Women's Conference 2018
Text: Ephesians 4:26-27a; 4:30 - 5:2

Main Idea: Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

1. We urgently need to understand how God extends forgiveness to sinners. ...as God in Christ forgave you.
   • How does God forgive?
     • Isaiah 43:25 "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
     • Jeremiah 31:34 "For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
2. We desperately need to forgive those who sin against us. ...forgiving one another...
   • "To be forgiven is such sweetness that honey is tasteless in comparison with it. But yet there is one thing sweeter still, and that is to forgive. As it is more blessed t ogive than to receive, so to forgive rises a stage higher in experience than to be forgiven." - Charles Spurgeon
   • Colossians 3:12-17 "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

• When do we forgive others?
  • "When we strive against all thoughts of revenge; when we will not do our enemies mischief, but wish well to them, grieve at their calamities, pray for them, seek reconciliation with them, and show ourselves ready on all occasions to relieve them." - Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity", p. 581.

• What forgiveness is NOT:
  • NOT the absence of anger at sin
  • NOT the absence of serious consequences for sin
  • NOT justifying the sin
  • NOT an emotion or feeling
  • NOT denying or ignoring the pain
• Why is forgiveness so difficult?
  • The reality of the hurt.
  • The reality of our own sin.

"For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted." - Amy Carmichael

Discussion Questions:

1. Why is forgiveness a decision and not an emotion? What is the difference?
2. How important is it to define forgiveness in a God-centered way vs a man-centered way?
3. How does meditating on the forgiveness of God help you frame a situation in which you need to forgive?
4. As Lilly shared, it can be difficult to open up to others, even with those we trust. In which ways is it difficult for you to share your struggles with others? What is it like, or what would it be like, to share your struggles with a sister in Christ who listens and then walks with you in your struggle?
5. How can we encourage one another towards Christ?