1 John 4:8
God is Love
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Luke 23:23-38
Jesus Surrendered to Man's Will
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
Mark 2:17
Jesus Came to Save Us Who Sin
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Matthew 5:38-48
Eye for Eye
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 18:21-22
Forever Forgiving
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Saved by God's Gift of Grace
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
To LOVE someone when we are completely bitter and completely overwhelmed at them is one of the most difficult things to do in life, I think...God is LOVE...And God is FORGIVING...And in the middle of God and His LOVE (for us) and our sinning is His forgiveness...God has great mercy and knows how to forgive and forgives us...He forgives us often...This shows His mercy and His grace...
God is LOVE, and God LOVES us...His LOVE is different than ours...He created us and we are created in His Image...We sinned and have sinned against Him...So He decided to help us out of His LOVE for us and He sent His Son to help...Then we sinned against His Son...We hung Him from a cross and killed Him...And on the way to His death, He asks His Father to forgive us for us crucifying and then killing Him...Yet, in all of this God still LOVES us...I think in PERFECT LOVE, there is this PERFECTION...And since God is Pure LOVE, He has this type of LOVE that He can forgive and continue to LOVE...He knows how to forgive, when almost everyone fails to forgive, the unforgiven...And if one believes this and in Him, then one can see how much forgiveness is needed in love...And we then can also see how forgiveness is a part of LOVE...
When someone has harmed or our family or friends, we want something from them...We sometimes do feel an eye needs to be gouged out, or a tooth needs to be taken in our anger and bitterness towards that someone...But Jesus teaches that when someone gouges our eye out, we are to turn our cheek...When someone purposely knocks out our tooth or teeth, we are again to turn our cheek...We are to LOVE this enemy...And this is so difficult when one is full of bitterness and anger...And a sense of retaliation seems quite in line with how we feel and with our feelings of bitterness and anger...
How can our minds get around a LOVE like this, especially when we are in the middle of our angry and bitter thoughts?...Who can think about love in the middle of anger?...God created us, so we are His children...We sinned against Him because we have free choice and we want to do our will instead of His will...So He sends Someone from heaven down for us, who just happens to be His Son and we hang Him from a tree...And through all of this He still LOVES us...This LOVE is much different than how we think about LOVE...This LOVE is completely full of mercy and full of forgiveness...This LOVE is PERFECT...
God does not forgive us, because we are righteous...And God does not forgive us because who we are, or what we have done, or that we deserve it, or that we expect it...He gives us forgiveness because He is LOVE...And LOVE always forgives...LOVE is full of mercy and grace...HIS LOVE IS PERFECT...Our heavenly Father is PERFECT...