How to Handle Life's Ups and Downs with Forgiveness

This unit is designed to help students understand forgiveness by 1) exploring the freedom that comes with being forgiven and our responsibility to forgive; 2) looking at God as a forgiving Father; and 3) exploring our longing and need to forgive ourselves.

Lesson 1: The Forgiving Father--This lesson gives biblical evidence of God's attitude toward forgiveness. The approach is two-fold. First, four characteristics of the word forgive are examined and then God's forgiveness is looked at by studying the study of Hosea and the prodigal son. (1 Kings 8:33-50; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Hosea [especially chap. 11]; Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26, 15:11-32; 2 Corinthians 2:2-10; Colossians 2:13-15)

Lesson 2: Forgiving Others--This lesson uses Jesus' and Paul's teaching to discover the four-stage process of forgiveness. (Psalm 136; Matthew 6:12-15, 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:32)

Lesson 3: Forgiving Myself--This lesson explains what it means to forgive ourselves. It looks at the consequences of not doing so and examines the steps toward self-forgiveness. (2 Samuel 11-12; Psalm 51; Matthew 6:12)