Intro

Humans have struggled with how to treat one another since the fall

• Cain and Abel - we kill one another
• Jacob and Esau - we lie to and steal from one another
• Joseph and his brothers - we are envious of one another

Relationships really suffer because we are broken and don’t know how to treat people.

• If 50 % of marriages fail, don’t be surprised when friendships fail

• Some people really struggle with people
• They move from relationship to relationship
• They don’t ever make new relationships
• They abuse the relationships they have

God is a relational God

• Heaven is a place of COMPLETE HARMONY
• He wants to be close to us
• He wants us to be his family
• He wants to be around us FOREVER

Jesus modeled how to treat people in a broken fallen world

• His cross had a horizontal and vertical beam
• The ten commandments are half to God, half to man
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
• At the time of His death, many loved and hated him
• He loved people so dearly, many laid down their lives for Him. 

3 revolutionary principles for how to treat people

1. Love your neighbor
   1. There is so much hurt and pain in our world, it’s easy to become calloused.
   2. Jesus was a softy - His whole ministry was about others
      1. the story about the Good Samaritan
   3. He had EYES of Compassion
      1. The ability to see pain
      2. 7 times in the gospels it says that “he saw”
      3. He saw the woman at the well
   4. He had the HEART of Compassion
      1. This is the emotion that you feel for people that are in need
      2. the sandwich
   5. He had the TOUCH of Compassion
      1. We want to click a button, give, and BAM it’s done.
      2. Many times it requires human touch. Jesus touched the leper because he had been untouched. 
   6. He had the WALK of Compassion
      1. The man on the side of the road had to be walked with. This is a journey 
2. Serve your brothers and sisters
   1. There has never been a ruler of a great Kingdom that wasn’t served
      1. There was definitely never the ruler of a Kingdom that got down and washed the feet of his citizens
      2. Egypt, Babylon, Rome
   2. “I am among you as one who serves”
      1. Serving has a SHIFT
         1. From single to married, from married to kids
      2. Serving has a STATUS
         1. It takes security to take on the status of a servant
         2. In a world dominated by status, Jesus flips the script
      3. Serving has a SPOT
         1. God has given each of us a place to serve
         2. If you don’t see your spot, start it
3. Forgive your enemies 
   1. Unforgiveness is like poison in your soul
      1. Like a spreading infection
   2. Jesus taught about:
      1. Pray for your enemies - Matthew 5:44 (NLT) — 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
      2. Forgiving 490 times
   3. Jesus demonstrated
      1. “Father forgive them” - He could have said “Father stop their hearts”
      2. He went and found Peter after the resurrection
      3. He would have forgiven Judas
   4. Think about people who have truly wronged you. Can you release them? 
   5. Corrie Ten Boom - reaching her hand out to the man from Ravensbruck prison

Close:

• Forgiveness lies at the crux of christianity
  • God has forgiven us
  • God expects us to forgive others
• Forgiveness has to be realized
  • The pain and wrongdoing has to be realized 
  • The forgiveness has to be realized