Building Godly relationships #6
Update: 2025-12-07
Description
Building Godly relationships #6
By Pastor George Lehman
Unforgiveness does a great deal more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than the object on which it is poured.
If you mess up with this one, you mess up every relationship.
You will never build Godly relationships. It’s like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die…
Ephesians 4:32 (Amp) - And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
Somehow as God’s children, we’ve reserved the right to be disobedient and do our own thing when it suites us.
The Greek word for forgiveness is Aphiemi: means: - Forsake, lay aside, leave, let alone, let be, let go.
God created human beings in His image so they can be friends - intimate, love-filled companions with Him and one another.
To all the wonders that God created, human beings add an invention of their own …
It’s almost like the law of Newton: “For every infliction of pain, there must be an equal and opposite act of vengeance.”
Genesis 4:23-24 (Amp) - Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say; for I have slain a man [merely] for wounding me, and a young man [only] for striking and bruising me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold.
Lamech kills a man for wounding him, he then says, “he will seek revenge – 77 x7 to anyone who hurts him.” I call it ‘The Law of LAMECH’.
If anyone inflicts pain or hurt on me, I must pay them back.
The question is – does this law still exist today? Sadly, the answer is, “it still does”. ‘REVENGE’ (You hurt me and I’ll hurt you back…)
Shortly after this episode of Lamech, God views the violence, corruption, the hurt and pain that spread through the creatures He loved and says:
Genesis 6:5-6 (Amp) - The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually and the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.
God keeps giving His heart to the human race and they keep showing up at the function on somebody else’s arm.
So, God who created in six days, has to create once more after the fall of man.
God creates a kind of a spiritual surgery that can remove what is toxic to the heart and make dead relationships live again.
This new creation is called… ‘FORGIVENESS’
In some way His last, best gift to the human race. It’s the only force strong enough to heal relationships – damaged by hatred and betrayal, hurt, bitterness and sin.
Peter comes to Jesus and says: “Someone has done me wrong,
someone has hurt me. I know I’m supposed to forgive them. Why must I always be the one to forgive? How many times should I forgive – 7 times?”
Matthew 18:21-22 (Amp) - Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times? Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!
Peter is expecting Jesus to say: “WOW Peter that’s magnanimous, that’s a call way beyond your duty”.
You see, it’s not just anyone who hurt him – it’s a brother, one he trusted.
The concern of Peter is felt by every one of us that’s been hurt or wronged or sinned against.
Why should I forgive? What if the other person doesn’t deserve it? We know it’s the spiritual thing to do, but it doesn’t seem to work out for us in the real world.
Imagine Peter’s response. Instead of patting him on his back, Jesus tells Peter he still has 483 acts of forgiveness to go. Why 70x7?
Because by the time you get to 320 times, it’s becoming a good habit in your life.
Jesus is reversing ‘The law of Lamech’
The point Jesus is making: There are 2 ways to live with hurt:
1. The way of vengeance, or
2. The way of forgiveness
The 1st way leads to death.
The 2nd way leads to life.
Here are some real-life changing truths of forgiveness:
- You can’t get ahead while you’re trying to get even.
- There is no revenge as sweet as forgiveness.
- We should forgive and then forget what we have forgiven.
Never is God operating more effectively and so strong in your life as when you release revenge and dare to forgive an injury, a wrong, a hurt or a sin against you.
- It’s far better to forgive & forget than to hate & remember.
- Forgiveness may not change the past, but it will enlarge the future.
Unforgiveness is the cholesterol of the heart – it slows the flow of peace, joy, blessings and a victorious, free life.
I mean really, if you want to be miserable, don’t forgive people.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.
Think about this:
Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the high cost of hatred and the waste of energy.
A person who cannot forgive has forgotten how great a debt God has forgiven them.
For many Christians, unforgiveness is often hidden under other words that sound more acceptable:
I’m not angry; I’m just hurt.
Emotional hurt has its roots in unforgiveness. We wouldn’t dream of walking with unforgiveness for months. Hurt is part of the torment of unforgiveness.
Jesus said:
Matthew 18:35 (Amp) - So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.
Another key to unforgiveness is this phrase: I can forgive, but I can’t forget.
“What’s the matter with you?” growled a man at his wife. “Why do you keep talking about that mistake I made? I thought you said you had forgiven and forgotten?”
“I have forgiven and forgotten,” snapped the wife. “But I just don’t want you to forget that I have forgiven and forgotten.”
People have even said (hiding behind the Bible) “I’ll forgive him/her because God is going to punish him/her.”
I know Rom 12:19 says:
Romans 12:19 (Amp) - Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.
But we are warned not to rejoice:
Proverbs 24:17-18 (Amp) - 17Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown, 18Lest the Lord see it and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him [to expend it upon you, the worse offender].
We’ve been discussing - the importance of forgiveness and building Godly relationships, let me ask you this question:
How do you understand and interpret these scriptures:
We live in a culture where we don’t always mean what we say.
Luke 17:3-4 (Amp) - 3Pay attention and be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him. 4And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).
Mark 11:25 (Amp) - And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failing and shortcomings and let them drop.
Matthew 6:14-15 (Amp) - 14For If you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment](wrok), your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], NEITHER will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
Forgiveness is God’s greatest plan for ‘Building Godly relationships.
I wonder how many Christians would want God to forgive them in the same way they have forgiven others. Forgiveness: You don’t give, you don’t get!
Galatians 6:1 (Msg) - Live creatively, friends, If someone falls into sin forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day is out.
Luke 17:5 (Amp) – The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith (that trust and confidence that springs from our belief in God).
We are going to trust God for release and give us victory over unforgiveness in our life. To past and maybe present relationships which you are holding against others? Trust the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart.
By Pastor George Lehman
Unforgiveness does a great deal more damage to the vessel in which it is stored than the object on which it is poured.
If you mess up with this one, you mess up every relationship.
You will never build Godly relationships. It’s like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die…
Ephesians 4:32 (Amp) - And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.
Somehow as God’s children, we’ve reserved the right to be disobedient and do our own thing when it suites us.
The Greek word for forgiveness is Aphiemi: means: - Forsake, lay aside, leave, let alone, let be, let go.
God created human beings in His image so they can be friends - intimate, love-filled companions with Him and one another.
To all the wonders that God created, human beings add an invention of their own …
It’s almost like the law of Newton: “For every infliction of pain, there must be an equal and opposite act of vengeance.”
Genesis 4:23-24 (Amp) - Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say; for I have slain a man [merely] for wounding me, and a young man [only] for striking and bruising me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech [will be avenged] seventy-sevenfold.
Lamech kills a man for wounding him, he then says, “he will seek revenge – 77 x7 to anyone who hurts him.” I call it ‘The Law of LAMECH’.
If anyone inflicts pain or hurt on me, I must pay them back.
The question is – does this law still exist today? Sadly, the answer is, “it still does”. ‘REVENGE’ (You hurt me and I’ll hurt you back…)
Shortly after this episode of Lamech, God views the violence, corruption, the hurt and pain that spread through the creatures He loved and says:
Genesis 6:5-6 (Amp) - The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually and the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.
God keeps giving His heart to the human race and they keep showing up at the function on somebody else’s arm.
So, God who created in six days, has to create once more after the fall of man.
God creates a kind of a spiritual surgery that can remove what is toxic to the heart and make dead relationships live again.
This new creation is called… ‘FORGIVENESS’
In some way His last, best gift to the human race. It’s the only force strong enough to heal relationships – damaged by hatred and betrayal, hurt, bitterness and sin.
Peter comes to Jesus and says: “Someone has done me wrong,
someone has hurt me. I know I’m supposed to forgive them. Why must I always be the one to forgive? How many times should I forgive – 7 times?”
Matthew 18:21-22 (Amp) - Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? [As many as] up to seven times? Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!
Peter is expecting Jesus to say: “WOW Peter that’s magnanimous, that’s a call way beyond your duty”.
You see, it’s not just anyone who hurt him – it’s a brother, one he trusted.
The concern of Peter is felt by every one of us that’s been hurt or wronged or sinned against.
Why should I forgive? What if the other person doesn’t deserve it? We know it’s the spiritual thing to do, but it doesn’t seem to work out for us in the real world.
Imagine Peter’s response. Instead of patting him on his back, Jesus tells Peter he still has 483 acts of forgiveness to go. Why 70x7?
Because by the time you get to 320 times, it’s becoming a good habit in your life.
Jesus is reversing ‘The law of Lamech’
The point Jesus is making: There are 2 ways to live with hurt:
1. The way of vengeance, or
2. The way of forgiveness
The 1st way leads to death.
The 2nd way leads to life.
Here are some real-life changing truths of forgiveness:
- You can’t get ahead while you’re trying to get even.
- There is no revenge as sweet as forgiveness.
- We should forgive and then forget what we have forgiven.
Never is God operating more effectively and so strong in your life as when you release revenge and dare to forgive an injury, a wrong, a hurt or a sin against you.
- It’s far better to forgive & forget than to hate & remember.
- Forgiveness may not change the past, but it will enlarge the future.
Unforgiveness is the cholesterol of the heart – it slows the flow of peace, joy, blessings and a victorious, free life.
I mean really, if you want to be miserable, don’t forgive people.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.
Think about this:
Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the high cost of hatred and the waste of energy.
A person who cannot forgive has forgotten how great a debt God has forgiven them.
For many Christians, unforgiveness is often hidden under other words that sound more acceptable:
I’m not angry; I’m just hurt.
Emotional hurt has its roots in unforgiveness. We wouldn’t dream of walking with unforgiveness for months. Hurt is part of the torment of unforgiveness.
Jesus said:
Matthew 18:35 (Amp) - So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.
Another key to unforgiveness is this phrase: I can forgive, but I can’t forget.
“What’s the matter with you?” growled a man at his wife. “Why do you keep talking about that mistake I made? I thought you said you had forgiven and forgotten?”
“I have forgiven and forgotten,” snapped the wife. “But I just don’t want you to forget that I have forgiven and forgotten.”
People have even said (hiding behind the Bible) “I’ll forgive him/her because God is going to punish him/her.”
I know Rom 12:19 says:
Romans 12:19 (Amp) - Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.
But we are warned not to rejoice:
Proverbs 24:17-18 (Amp) - 17Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown, 18Lest the Lord see it and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him [to expend it upon you, the worse offender].
We’ve been discussing - the importance of forgiveness and building Godly relationships, let me ask you this question:
How do you understand and interpret these scriptures:
We live in a culture where we don’t always mean what we say.
Luke 17:3-4 (Amp) - 3Pay attention and be on your guard [looking out for one another]. If your brother sins (misses the mark), solemnly tell him so and reprove him, and if he repents (feels sorry for having sinned), forgive him. 4And even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and turns to you seven times and says, I repent [I am sorry], you must forgive him (give up resentment and consider the offense as recalled and annulled).
Mark 11:25 (Amp) - And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failing and shortcomings and let them drop.
Matthew 6:14-15 (Amp) - 14For If you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment](wrok), your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], NEITHER will your Father forgive you your trespasses.
Forgiveness is God’s greatest plan for ‘Building Godly relationships.
I wonder how many Christians would want God to forgive them in the same way they have forgiven others. Forgiveness: You don’t give, you don’t get!
Galatians 6:1 (Msg) - Live creatively, friends, If someone falls into sin forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day is out.
Luke 17:5 (Amp) – The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith (that trust and confidence that springs from our belief in God).
We are going to trust God for release and give us victory over unforgiveness in our life. To past and maybe present relationships which you are holding against others? Trust the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart.
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