Forgiving Others and Trusting God

As believers, we must not vengeance ourselves but forgive those who have mistreated us and trust God for any situation we might be going through:

Romans 12:14‭-‬21
"Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
   "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.
   "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good."

Hebrews 10:32‭-‬39
"Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
   "So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved."

1 Peter 2:18‭-‬23
"You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.
   "Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly."

1 Peter 3:8‭-‬17
"Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.
   "For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”
   "Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!"

* Scriptures are from the New Living Translation (NLT) Bible

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‘I Desire Mercy And Not Sacrifice’

 

A prevalent major teaching among the more conservative Christians says that DIVORCE is not allowed by God by any means in the New Testament, and consequently any repudiated wife or husband should remain single for the rest of their life, unless the unfaithful wife or husband repents and gets back together.

There is a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the meaning of God's Word, especially when Jesus dealt with the religious people who were trying to justify themselves that it was licit--according to the Law of God given to Moses--to DIVORCE from their wives, but notice this: for ANY INSIGNIFICANT REASON. 

That's why Jesus answered in order to expose their HYPOCRITICAL, unloving reasoning and deeds, by not loving their wives as they should; because they were abandoning their wives for any unfounded reason--for being old or sick, or for not cooking well, etc. They were using this law of divorce as a LICENCE to repeatedly change women, just out of LUSTFUL and SELFISH DESIRES. (See Matthew 5:27-32).

Jesus answered them saying that divorce was not allowed for any excusable reason, EXCEPT if one of the spouses was being UNFAITHFUL to his own spouse. That was in fact the reason why God allowed DIVORCE in the Law, and because of the hardness of their hearts. (See Matthew 19:3-9; Deuteronomy 24:1-4.)

Jesus came to free us from religion and hypocrisy, and from any kind of bondage or useless sacrifices or rituals of the flesh (Colossians 2:8-23). God's nature is made of genuine love and mercy above anything else. That's why Jesus said in several occasions to the religious people that God is not after SACRIFICE (legalistic rituals of the flesh), but after MERCY (loving disposition of the heart). (See Hosea 6:6; Matthew 9:9-13; 12:1-8.)

God is HOLY and hates sin, and is commanding us to be holy too; and that's why He punishes us his children for any filthy or unloving deed (Leviticus 11:44-45; Hebrews 12:5-29). However, God's Holy Nature is made of LOVING and MERCIFUL RIGHTEOUSNESS, so that through his everlasting mercy, we may learn and come back to the right path of willing obedience to Him. That's why He gave us his Beloved Son to die for us when we were still enemies to Him, to show us his amazing act of grace and love and mercy. (See Psalm 103 & 107; Jeremiah 9:24; John 3:14-18; 15:12-17; Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 6:27-38; 19:1-10; John 8:1-11; Romans 5:6-11; 1John 4:7-21.)

We thought it was important to clarify this issue, to be able to understand Jesus' message in its context, which was in fact directed to the hypocritical religious people, who were constantly braking God's Law. 

Consequently we believe that a repudiated wife or husband can remarry if she or he finds the right loving person, to help each other in the faith, and even in parenthood if they have children, which is vital for a fruitful family life.

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"The Pharisees also came to Jesus, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 

They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality [with someone else], and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”” (Matthew 19:3-9 NKJV)

“WHEN A man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency [sexual immorality] in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, And when she departs out of his house she goes and marries another man, And if the latter husband dislikes her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies, who took her as his wife, Then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife after she is defiled. For that is an abomination before the Lord; and you shall not bring guilt upon the land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 24:1-4 AMPC)

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