There are many difficult things we are exposed to during our time on earth but some things just seem harder than others. If we honestly examine ourselves and those around us, the one difficult item which seems to appear at the top of most lists is forgiveness. Yet, Jesus himself said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) And again when asked about how to view forgiveness, “Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:22) In other words as many times as it takes. Youll notice he didnt say only forgive when the person comes to us and bows down before us groveling for forgiveness. No, forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person... but it has everything to do with us. It comes as a choice long before we may “feel” like forgiving the other person. The very reason God has set his love upon you and upon me is to make us look more like Jesus. He does that by sending the Holy Spirit to live inside us when we come to Christ. It is actually the God of all creation living in us! Nothing could be better, yet we so often underestimate the awesomeness of this fact that we must certainly offend God with our unbelief. C. S. Lewis spoke of this saying, “when God comes into our life we think we are being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” Knowing that, how can we continue to deny the words of Christ by refusing to forgive those who we believe have wronged us? The word the Bible uses for correction is one that means to take that which is out of line and bring it back into line. Sounds a lot like forgiveness to me. What about you? Well, Ill finish the way I always do... with an Elvis song. But this week I want to give you the words he always used to introduce this song. They go: “You’ve never walked in that man’s shoes or saw things through his eyes. Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies. So help your brother along the road, no matter where you start. For the God that made you made them, too. These men with broken hearts.” God bless you and have a blessed Thanksgiving. God has poured out His mercy and grace to each of us so in turn this week lets all reach out to that person who we may need to show the same compassion to.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 12:36:27 +0000