers and forgave them all for that they had done to him.
Dr. Charles Stanley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA, says that forgiveness involves three elements:
1. An injury - A wrong is committed and pain, hurt, suffering or guilt is experienced.
2. A debt resulting from the injury. There is a consequence that is always detrimental and puts someone into a deficit state of some kind. Physical pain, mental anguish, guilt, and so on.
3. Finally, the third element is a cancellation of the debt.
One of the most famous things in the Bible is the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is what Jesus used as a model for others to follow, showing them how to pray. In the middle of the prayer, there are two lines which say: "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." To me, that translates basically along the lines of something like: "Before I ask God to forgive my sins, I first need to forgive those around me who did something that possibly hurt me." In Matthew 7:2, Jesus says, "For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." If you are not willing to forgive others, God is not willing to forgive you. Ephesians 4: 32 says "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Forgiveness is a two-way street. For forgiveness to be fully complete, the one being forgiven must accept the forgiveness from the one who offers it. In the same way, God has offered us his forgiveness, but we are not forgiven until we have accepted it.
When you forgive somebody, you must start all over from the beginning as though the event never even occurred. Thomas Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a "light bulb" and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. The story goes that when Edison was finished with one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. You’ve probably guessed what happened by now; the poor young fellow dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs. It took the entire team of men twenty-four more hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one.
Now, that is true forgiveness.
THE END… thinking of a way to have more of a punch to the end.
