19 \\ “My Yoke Is Easy And My Burden Is Light,” Part 1: Offering Biblical Forgiveness To Those Who Have Wronged Us And Finding Freedom In Christ After Separation And Divorce With Pastor Chris Brauns

Forgiveness isn’t intended to be a heavy burden for those who have been deeply wronged.  Jesus’ invitation was, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you REST.” (Matthew 11:28-30)  The invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ is to come to Him and find REST for our souls!

 

Our culture has fundamentally misunderstood forgiveness — we tend to regard it in a therapeutic way, seeing it as a private coping strategy for resentment and anger.  “Forgiveness is something you do for your own benefit,” some say  — but that’s not biblical forgiveness.

 

Forgiveness is not an emotional strategy; it’s a commitment by the offended to pardon graciously the repentant from moral liability, and to be reconciled — though it doesn’t mean that all consequences are necessarily eliminated.

 

What  do we do when the offense is grave, as in marriages that end in separation or divorce, and the offender does not display true repentance?  Pastor Brauns offers these principles:

 

1. Proactively show love — in abusive situations, how this will work out needs the wisdom of the local church.  Don’t do this alone!  There is such a great need for the community of the redeemed; we need that protection.  We do NOT put ourselves in a position to be abused further.  This showing of love will be situation-specific.
2. Take no revenge — "Never take your own revenge, beloved" (Romans 12:19), but
3. "Leave room for the wrath of God"— “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” says the Lord.  We can trust God to see that justice is done.

 

Also, look at Psalm 37 and Psalm 73 when battling bitterness.  We're going to come back next week to revisit this topic!

 

Please check out Pastor Brauns' book, Unpacking Forgiveness from Crossway: https://www.crossway.org/books/unpacking-forgiveness-tpb/

 

Visit his website here: https://chrisbrauns.com/

 

Join our Christ-Dependent Single Motherhood Facebook community, for Christian single moms like you, whether you're divorced, separated, widowed, or never married! https://bit.ly/CDSMFacebook

 

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