Tuesday, September 23, 2025

New Testament Reading Plan: 2 Corinthians 1

I know we’ve been talking about forgiving people for their wrongdoings, but my struggle is with circumstances. I lose my peace when a situation becomes unacceptable to me, and there is little or nothing I can do to correct it. Sometimes I wonder if I suffer from a generational curse! 

Have you ever felt you carried a curse? Or, maybe you’ve felt you earned the right to have a vengeful attitude. There must be someone to blame for the pain! 

Genesis 4:23-24
One day Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; listen to me, you wives of Lamech. I have killed a man who attacked me, a young man who wounded me. If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times, then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times!” 

Cain was Lamech’s great, great, great, great grandfather. Yes, that Cain - Adam and Eve’s first son who murdered his own brother out of jealousy. God banished Cain as punishment, but he also mercifully protected Cain from those who meant him harm (Genesis 4:13-15).

Lamech was a violent man who bragged about making others pay for hurting him, surpassing even God’s vengeance on those who wronged Cain. We all want to take matters into our own hands and pay back pain with pain, but Jesus calls us to live differently. He calls us to forgive. 

We have to remember that God is in control despite the brokenness we encounter in the people and circumstances in our lives. What we see as an offense is an opportunity to forgive. We weren’t meant to strive for power and vengeance. 

We have to reconcile what we feel in our heart with what we think in our head.

• Start Inward: Name the debt or offense that needs forgiveness.
• Move Upward: Take it to God in prayer, in light of what Jesus has done for you. 
• Share Outward: Begin to forgive as you have been forgiven.

Stop carrying the unforgiveness, regrets, and limitations of the past - let it go! Take to heart these words in the Lord’s Prayer, “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12 NIV). 

The bottom line: if you don’t allow God to help you with your past, you will be limited in your future. If you still have breath in your lungs, it’s not too late, and God isn’t done with you! 

Questions: 
Have you ever considered carefully what the words in the Lord’s Prayer mean to you personally?  

Are you suffering from a hurt that needs to be named, taken to God, and forgiven? 

Next Steps: 
Study the Lord’s Prayer, and ask God to show you what it means. 

Begin the 3-step process of forgiveness by naming your hurts and taking them to God in prayer.

Prayer: 
Lord, I praise you for being a loving, kind, and forgiving God. Help me to accept my responsibility in circumstances and relationships. Help me to let go of past mistakes and failures and the damage that was left in their wake. Clear the past to reconcile my heart and mind - to name, move, and share that which holds me back. Allow me to set the boundaries that lead to freedom from unforgiveness, and help me restore and renew relationships that can be life giving. It is by your will and in your name I pray, amen. 

Series Theme Verse:
Romans 12:17-18
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

This post was written by Julie Estep, a Perrysburg attendee and regular contributor to the Daily LivingItOut.