Speaker 1: Hello, and thanks for joining us here on Pastor Rick's
Speaker 1: Daily Hope. Well today we continue in our series called
Speaker 1: God's Prescription for a Healthy Life. In it, Pastor Rick
Speaker 1: will show you how to improve your health physically, spiritually,
Speaker 1: relationally and emotionally by applying the five essentials needed for
Speaker 1: a more vibrant life. If you want to have what
Speaker 1: it takes to live out your calling in life, stay
Speaker 1: with us for this amazing series. Now, in just a
Speaker 1: few moments, we're going to tell you about the Daniel
Speaker 1: Plan DVD study Kit, a sixth session video based study
Speaker 1: by Rick Warren, doctor Daniel Aman, and doctor Mark Hyman.
Speaker 1: This out of the box approach to a healthy lifestyle
Speaker 1: is based on five essentials faith, food, fitness, focus and friends.
Speaker 1: You can find out more right now by going to
Speaker 1: Pastorick dot com while you listen to today's Manage, or
Speaker 1: you can just text the word daily to eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four. That's Pastorick dot com,
Speaker 1: or the word daily to eight hundred six hundred five
Speaker 1: thousand and four. Right now, here's Pastor Rick with the
Speaker 1: final part of a message called the Amazing Power of Forgiveness.
Speaker 2: The Bible says that resentment is unhealthy. Your body was
Speaker 2: not designed to handle prolonged anger. God didn't make your
Speaker 2: body to handle holding on to hurtz, holding on to resentment,
Speaker 2: holding on to regrets, and holding on to all of
Speaker 2: those negative emotions in your body. You know, have you
Speaker 2: ever said that person? He is such a pain in
Speaker 2: the and that's why you have a pain there? Okay?
Speaker 2: You know a lot of you You have back pain.
Speaker 2: And it's not lf ives one, it's Larry and Susie.
Speaker 2: And you don't lie. Come and the stress bugs you
Speaker 2: and you won't let it go. And so if you
Speaker 2: don't talk it out in forgiveness, When I don't talk
Speaker 2: it out in forgiveness, I take it out on my body.
Speaker 2: And whenever I swallow my anger, my stomach keeps score.
Speaker 2: And so it is unhealthy for you to hold onto
Speaker 2: resentment and undergrudges and to be unforgiving. Research has shown
Speaker 2: that that resentment is the most unhealthy emotion known to humankind.
Speaker 2: It does more damage to your body, to your nervous system,
Speaker 2: to the general health of your of your body, that
Speaker 2: when you hold on to that, it's like taking fire
Speaker 2: in your heart. It's like injecting yourself with a virus
Speaker 2: or you know, inviting cancer to come in. It will
Speaker 2: eat you alive. And we've all seen people who got
Speaker 2: bitter and more and bitter and more bitter and more bitter,
Speaker 2: and they just shrink into this little bitter person. You know,
Speaker 2: there are physical and there are emotional consequences when you
Speaker 2: refuse to forgive. Now, some people, they are so picky
Speaker 2: about what they eat, and you could eat the perfect vegan, vegetarian,
Speaker 2: low cow, high protein diet, and if you're still holding
Speaker 2: on to that resentment against your ex, that's what's going
Speaker 2: to make you sick. It's going to eat you alive.
Speaker 2: So you got to deal with it in your heart.
Speaker 2: Nothing depleets emotional energy faster than resentment against a boyfriend
Speaker 2: or girlfriend or something else like that. Now there's a
Speaker 2: third reason why I have to forgive. And as they said,
Speaker 2: all of these none of them have to do with them.
Speaker 2: The other person deserve it, they don't. It's because I'm
Speaker 2: going to need more forgiveness in the future. I'm going
Speaker 2: to need more forgiveness in the future. The Bible says,
Speaker 2: as Jesus said in Matthew six, for if you forgive
Speaker 2: men when they sin against you, then your heavenly Father
Speaker 2: will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive
Speaker 2: men their sins, your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins.
Speaker 2: What's he saying? Forgiveness is a two way street. We
Speaker 2: cannot receive what we are unwilling to give. Somebody asked
Speaker 2: or told John Wesley one time. He said, I could
Speaker 2: never forgive that person, and Leslie said, well, then I
Speaker 2: hope you never sin. You don't want to burn the
Speaker 2: bridge that you've got to walk across in order to
Speaker 2: get into heaven. Now, listen, there's no way you're getting
Speaker 2: into heaven on your good works because you're not good enough.
Speaker 2: Heaven's perfect and you're not, and neither am I. The
Speaker 2: only way you or I have any chance of getting
Speaker 2: into Heaven is God's grace, his forgiveness. And God says
Speaker 2: we cannot receive what we are unwilling to give. He said,
Speaker 2: it is based on you. God says, I'm going to
Speaker 2: show you grace and I want you to be gracious
Speaker 2: to others. So don't burn the bridge that you've got
Speaker 2: to walk over. You're gonna need more forgiveness in the
Speaker 2: future when we pray the Lord's prayer forgive us our
Speaker 2: debts as we forgive our debtors, or forgive us our
Speaker 2: trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. What
Speaker 2: are you praying there? You're saying, God, I want you
Speaker 2: to forgive me as much as I forgive everybody else. Hello,
Speaker 2: you really want to pray that prayer? God, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: I want you to forgive me as much as I've
Speaker 2: forgiven everybody who's ever hurt me. You need to learn
Speaker 2: to let it go because you're gonna need more forgiveness
Speaker 2: in the future.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
Speaker 1: If you've missed any part of today's teaching, you can
Speaker 1: listen online anytime at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: The truth is most of us don't pay much attention
Speaker 3: to our health until something goes wrong. We put on
Speaker 3: a couple of pounds every year and think no big deal, right.
Speaker 3: A few pounds over five or ten years really adds
Speaker 3: up and can even lead to major illnesses like diabetes
Speaker 3: and heart disease. That's why Pastor Rick work together with
Speaker 3: medical and fitness experts to create the Daniel Plan Study.
Speaker 3: The sixth Session DVD in workbook study Kit from Rick Warren,
Speaker 3: doctor Daniel Amen, and doctor Mark Hyman is an out
Speaker 3: of the box approach to a healthy lifestyle based on
Speaker 3: five essentials faith, food, fitness, focus and friends. The Daniel
Speaker 3: Plan Study gives individuals in small groups the encouragement and
Speaker 3: accountability needed to succeed. If you've been watching the scale
Speaker 3: go up lately, or your health is in trouble because
Speaker 3: of your weight, it's not too late. Join the thousands
Speaker 3: of people who've lost weight, improve their health and improved
Speaker 3: their relationships through the Daniel Plan. We'll send you a
Speaker 3: copy of the Daniel Plan DVD's study Kit to say
Speaker 3: thanks when you give a gift to Daily Hope to
Speaker 3: help share the Hope of Jesus with people around the world.
Speaker 3: Just go to Pastor Rick dot com to get your copy,
Speaker 3: or you can call eight hundred six hundred five zero
Speaker 3: zero four, that's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight hundred
Speaker 3: six hundred at five zero zero four and thank you
Speaker 3: so much for your support.
Speaker 2: Once again, here's Rick, how do I let go of
Speaker 2: the people who have hurt me. Four things. Number one,
Speaker 2: by first, by relinquishing my right to get even. That's
Speaker 2: the first thing you do. You give up your right.
Speaker 2: I have a right to get even. They hurt me,
Speaker 2: you give up that right. And that's this first step
Speaker 2: of forgiveness. Romans twelve nineteen. Never avenge yourselves. Leave that
Speaker 2: to God, for he has said he will repay those
Speaker 2: who deserve it. Leave it up to God. He'll take
Speaker 2: care of it. He'll settle the score, he'll work it out.
Speaker 2: And need to a whole lot better job than you do. Now,
Speaker 2: let me tell you something. I have been married for
Speaker 2: thirty years. I have hurt my wife many many times,
Speaker 2: I'm ashamed to say, in many different ways, by words
Speaker 2: and emotions. And she has hurt me many many times.
Speaker 2: But still, after thirty years, we're together and we're more
Speaker 2: in love than ever before. Why Because I have discovered
Speaker 2: that the key, the thing that destroys relationships is not hurt.
Speaker 2: What destroys relationships is an unwillingness to forgive. It is
Speaker 2: unforgiveness that destroys relationships, not hurt. We're human. We're gonna
Speaker 2: hurt each other, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally, it's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: When you put two imperfect people together, you can never
Speaker 2: expect the perfect relationship. You're going to hurt each other.
Speaker 2: The issue is will you give up your right to
Speaker 2: get even? And will you offer forgiveness? And when you do,
Speaker 2: any hurt can be overcome. Now, let me just be
Speaker 2: real honest to some of you. Your husband or your wife,
Speaker 2: or your girlfriend or boyfriend, or your parent or somebody
Speaker 2: really hurt you in the past and you have held
Speaker 2: it over their heads for months, maybe even years, and
Speaker 2: you won't let it go. And no matter what they do,
Speaker 2: they can't measure up because you won't let it go.
Speaker 2: And do you know what you are killing the relationship?
Speaker 2: Not that hurt from years ago. You are killing it
Speaker 2: by your unwillingness to let it go, your unwillingness to forgive.
Speaker 2: The first step is I let go of my right
Speaker 2: to get even. Number two I respond to evil with good.
Speaker 2: How can you tell when you've released somebody, when you've
Speaker 2: really forgiven them. You can actually pray for God to
Speaker 2: bless the person who hurt you. When you can get
Speaker 2: to that point you know you've forgiven them, you can
Speaker 2: pray for God to bless them. The Bible says this,
Speaker 2: do good to those who hate you, bless those who
Speaker 2: curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. One
Speaker 2: of the ways you know you've matured, that you're a
Speaker 2: mature person is that you can look beyond the hurt
Speaker 2: that was done to you and see they're hurt and
Speaker 2: what caused them to hurt you. You see, hurt people
Speaker 2: hurt people. When somebody hurts you, it's because they're hurting
Speaker 2: in some way, their own insecurity, their own guilt, their
Speaker 2: own resentment, their own inferiority. The things that hurt them
Speaker 2: in their past have messed up their mind and their lives,
Speaker 2: and they're hurting others because they're hurting themselves. And maturity
Speaker 2: and forgiveness comes. Once I forgive them, I can stop
Speaker 2: looking at how they hurt me and start saying why
Speaker 2: they did it, and I can actually see the sympathetic
Speaker 2: and begin to pray for them for the hurt that
Speaker 2: they carry that caused them to hurt others. See, forgiveness
Speaker 2: is rarely a one time shot. When somebody hurts you,
Speaker 2: you think about it over and over and over, and
Speaker 2: how often do you have to forgive the person until
Speaker 2: the pain goes away. When the pain goes away, you
Speaker 2: know you've forgiven them. Jesus said this to Peter. Peter asked, Lord,
Speaker 2: how many times should I forgive somebody who sins against me?
Speaker 2: Seven times? He's thinking, man, this is really generous, No,
Speaker 2: said Jesus, how about seventy times seven? In other words,
Speaker 2: it's got to be continual. It's got to be limitless.
Speaker 2: Don't even try to count it. Now. Here's the rule.
Speaker 2: Every time you remember that hurt, how they hurt you,
Speaker 2: and the pain comes back again, you got to release them,
Speaker 2: and you got to forgive them, and you got to
Speaker 2: do it over and over and over until you don't
Speaker 2: feel the pain anymore, and then you know you've let it.
Speaker 2: If you don't do that, if you keep rehearsing it
Speaker 2: in your mind, whatever you rehearse in your mind, if
Speaker 2: you don't release them, you're going to eventually resemble them.
Speaker 2: It's a law of life. So whatever you focus on,
Speaker 2: you become. And if you hate somebody so much, pretty
Speaker 2: soon it starts showing up in your own life, and
Speaker 2: you certainly don't want that. What you hate the most,
Speaker 2: and you focus on what you rehearse in your mind,
Speaker 2: you will eventually resemble. And people are starting to say,
Speaker 2: you're just like your mother, You're just like your dad,
Speaker 2: You're just like whatever, because you go no, no, I
Speaker 2: don't want to be that. But you know what, when
Speaker 2: you focus on it, that's what you move toward. Now,
Speaker 2: let me say this. It's not always possible or even
Speaker 2: advisable to go to the person personally who hurt you.
Speaker 2: It may be the wrong time, maybe things have changed,
Speaker 2: maybe they've moved away, you can't get confident. They may
Speaker 2: have died, they may have remarried, and maybe to go
Speaker 2: directly to that person may reopen some bad wounds. But
Speaker 2: for your sake, you need to forgive them. So how
Speaker 2: do you do it? Well, a couple of techniques. One
Speaker 2: of them is what I call the empty chair technique.
Speaker 2: And you send an empty chair down there in the
Speaker 2: living room. It's just you and the s empty chair,
Speaker 2: and you imagine that person who hurt you, and you
Speaker 2: say this to them aloud. I'm letting you off the hook.
Speaker 2: I'm forgiving you. You don't deserve it, but neither do I.
Speaker 2: For all of your ways God has forgiven me. I'm
Speaker 2: letting you off the hook because God has forgiven me,
Speaker 2: and because resentment doesn't work, it just makes me miserable.
Speaker 2: I'm just miserable. And number three, I'm going to need
Speaker 2: more forgiveness in the future. So I'm letting you off
Speaker 2: the hook. I'm letting it go. You're really doing it
Speaker 2: for your own benefit. It's the right thing to do.
Speaker 2: I'm letting it go. And I'm not going to try
Speaker 2: to get even. I relinquish my right to get even,
Speaker 2: and I'm going to respond to evil with good from
Speaker 2: now on. Another thing you might do, if you are
Speaker 2: a writer, you might write a letter explaining all you're
Speaker 2: hurt and how you are forgiving them, and then don't
Speaker 2: mail it. And you say that is my way of saying,
Speaker 2: I'm releasing them. I'm letting them go now. I have
Speaker 2: no doubt that in a crowd this size, with all
Speaker 2: the people outside and all of our other venues, that
Speaker 2: a lot of you are right now in emotional or
Speaker 2: relational meltdown. You are in a situation right now, you're
Speaker 2: in a conflict with a mother or father, or an
Speaker 2: aunt or an uncle, or a brother, sister, or a
Speaker 2: husband or a wife or somebody, and everything in your
Speaker 2: body wants to run. What you want to do is
Speaker 2: escape from the relationship. You don't want to deal with it.
Speaker 2: You want to run from it. You want to run
Speaker 2: and get away just to ease the pain. And as
Speaker 2: your pastor, as somebody who really cares about you, I
Speaker 2: want to say to you, for your own sake, don't
Speaker 2: do it. You will not get rid of the pain
Speaker 2: by running out of the relationship or running away from it.
Speaker 2: You can run all the way to Tahiti. But the
Speaker 2: problem is you take your mind with you and the
Speaker 2: grudge that you are carrying, your carrying in your mind.
Speaker 2: There's only one way to get rid of the pain, forgiveness.
Speaker 2: It's the only way to get rid of the pain.
Speaker 2: You've got to let it go. So I relinquish my
Speaker 2: right to good even I am responding to Eva with good.
Speaker 2: I am repeating these steps as long as necessary. And
Speaker 2: the fourth part of forgiveness, now you know you've really forgiven,
Speaker 2: is by rescuing others with the good news of God's forgiveness.
Speaker 2: The Bible says this in Second Corinthians. Through Christ, God
Speaker 2: made peace between us and himself. That's good news. That's
Speaker 2: why we call this the peace planet. Saddleback and God
Speaker 2: gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace
Speaker 2: we can have with him. God was in Christ making
Speaker 2: peace between the world and himself. That's the good news.
Speaker 2: That's why we celebrate Christmas. In Christ, God did not
Speaker 2: hold the world guilty of its sins, and he gave
Speaker 2: us this message of peace. So we have been sent
Speaker 2: to speak for Christ. Now in this church, we take
Speaker 2: this verse very very seriously. Once I have been forgiven,
Speaker 2: I am to spread the message of peace. And it
Speaker 2: is the goal of this church to take the message
Speaker 2: of peace to every person in America, and to every
Speaker 2: nation around the world, and to every tribe within that nation.
Speaker 2: Now let me close with this some straightforward questions. Do
Speaker 2: you feel forgiven by God? If you don't tonight your knight,
Speaker 2: you shouldn't go out of here with a load of guilt.
Speaker 2: There's no reason to everything you've ever done wrong can
Speaker 2: be fleet completely forgiven tonight, because you're not going to
Speaker 2: be able to forgive other people until first you feel forgiven.
Speaker 2: So I would encourage you in just a minute to
Speaker 2: follow me in this prayer. You need the forgiveness of
Speaker 2: God in your own life. Second, who do you need
Speaker 2: to forgive? Let's just get real practical. The Bible says
Speaker 2: love keeps no record of wrongs, and because God is love,
Speaker 2: God doesn't keep a record of your wrongs, so he
Speaker 2: doesn't want you keeping a record of anybody else's. Let's
Speaker 2: bow our heads. I'm sure that many of you carry
Speaker 2: painful wounds from others. You may have carried him for
Speaker 2: months or even years, and when you think about that
Speaker 2: hurt or that betrayal, or that rejection or that abuse,
Speaker 2: or those hurtful words or whatever, it's still as fresh
Speaker 2: as if it happened today. How are you going to
Speaker 2: get on with your life? Somebody say, Rick, you have
Speaker 2: no idea how much they have hurt me, and you're right,
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't know that, but I do know this.
Speaker 2: I do know that God has forgiven you that resentment
Speaker 2: hurts you the most, and that forgiveness is a two
Speaker 2: way street and you're going to need it in the future.
Speaker 2: And I know that the steps of forgiveness are not easy,
Speaker 2: but they are possible with God, and when you take them,
Speaker 2: it gives you power in your life. I'm going to
Speaker 2: pray a prayer, and I invite all of us here
Speaker 2: to pray this in your heart. Just in your When
Speaker 2: I say a sentence, you say me too. God, Dear God,
Speaker 2: you know how much I've carried unforgiveness in my heart,
Speaker 2: and I've held on to hurts and memories, and I've
Speaker 2: secretly wanted to get even. But today I want to
Speaker 2: let it go and I want to get on with
Speaker 2: your plan for my life. So first I want to
Speaker 2: accept your forgiveness, Jesus, Dear God. Thank you for sending
Speaker 2: Jesus to pay for all my sins once and for all,
Speaker 2: to wipe out my credit and my debts. I don't
Speaker 2: understand it all, but I'm grateful, and because You've forgiven me,
Speaker 2: I want to do the right thing. And so today
Speaker 2: I'm choosing to let go of the pain and the
Speaker 2: hurt that I've received from others, and I forgive and
Speaker 2: you fill in the blank there name the person I
Speaker 2: forgive that person. I'm letting go of my right to
Speaker 2: get even, and I'm choosing to overcome evil with good,
Speaker 2: and I commit to continue forgiving them until I no
Speaker 2: longer feel the pain or the desire to get even
Speaker 2: and seek revenge. Jesus Christ, please replace my hurt with
Speaker 2: your peace, and please fill my life with your love.
Speaker 2: I accept my responsibility now to share the good news
Speaker 2: of forgiveness the message of peace with others. Amen. Hi everybody,
Speaker 2: this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast.
Speaker 2: You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the
Speaker 2: very first time, or you just recommitted your life to
Speaker 2: Jesus again today, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 2: There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me
Speaker 2: Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I
Speaker 2: prayed them prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ.
Speaker 2: And I'll send you some material that'll help you on
Speaker 2: your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so thankful that
Speaker 1: you've chosen to spend time with us. If you've missed
Speaker 1: any part of this broadcast, including portions we didn't have
Speaker 1: time for today, just go to Pastorick dot com and
Speaker 1: listen online anytime. Rick will be back to close out
Speaker 1: our time today. But first, the truth is that most
Speaker 1: of us don't pay much attention to our health until
Speaker 1: something goes wrong. We put on a couple of pounds
Speaker 1: every year and think no big deal, right, but a
Speaker 1: few pounds over five or ten years can really add up.
Speaker 1: That's why Pastor Rick Warren has put together the Daniel
Speaker 1: Plan DVD Study Kit. This sixth session video based study
Speaker 1: by Rick Warren, doctor Daniel Ahman and doctor Mark Hyman
Speaker 1: is an out of the box approach to a healthy
Speaker 1: lifestyle based on five essentials faith, food, fitness, focus and friends.
Speaker 1: The Daniel Planned Studykit gives individuals the encouragement and accountability
Speaker 1: needed to succeed. If you've been watching the scale go
Speaker 1: up lately, or your health is in trouble because of
Speaker 1: your weight, it's not too late to join join the
Speaker 1: more than fifteen thousand people who've lost weight, improve their
Speaker 1: health and improve their relationships by ordering the Daniel Plan
Speaker 1: DVD Study Kit. Let us send you a copy of
Speaker 1: the Daniel Plan DVD Studykit as our way of saying
Speaker 1: thanks for your financial support of this ministry. Just go
Speaker 1: to Pastorick dot com right now to get your copy,
Speaker 1: or you can call eight hundred six hundred five thousand
Speaker 1: and four. That's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four and thank you so much,
Speaker 1: so much for your support. Here's Pastor Rick with a
Speaker 1: closing thought.
Speaker 2: God has five purposes for your life. He wants you
Speaker 2: to know and love Him. That's called worship. He wants
Speaker 2: you to belong to his family that's called fellowship. He
Speaker 2: wants you to grow in character to be more like Christ.
Speaker 2: That's called discipleship. And he wants you to learn to
Speaker 2: serve using your gifts and talents, serve God by serving others.
Speaker 2: That's called your ministry. Finally, he wants you to share
Speaker 2: the good news and your life message with other people
Speaker 2: around the world. That's called your mission. I'd like to
Speaker 2: close today to talk to you for just a second
Speaker 2: about your personal mission. Did you know that the Bible
Speaker 2: says every time somebody accepts the Lord, they throw a
Speaker 2: party in heaven. Did you know that it's right there
Speaker 2: in Luke fifteen, verse seven, where the Bible says, there's
Speaker 2: more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes his
Speaker 2: heart and life than over ninety nine who don't need
Speaker 2: to turn to Christ, who are already there. The day
Speaker 2: that you accepted Jesus Christ, there was a party in
Speaker 2: heaven for you. And by the way, the day that
Speaker 2: you help somebody else come to know the Lord. There's
Speaker 2: going to be a party in heaven, but there's also
Speaker 2: going to be a party in your heart. I want
Speaker 2: to encourage you today to look outward, to look around
Speaker 2: you and see the people who need to hear about
Speaker 2: the love of God, about the message of Christ, about
Speaker 2: the purpose of life, about the daily hope that we
Speaker 2: have in our hearts. The Bible says, always be ready
Speaker 2: to share the hope that is within you. Could I
Speaker 2: pray for you, and as we bow in prayer, you
Speaker 2: might want to pray this prayer with me. Say, Father,
Speaker 2: I want the joy that you've given me to be
Speaker 2: shared with other people. And a lot of times I'm
Speaker 2: afraid or hesitant to talk about you to others. Would
Speaker 2: you give me so much love for other people that
Speaker 2: the love will overcomes my fears and gives me the
Speaker 2: right words to say as I share the hope that's
Speaker 2: in me. Allow me to help others find You, to
Speaker 2: find real hope, to find joy through knowing you. Thank you,
Speaker 2: Lord so much for trusting me to help bring others
Speaker 2: to you. I want to accept my mission and I
Speaker 2: want to use it for your glory and in the
Speaker 2: power of your spirit. Thank you Jesus put somebody in
Speaker 2: my life today that I can tell about you. In
Speaker 2: your name, I pray, Amen.
Speaker 1: Be sure to join us again next time as we
Speaker 1: look into God's Word for our daily hope. This program
Speaker 1: is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous
Speaker 1: financial support