Iron Rose Sister Ministries

Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

“I forgive you… and I love you!” What sweet words when sin has created a breach in a relationship!

Forgiveness comes from our Heavenly Father. Even before the world was created, He knew forgiveness and reconciliation would be part of the plan (Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9).

In Exodus 34:6-7 we read one of the earliest descriptions of our God, “… merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (ESV). God’s desire to forgive is part of who He is—it’s part of His character. It is why He sent Jesus to earth and why Jesus was willing to die for our sins.

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, part of the prayer he taught them was, “… forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4). We ask God to forgive us—but that means we must also have a heart to forgive others.

In Colossians 3:13 Paul wrote, “… bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

When Jesus was teaching His disciples, Peter asked Him how often he should forgive someone, then suggested, “’Seven times?’ Jesus replied, ‘Seventy times seven’” (Matt. 18:21-22).

The Jews looked back to Amos 2:6 and concluded that they were only required to forgive three times. By asking Jesus if seven was enough, Peter had more than doubled the traditional limit, using a number that in those times symbolized completion or perfection rather than a literal limit to how many times we are to forgive.

Forgiveness from God is unlimited when a person is repentant.

Two things to remember:
       When I forgive, the person may or may not accept it.
       When I ask for forgiveness, the person may or may not give it.

Either way, I have done what God wants me to do.

When I forgive, it takes away my anger and resentment. It means I no longer focus on the sin or hurt, and I may choose to forgive, even if the person has not asked for forgiveness. We live in a world where there are unintentional slights and hurts, and sometimes the offender is totally unaware of how his actions are received.

When I am forgiven, it means the person no longer holds me accountable for those actions.

However, forgiveness does not always mean reconciliation. There may be consequences that can’t be repaired. Some things can never be fixed. The relationship may never go back to what it has been.

That is where our God is different. When He forgives, our sin is forgotten, and the relationship with us as His child, which He intended from the beginning, is restored.

Having a forgiving heart does not mean overlooking sin and brushing it aside. It may mean we confront the person, in love. Galatians 6:1 reads, “If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

We have a responsibility to watch out for others and confront them as Nathan did David (2 Sam 12). We all need a friend who will come to us if they see us doing something that will separate us from God.

The ultimate goal of forgiveness is to be able to return to a holy relationship with our Heavenly Father.

When we pray for forgiveness from our Father, let’s never forget that this forgiveness cost Jesus pain, suffering, and death. That’s how much we are loved!

Written by Katie Forbess, President of Iron Rose Sister Ministries Board of Directors

Grace is defined as undeserved favor. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV).

I wanted to tell you how saying and hearing, “I forgive you,” is an important part of the forgiveness process. But in the story I will tell, no one told us they were sorry, and we could not say, “I forgive you.” However, I can certainly tell you about the healing that can happen through forgiveness and the fulfillment of the ministry of reconciliation that Christ has called us to.

Grace is defined as undeserved favor, and it is very connected to forgiveness.

Last fall when someone did something unthinkable against my family, we sat at the dining room table and forgave them before we even knew who or what was going on. We knew the whole situation was based on a lie that God would have to bring to light. It was a serious “the truth will set you free” situation.

Why did we choose to forgive? We couldn’t have lived with the waiting and the stress and the unknown of what the following three weeks would bring if we hadn’t. We had been told every Sunday of our lives that Christ died for our sins and we are all sinners and no one is without sin and we must forgive others. Now we had to put it into practice, and we learned that like everything God does, He does it for the good of those who love Him.

The forgiveness we gave had nothing to do with who the offender was because we didn’t know who told the lie. We didn’t forgive because of how awesome we are, because we are not. The only way I can explain it is that the love we have for God and the desire we have to follow the example of Christ in our daily lives made forgiveness our first response. We felt the power of His forgiveness and knew that it was something that we were called to share.

Forgiveness doesn’t have anything to do with me or the other person. Forgiveness has everything to do with obedience and our true reconciliation with God.

Jesus is clear in the Lord’s Prayer regarding the connection between forgiving others and God forgiving us. We have to forgive others in order to be forgiven. I think this is because we can’t even start to fathom God’s forgiveness until we go through the process of forgiving others. The difference is that we are sinners just like the one we are forgiving, unlike God who is perfect and forgives us anyway, in the most complete way.

Can you remember the feeling of being forgiven of your sins when you came out of the waters of baptism? Can you remember the feeling of taking the Lord’s Supper for the first time as a member of the church?

Do you remember a time when you hurt someone and had to ask for forgiveness? Do you remember the worry of wondering whether they would forgive you or not? With God, we do not have to wonder. We are forgiven and we will be forgiven. What will we do with that within our other relationships?

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12).

Kim, please introduce yourself and tell us about your family.
My full name is Kimberly Faith Solis (previously Kershaw, but now married to Raul Solis). I consider myself from Portland, Oregon, though I have only lived there for 8 of my 48 years. I was not raised in the church, but came to Christ and was baptized the summer after my senior year of high school thanks to my best friend, who invited me to church.

Two years later I went through the Adventures in Missions program in Lubbock, Texas, and went to Toluca, Mexico, to work with the missionaries there for two years. Well, at least I thought it would be for two years, but it was there that I met my husband Raul! Three children and 25 years later, we have temporarily moved back to Oregon to take care of my mom and work on getting my husband’s US citizenship.

Our three kids are: Diego (age 23), Isaac (21) and Angie (19). Raul and I work for the Instituto Latinoamericano de Estudios Bíblicos (ILEB) in Toluca. We both write and teach courses and I manage the online learning platform for the Institute.

What does obedience mean to you?
Wow! This is a really huge question. I am learning that obedience is EVERYTHING. We often think that the goal in life is to be happy... we want to live “happily ever after.” But I have learned that our goal should be to simply be obedient, and let God work out the details of our joy (which is so much deeper, and not dependent on circumstantial happiness.)

I think obedience is doing what we know God wants us to do, forgive, love, accept, serve, even when we don’t understand why, don’t agree, or don’t even want to. It’s doing these things even when we think God is being unfair or too demanding. It’s trusting in His will and reason, and not in our own.

What has obedience looked like in your life?
I really have struggled with what to write and what to share. My road with obedience has been an interesting one, especially when doing what God says has not been easy. There are many people who hurt us in our lives. Perhaps they disappoint our expectations, they reject us or abandon us in times of need, or they don’t treat us as we should be treated.

In one such situation, I felt called to forgive someone who hurt me deeply in many ways. I felt the Word showed me to place the relationship in God’s hand, instead of taking care of matters myself in a vengeful way. This was hard. For years I struggled to forgive. What I really wanted was to separate this person from my life, but God kept our roads crossing, time and time again. I made a “deal” with God. I challenged God saying, “The only way I’ll let you continue to let him be in my life is if he becomes a Christian.”

God is amazing. He didn’t strike me down in anger. I believe he understood not only my broken heart, but also the broken life of this person and it wasn’t too long later that my husband baptized him into Christ! Now I had to keep my part of the deal. I finally thought I had forgiven only to find, a few years later, that I still harbored resentment and anger deeply buried in the recesses of my heart.

The culmination of my obedience came when this person became very ill. When I heard the diagnosis, my first reaction betrayed the truth I had tried to hide. “Finally! He’ll be gone,” I thought, and instantly felt guilty. I had obeyed faithfully throughout the years and allowed this person to continue to be a presence in my life, and yet I had not been able to do so completely with a forgiving heart. It was then that God began to challenge my willingness to truly obey, especially when it was extremely difficult to do so.

As his illness progressed, I went to visit this person and was presented with a difficult situation. The person who was taking care of him needed to step out and I was the only one there to help out while she was gone. God was asking me to serve him, to serve the one who hurt me, to obey His command to love... even our enemies.

To be honest, I didn’t want to do it. I even yelled at God in my heart, “You’re asking too much with this one! I don’t want to serve him.” But I knew I couldn’t say no, not to God. I bit my lip, held my breath and served... and something really amazing happened.

A couple of days later I was preparing to head home, he (who never expresses his emotions, who rarely really spoke about anything personal, and who had never said anything about what happened between us) looked me in the eye and said, “You really didn’t have to come.” I knew that behind those words was an apology for all the pain he had caused me, a thank you for never shutting him out of my life, an acknowledgement that, of all the people in the world, I was the last one who should be serving him in his time of weakness.

I left and got on a plane home, crying the entire trip. A tremendous weight was suddenly lifted off my heart. I no longer asked for his death, but asked God to spare him or to at least give him peace in his last months. I also sent word and asked someone to relay a message to him in case I didn’t get to see him again. I asked them to tell him that I forgave him, completely and sincerely. The message was given, and I was told he just wept like a baby. I did get to see him before he passed, but we did not have the chance to exchange words; he was not conscious enough to carry on a conversation. God even granted me my last prayer that I had said that day flying home, the tears washing all my anger away... I got to sit with him in his last moments, singing hymns and asking God to take him into His presence with mercy and love.

Several years have passed. I understand now that forgiveness is a road, sometime a very long one, but one that can only be traveled in obedience. I search my heart for any lingering anger or pain and only find sorrow—for the life that gave him such emptiness and desperateness for control, and for the impact that had on me and my family... and I also find a lot of peace.

Peace that only comes from God. Peace that surpasses all understanding.
And peace that only comes through obedience.
If I had not obeyed...
Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
Forgive one another, as I have forgiven you.
Love your enemies. Serve one another.
Not my will, but yours be done.
I would not have found peace and healing for my soul. And for his.

Is there a Bible verse that encourages you about obedience? Or a Bible character you admire for his/her obedience?
Several. I think the main one is Hebrews 12:1-2:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

I admire many Bible characters for their obedience... perhaps my favorite is Peter who, tired from fishing all night with no luck and then cleaning his empty nets, is told to row out to deep waters and cast once again. He must have thought Jesus was crazy. He must have thought it was a waste of time. He could have simply refused. But he didn’t. He trusted. He obeyed. (But at Your word I will let down the nets.) And, he reaped a great reward.

What most helps you be obedient?
Remembering who it is that is asking me. God is not just some human authority. God is He who knows all, sees all, and who loves me with His entire being. I owe Him everything. I cannot deny His will.

What most hinders you from being obedient?
Me. I hinder me. I am often too busy and distracted to hear His subtle voice and therefore I miss opportunities to obey. I have made a promise that when I feel nudged by His Holy Spirit, I will obey what I am being nudged to do, but I also have to keep my mind in tune to hearing those nudgings. That is hard to do if I am not communing with the Spirit daily in His Word and in prayer.

What blessings have you received through obedience?
So many! But, like I mentioned previously, the biggest has been the gift of true forgiveness and reconciliation before it was too late.

Written by Mirelis González Sánchez, volunteer with Ministerio Hermana Rosa de Hierro in Honduras

I have been teaching children’s classes for years in different congregations and one of the things that I enjoy the most is everything I can learn about them. These tiny creatures have a great natural capacity to transmit beautiful teachings and values that are necessary to enter the Kingdom of God. By observing them and valuing the importance of the ingenuity and transparency of their hearts.

On one occasion, one of the girls in my class got very excited about a puppet that we use on Sundays to recreate the Bible story we are sharing. I knew that she loved puppies and so I allowed her to play the role of that little animal, created by God during the formation of the world. When the class was over, we all gathered the resources we had used and I told the group goodbye and that I hoped to see them the next week.

The following Sunday, I noticed as “my little animal lover” came closer that she had a sad and worried face. When I talked with her, I understood what happened. She felt sorry and sad because without anyone realizing it, she had taken the puppy puppet home since she had liked it so much. She told me that she felt really bad for what she had done to her teacher that she loved. Right then, she showed me a teddy bear from home that she wanted to gift to the class as a demonstration of her repentance for her behavior.

The attitude of this little girl prompted me to remember and meditate on a very important theme for Christians. She not only understood what she had done, but the change of heart motivated her to act in a way that demonstrated her repentance.

When we draw near to the feet of Jesus, one of the first things we learn, besides His love, is that we should repent. That moment is a necessary step in order to be saved, not one we can skip over.

We often refer to repentance only as a feeling of guilt and sorry that we should have after bad acts. When we go to the Bible and dig deeper, we see the true repentance that the Lord demands, not just the feeling of pain for our sins, but rather it should lead us to change our way of thinking that, in turn, transforms our way of acting.

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8)

First, we must understand the depth of love God has for us and the sinful condition in which we were found. This leads us to change our reaction to sin. In other words, if we sin, it should hurt and sadden us. Consequently, these two attitudes will lead us to act in a way that reflects sincere efforts to distance ourselves from sin in order to establish direct communion with God.

If the repentance we experience stays only in our thoughts or a confession of our faults and does not yield true fruit, it will remain simply as a regret on our conscience. In the Bible, we see various examples of people that, even though they recognized their sins, they did not demonstrate authentic repentance. This was the case with the Pharaoh of Egypt (Ex. 9:27) and King Saul (1 Sam. 15:24).

God seeks in us a repentance that leads to joy based on the hope that He offers us salvation and forgiveness of sins. This is totally different from the regret that Judas Iscariot experienced when he recognized that he had sold his Lord who was innocent. The result of his sadness was not to turn to God, but rather to take his life in a tragic way.

It is necessary as daughters of God to seek daily an attitude of repentance. We can all grow closer to His presence no matter how dark our past. Pedro shows us that, in spite of his faults, his character flaw that led him to deny His Teacher, he opened his heart to show true humility. Pedro knew to recognize the power of the Lord and courageously admitted the magnitude of his sin. The Bible tells us that he cried bitterly and repentantly. This heartfelt act was the door through which the Holy Spirit could work in his life. After this, the apostle reflected his joy as a valuable instrument in the hands of God to carry the gospel to many. He even gave his life for the cause of his Savior.

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

So, let’s reflect for a moment. Is our repentance the complete process that yields true fruit for God or simply an internal personal reflection?

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