forgiving sets us free
Rene Quispe(Audio: Spanish)
SUMMARY:
The topic of the sermon is learning to forgive. The speaker acknowledges that while Christians know forgiveness is important, it is not always easy to practice. Forgiveness is central to the gospel and science confirms its importance for mental and emotional health. Trauma can make forgiveness especially difficult, and there are three types of trauma: physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. The speaker gives an example of a woman who suffered from trauma as a child and struggled to overcome it even though she was a successful adult. The goal of the sermon is for listeners to learn how to forgive and experience the peace and love that God intends for them.
The speaker discusses how past traumas can affect one's ability to develop emotional intimacy in their relationships, and how defense mechanisms developed as a child can hinder healthy relationships in the future. The speaker shares personal experiences of growing up with a disconnected father and how that affected his own ability to connect emotionally. The speaker also touches on various defense mechanisms and how they can manifest in one's behavior. The speaker emphasizes the importance of identifying and addressing these traumas and defense mechanisms in order to grow in grace and foster healthy relationships.
The speaker talks about the symptoms of past traumas that may affect our present life, including depression, anxiety, anger, low self-esteem, addiction, eating disorders, difficulties in relationships, sexual dysfunctions, and more. He uses an illustration of putting all the painful memories in a bag and throwing it into the sea, but the bag fills up with smelly, ugly bones, representing the traumas that we cannot just ignore but have to face and deal with. He encourages us to be honest with ourselves and accept the reality of our struggles, and to surrender them to Christ for healing.
The process of forgiveness requires us to stop pretending everything is fine and accept the reality of our struggles. Forgiveness is not forgetting, excusing, denying, ignoring, or reconciliation. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit that creates a mental and spiritual attitude to change our behavior. The 5 steps to forgiveness include identifying the pain, recognizing our inability to forgive on our own, opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit, making a list of painful experiences, and practicing forgiveness through a three-part prayer process. The prayer process involves acknowledging the pain and hurt, accepting the consequences of the experience, and thanking God for the ability to forgive.
The speaker encourages the audience to forgive those who have hurt them and accept the consequences of their past experiences. They guide the audience in a prayer of forgiveness and acceptance, and invite those who need additional healing to come forward for prayer. The audience is reminded that Christ forgave them before the foundation of the world and they should strive to live in forgiveness as well. The speaker prays for healing and cleansing of painful memories and praises the Lord for his goodness.I would like to invite Dr. Rene Quispe who is coming, who is an Argentine who lives in California. And brothers God makes everything perfect. What did the pastor talk about last week? Family, home, marriage. God sent Dr. René, whom we have known for many years, I am sending him here this weekend almost as if the Lord were saying, 'I know it is difficult, I am going to help you find out how you can build a more blessed and Christian family. God brought him so it suits us, it's up to us to open our hearts and receive what he brings, may the Lord bless the Doctor.
Thank you very much pastor, what a joy to be with you and to be able to praise the Lord as a family, the unity of the spirit. I look at you and although I do not know you personally more than a few, it is as if we have always known each other through the spirit of Christ, in him we are one.