Keion Henderson - There's Been a Change of Plans

Go to Second Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 5. Second Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 5. The word of the Lord says, «But if anyone has caused sadness, he has not saddened me alone, but to some extent-not to exaggerate-he has saddened all of us as well. The punishment on such an individual by the majority is enough for him. So now, instead, you should rather forgive and comfort the person who hurt you. This will keep him from being overwhelmed by excessive grief to the point of despair.» You mean to tell me that when somebody hurts me, I should care how they feel? For this reason, I also wrote to you to test and see if you are obedient in everything. If you forgive anyone for anything, I also forgive him; for indeed, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for you in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be exploited by the devil; we are not ignorant of his schemes.

I want to talk on this subject: there’s been a change of plans. Just touch your neighbor on the way down to their seat to say, «I’ll explain it to you later, but there’s been a change of plans.» Hallelujah to the Lord! Church, there is something intoxicating about new things. The Bible even supports the idea of forgetting those things that are behind; I press toward the mark for the upward call. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new.

This is that time of year when people are exchanging three things in this season: clothes, cars, and circles. You are in your closet right now figuring out what is not going into the new year. You are getting rid of old stuff and giving it away, making room for new things. If you watch TV right now, there are all kinds of year-end sales: trade your car in, give us your car, and we will give you a newer model without raising your payment. There is an exchange, and all things are becoming new.

Some of you have already made up your minds that you are not going into 2018 with the same circle. You have already decided that these people who have drained you year after year — you have made it up in your mind: «I’m not even going to call them. If they don’t call me, I don’t mind if I don’t hear from them,» because I’m going into the new year with new things. But I am amazed that everybody is going to make New Year 's resolutions. They 're going to get rid of cars, clothes, and circles, and some of us are even going to say, «We’re going to lose weight.» Just as a matter of fact, by a show of hands, how many of you said you’re going to lose weight in the new year?

I’m amazed at how many people have decided to lose weight but won’t lay aside every weight that so easily besets us. Many of you will jeopardize your future because you idolize your pain. Most people keep a record of wrongs, and Paul specifically says in First Corinthians that love keeps no record of wrongs. In other words, the idea that you can love someone and keep a list of hurts is an oxymoron at best. That is a love that a person is to forget how they have hurt you.

I know this is not going to be a popular sermon, but I am showing you how to ensure that 2018 is a good year. Because let me tell you, you are not ready for next year until you can forgive the person who hurt you this year. You cannot take any old anxiety, any old anger, or any old pain into the new year because if you take old hurt into a new year, you return the new year into your last year. Whenever we refuse to let go of pain, we give the people who hurt us a double victory. When we refuse to forgive, we grant them a double victory: the first victory when they hurt us, and the second when we allow what they did to hinder us.

See, somebody can hurt you without hindering you. Oh God, this isn 't going to be a popular sermon, but it’s going to help you. What we have got to learn this new year is how to let somebody offend us without hindering us. How do I let them go? How do I let the pain go? How do I let the hurt go and still continue to move about my life? How do I get to the place where I stop exaggerating my pain? How do I get over this hump, this hurdle, that I’ve been dealing with in my life? I looked it up: the Latin word for " emotion» is actually «disturbance.» So whenever you have a person who is extremely emotional, they are actually disturbed.

I don’t want to say it directly, but whenever you have a person who is overly emotional, you actually have a person who is overly disturbed. The inability-listen to this-the inability to forgive is an emotion that represents an amplified thought pattern that is more of a disturbance. In other words, anything that makes you angry is something you keep thinking about over and over again. Most of us can never move forward because most people never live in the present; they either live in the past or in the future. And let me tell you, in order for a grudge to continue to stay in your life, it needs time.