Isaiah 53:3-5 (NKJV) He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed.
This passage is a prophecy regarding the suffering and the redemptive work of the Messiah on the cross. For our sake, Jesus was betrayed, flogged, spitted upon, humiliated, mocked, and ridiculed by men, and forsaken by the Heavenly Father as He turned His face away. Therefore, Jesus understands what rejection feels like. Every form of suffering of mankind, whether in the body, such as sicknesses, pain, and sin, or in our emotions, was born by Him on the cross. Therefore, we come before Jesus by faith, believing that He has borne our sorrows, grief, rejection, and pain on the cross. We choose to give all our hurt, pain, grief, affliction, rejection, and sorrow to Him. We praise Him that He has borne them on the cross. As a result, in addition to being saved, we have been healed of all physical and emotional wounds, and we choose to forgive those who have hurt us, whether they know it or not. We claim the promise that by His stripes, we are healed. We have decided that our joy, peace, and security are not found in what man thinks of us or how man treats us, but our greatest security is found in God’s view of us. We refuse to play into the devil’s trickery to dwell on past and present hurt.
We might have preconceptions about certain people because of our bad experiences with them and, therefore, have difficulty loving them or being loved by them. Allowing God’s nature to flow from our hearts in love, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control will help us to deal with past and present offences.
How do we forgive and forget the sins others did to us? First, come before God to acknowledge that we have an issue with them because of the hurt, pain, and sorrow they have brought into our lives. Second, name them and the wrongs they have done to us and choose to forgive them. Third, note the time and place where the prayer was uttered to release and forgive them. Lastly, whenever the thoughts of the incident or the people come to mind, remind ourselves that we have chosen to forgive and refuse to allow our thoughts to reopen the wound. The memories and pain will eventually fade when we consistently deal with the fact that we have chosen to forgive, though it might take time to forget.
Matthew 6:12 (NJKV) And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
This portion of the Lord’s Prayer is a daily reminder that if God is gracious and merciful towards us, we should do the same to those who have sinned against us in words and actions.
Sermon Series: Lord, teach us how to pray (part 2)
应对并治愈伤痛
以赛亚书53:3-5 他被藐视，被人厌弃，多受痛苦，常经忧患。他被藐视，好像被人掩面不看的一样，我们也不尊重他。他诚然担当我们的忧患，背负我们的痛苦；我们却以为他受责罚，被神击打苦待了。哪知他为我们的过犯受害，为我们的罪孽压伤。因他受的刑罚，我们得平安；因他受的鞭伤，我们得医治。
这段经文曾预言了弥赛亚在十字架上的苦难和救赎的工作。为了我们，耶稣被出卖、鞭打、吐唾沫、羞辱、嘲笑，并遭受人的讥讽和嘲弄。当天父转脸离去时，耶稣甚至被祂遗弃。因此，耶稣深知被拒绝的感受。所有人类的痛苦，无论是身体上的病痛、罪恶，还是情感上的痛楚，耶稣都在十字架上为我们承受了。因此，我们凭着信心来到耶稣面前，相信祂在十字架上承担了我们的悲伤、哀痛、被弃绝和所有痛苦。我们选择将所有的伤害、痛苦、哀伤、折磨、被拒绝和悲伤交给祂。我们赞美祂，因为祂已经在十字架上为我们背负了这一切。因此，除了得救以外，我们也得到了身体和情感上的医治，我们选择去原谅那些伤害过我们的人，无论他们是否意识到自己的行为。我们宣告因祂的鞭伤我们得医治。我们已经决定，不再让人的看法或对待方式决定我们的喜乐、平安和安全感；我们最大的安全感来自于上帝对我们的看法。我们拒绝陷入魔鬼的诡计，不再纠结于过去和现在的伤痛。
我们可能因为过去与某些人的不愉快经历而对他们产生偏见，因此难以去爱他们或接受他们的爱。然而，让神的属性在我们的内心中流露出来——以爱、善良、美德、温柔和自制来对待他人，将帮助我们处理过去和现在的冒犯与伤害。
我们如何应对甚至忘记别人对我们的伤害？首先，来到神面前，承认由于他们给我们的生活带来了伤害、痛苦和悲伤，我们在内心对他们有怨恨。其次，明确他们和哪些对我们所犯的错，并选择原谅他们。第三，记录下你祷告释放和原谅他们的时间和地点。最后，每当这件事或这些人再次浮现在脑海中时，提醒自己已经选择了原谅，并拒绝让这些思绪再次撕开伤口。虽然忘记可能需要时间，但当我们坚持面对并处理这一事实——即我们已经选择了原谅，回忆和痛苦最终会逐渐淡去。
马太福音6:12 免我们的债，如同我们免了人的债。
主祷文中的这一部分每天提醒我们，如果神对我们满有恩典和怜悯，我们也应当同样对那些在言语和行为上得罪我们的人给予恩典和宽恕。
讲道系列：主啊，教我们如何祷告（第二部分）
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