We’re finding it hard to believe, but it’s been a whole year now since CPO was launched, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY to CPO!!!

Every single one of us has been hurt by somebody. Somebody, somewhere has been cruel to us, or hurt us, turned on us, or betrayed us. Most of us would be happy not to ever hear from these people again, or we’d like to hurt them back. While the world might say that such an attitude is normal or ok, God says that it is not. The Bible repeatedly tells us to forgive those who hurt us. Let’s take a look at some verses.

Matthew 18:21-22 describes a question by Peter to Jesus about how many times he should forgive his brother. He suggests a small number, but Jesus responds with a number 70 times bigger. Obviously, there isn’t a limit on how many times we need to forgive a person. What Jesus was saying was that we need to keep forgiving people, time after time. This kind of attitude is hard to have, most people get tired of forgiving people after a few times, especially if it’s something that the person does to us repeatedly. Regardless of how much we might not want to forgive them, we still need to do so.

In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus tells his disciples if they don’t forgive men their sins against them, then God won’t forgive their sins. Let’s think about this verse for a moment or two. Jesus was pointing something very important out. How can we expect God to forgive us all of our sins against Him, and everyone else wrong we’ve done here on Earth, when we won’t forgive another person for his relatively minor sins against us? If the God of the universe is willing to forgive us for everything we’ve done wrong, shouldn’t we be willing to forgive another person for something they’ve done just against us?

Finally, Colossians 3:13 says that we should all forgive each other if we have quarrels with one another, just like God forgave us. We should follow God’s example and forgive each other. It also says that we should bear with one another. Not only should be forgiving, we should be patient with other people. Regardless of what they do to us, or how many times they do It, we should forgive them and pray for them.

Forgiving people can be one of the hardest things you do. It’s not something most people like doing, but it’s something we need to do. Forgive them, and don’t dwell on it. Don’t let a person’s treatment of you define your life. Don’t hate them for what they’ve done. Forgive them and pray for them.

The world is full of people who are not only unsaved, but living in a way that is directly against what God would want us to be. Most of these people we would agree need to be saved, but a lot of us would also say that we don’t see how that would be possible. Not only is it possible for God to save these people, it’s also entirely possible that He could use them in a way we’d never expect. The Bible has many examples of this, today I’m going to look at two in particular.

The first person I’m looking at is the Apostle Paul. Here was a man who literally made it his life mission to persecute Christians. He vehemently opposed to the Gospel and Christians. I think it’s safe to say that most people did not ever expect him to change. However, Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and Paul converted. God then used him as a missionary to lead people to Christ and to strengthen the churches. Not only that, but God also used him to write a large portion of the New Testament. God took a man dedicated to eradicating the church, and turned him around so that he could help build it up stronger than before.

The next person I’m looking at is Rahab, the harlot that the Israelite spies to Jericho hid with. Here is a woman that lived her life completely against the laws of God. How many people would expect a person like that to just give her life over to God, and change? Probably not many of us would expect that. But God used her in a way very few people in the Bible were used. Not only did she give her life over to God, she got mentioned in Hebrews 11, as a woman of faith. She also had a son named Boaz, who married Ruth, whose son was the great-grandfather of King David. God used a harlot in direct ancestry of Jesus Christ. I think that counts as using someone unexpectedly.

Looking at things a slightly different way, even people who sin greatly can come back around. King David springs to mind fairly quickly. He lived godly life, until he saw a woman named Bathsheba. To make a long story short, he intentionally put her husband in a place to get killed and committed adultery. This was a huge sin, on so many levels. Some people after doing something like that would never come back around. God sent a prophet to David, and David turned his life around. Even after that kind of a sin, God used him, with Bathsheba in the direct ancestry of Jesus.

No matter how bad someone may seem, God can change them, turn them around, and use them greatly in the world for His purpose. Rather than judging these people, we need to pray for them, and witness to them, both in our actions and our words.

We live in a culture that is addicted to everything. Everywhere you look, you see someone who is addicted to something. Not only are people addicted to drugs and smoking, they are addicted to things that most people don’t always think of as addictions. Things like games, music, TV, food and even work can be addictions.

Some addictions, like smoking and drugs are very harmful to ourselves and to others around us. They not only control our life, but they destroy our health too. Other addictions are harmful as well, but it’s not always obvious. Being addicted to work can be extremely harmful too, not only to yourself, but to your families and friends. Being addicted to food does terrible things to your health. Games, music and TV can be harmful if they keep us away from things that are more important. Some things aren’t dangerous by themselves, but are dangerous when they cause us to do them instead of something more important.

While some addictions are more harmful than others, they are all sinful. Jesus says in Mark 12:30 that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. If we are addicted to something, we are not capable of doing that. The singular focus in our life should be God, not things of the world.

Sadly, we as Christians have a tendency to shoot the wounded when it comes to people who are addicted to something. We act superior to them; like we’re better than they are because we don’t think we have an addiction. We look down on them. That’s not how we should be, the Bible is very clear that we are all sinners; we are no better than they are. We shouldn’t condone their addictions, but neither should we act arrogant about it. We should pray for them, and help them as much as we can. Be there for them.

With God’s help, addictions can be broken. Pray for those who are addicted, but look at your own life for addictions first.