Post by solitarysoul on Jan 17, 2007 23:02:16 GMT -5
Today's Scripture
"As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." (Colossians 3:12-13)
Today's Word
One of the hardest things to do is to forgive those who wrong us. But if it was not difficult, what reward would there be in doing the right thing?
God commands us to love and forgive others unconditionally. This means that there is no circumstance that should keep us from forgiving another person. We are all sinful people, and therefore every single one of us will hurt another person at some point in our lives, probably both intentionally and unintentionally. Therefore if you do not forgive those who wrong you, then you have no right to be forgiven of your sins. We would be ungrateful of Christ's gift to us. That is very selfish, which not only is not loving Christ, but is actually insulting Him.
We all need mercy and forgiveness. Do not ever hold a grudge against anyone, no matter how bad they may treat you, because when we hold grudges we become bitter and resentful. Bitterness and resentment are not only sad and unChrist-like ways to live, but they are the most spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes even physically damaging characteristics a human can possess. If you hold bitter or resentful thoughts toward another person, regardless of the circumstances, you will only be hurting yourself far more than that person will ever hurt you.
What demonstrates your strength and your true love for Christ, is your willingness to set aside your feelings, set aside the fact that you are being wronged, and forgive the person regardless. Some people may call on God's name constantly, attend church regularly and know the Bible inside and out, but they most likely have not yet truly been saved if they cannot keep themselves from lashing back at or pointing out another person's flaws and wrongs against them.
Some people may think this is not the case and they'll try to hide it. "Oh I'm just going to put on this grin and raise my eyebrows when this person wrongs me, so they know that I'm for God and I'm going to just turn the other cheek." No, that's not real mercy, that's putting on a show, simply using a different tactic to anger the person wronging us.
As God's children, we must show the same mercy and forgiveness for others that God shows us. Of course we will never be perfect and as merciful as God, but this is no excuse to not devote our energy in these situations to doing what He says is best. Many people may feel hessitant to forgive others who wrong them, especially if it is a continuing occurance, because they become afraid that they will be wronged again. But people who do this do not understand the difference between forgiveness and trust.
God commands us to forgive those who wrong us. It does not matter if they ask for forgiveness or not. It does not even matter if they are sorry for what they have done, and it does not matter how many times they may have wronged us in the past. Forgiving someone means to let go of the past. We must always forgive, no matter what, no buts. Clear your mind of whatever they have done to you, just forget about it. Don't tell yourself, "I can't just forget that", because you'll remind yourself of it just by saying this. Simply find something else to think about, forgive them for what they have done, and God will take care of the rest. Even if it is an unforgetable thing, such as someone murdering one of your relatives, as hard and oddly feeling as it may be, you must forgive them. Afterall is God not more important to you than the lives of those you love? He should be, because if it were not for Him, you wouldn't have anyone to love.
Trusting someone is not the same as forgiving them. We must always forgive, and that is a conscious choice, not a matter of our ability based on how badly we were hurt. Trusting on the other hand is about the future. If someone continues to harm us, we are not expected to trust them right away, because they will have a lot to do to prove themselves trustworthy again. But we are always expected to forgive them regardless.
If a person is not sorry for what they have done to you, justice will seek them out for it one day, but that is not our responcibility. Our responcibility is to simply love and forgive, and to trust God to do what is neccissary. So not only must we be merciful toward others, but we must be sincerely honest and repent of our wrongs toward others as well. If they will not accept your apology, that puts them in the wrong and takes the burdon off of you, so let it go, do not strike back, forgive them.
We are here to love everyone, not just love those who love us. If we strike back out of anger and pain, that makes it more difficult for the other person to apologize, which puts you in the wrong as well. We must all be merciful. Forgive, be patient, and trust that God will seek out perfect justice on whoever deserves it, whether you or the other person, or both. One thing I deeply admire about David when he was writing his psalms was that when he would pray for God to deliver him of those who were hurting him, he told God to be a merciful God, but to also be a just God, to punish him as well if he deserves it. In other words, David was saying, "God I am being wronged by these people and I am innocent, but don't simply punish them, be merciful and help me to forgive them, and if what I am doing is evil, punish me rightly as well." Can you honestly pray that to God? Can you honestly lay in your bed at night and say, "Dear God, if what I am doing to so and so is wrong, please punish me justly in your mercy so that I will learn"? A truly merciful and honest person would.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to be more merciful toward those around me just as you are merciful to all. Help me to realize that I can and need to forgive others even if I cannot trust them. To you a sin is a sin, and so to us it should be as well. I know that there is nothing that anyone can do to me that I should not forgive them for, because this is what you want of us, so this is what demonstrates our love for you. But knowing this is not enough. Please help us to put it into action and to show mercy, love, and patience at no limits. In Jesus name, Amen.
Today's Task
Today we've finally got a task that will take more than simply looking within ourselves or praying to God, so I hope that there will be many who read this far and take this to heart. Today try to find someone who you have wronged but have not forgiven, and send them a letter, an email or a phonecall, to just nicely say it's past, and that you will forgive them and love them regardless as we all should. If they think that you are in the wrong and that they have nothing to be forgiven of, then forgive them silently in your heart and with God, and apologize to them anyway to make them feel more comfortable about being honest with you as well.
If you would like to recieve these devotionals as a daily e-mail, PM me your e-mail address and I'll add you to the mailing list. God Bless
Written By: Scott Morgan
Scripture verse taken from The New Oxford Annotated Bible
"As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." (Colossians 3:12-13)
Today's Word
One of the hardest things to do is to forgive those who wrong us. But if it was not difficult, what reward would there be in doing the right thing?
God commands us to love and forgive others unconditionally. This means that there is no circumstance that should keep us from forgiving another person. We are all sinful people, and therefore every single one of us will hurt another person at some point in our lives, probably both intentionally and unintentionally. Therefore if you do not forgive those who wrong you, then you have no right to be forgiven of your sins. We would be ungrateful of Christ's gift to us. That is very selfish, which not only is not loving Christ, but is actually insulting Him.
We all need mercy and forgiveness. Do not ever hold a grudge against anyone, no matter how bad they may treat you, because when we hold grudges we become bitter and resentful. Bitterness and resentment are not only sad and unChrist-like ways to live, but they are the most spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes even physically damaging characteristics a human can possess. If you hold bitter or resentful thoughts toward another person, regardless of the circumstances, you will only be hurting yourself far more than that person will ever hurt you.
What demonstrates your strength and your true love for Christ, is your willingness to set aside your feelings, set aside the fact that you are being wronged, and forgive the person regardless. Some people may call on God's name constantly, attend church regularly and know the Bible inside and out, but they most likely have not yet truly been saved if they cannot keep themselves from lashing back at or pointing out another person's flaws and wrongs against them.
Some people may think this is not the case and they'll try to hide it. "Oh I'm just going to put on this grin and raise my eyebrows when this person wrongs me, so they know that I'm for God and I'm going to just turn the other cheek." No, that's not real mercy, that's putting on a show, simply using a different tactic to anger the person wronging us.
As God's children, we must show the same mercy and forgiveness for others that God shows us. Of course we will never be perfect and as merciful as God, but this is no excuse to not devote our energy in these situations to doing what He says is best. Many people may feel hessitant to forgive others who wrong them, especially if it is a continuing occurance, because they become afraid that they will be wronged again. But people who do this do not understand the difference between forgiveness and trust.
God commands us to forgive those who wrong us. It does not matter if they ask for forgiveness or not. It does not even matter if they are sorry for what they have done, and it does not matter how many times they may have wronged us in the past. Forgiving someone means to let go of the past. We must always forgive, no matter what, no buts. Clear your mind of whatever they have done to you, just forget about it. Don't tell yourself, "I can't just forget that", because you'll remind yourself of it just by saying this. Simply find something else to think about, forgive them for what they have done, and God will take care of the rest. Even if it is an unforgetable thing, such as someone murdering one of your relatives, as hard and oddly feeling as it may be, you must forgive them. Afterall is God not more important to you than the lives of those you love? He should be, because if it were not for Him, you wouldn't have anyone to love.
Trusting someone is not the same as forgiving them. We must always forgive, and that is a conscious choice, not a matter of our ability based on how badly we were hurt. Trusting on the other hand is about the future. If someone continues to harm us, we are not expected to trust them right away, because they will have a lot to do to prove themselves trustworthy again. But we are always expected to forgive them regardless.
If a person is not sorry for what they have done to you, justice will seek them out for it one day, but that is not our responcibility. Our responcibility is to simply love and forgive, and to trust God to do what is neccissary. So not only must we be merciful toward others, but we must be sincerely honest and repent of our wrongs toward others as well. If they will not accept your apology, that puts them in the wrong and takes the burdon off of you, so let it go, do not strike back, forgive them.
We are here to love everyone, not just love those who love us. If we strike back out of anger and pain, that makes it more difficult for the other person to apologize, which puts you in the wrong as well. We must all be merciful. Forgive, be patient, and trust that God will seek out perfect justice on whoever deserves it, whether you or the other person, or both. One thing I deeply admire about David when he was writing his psalms was that when he would pray for God to deliver him of those who were hurting him, he told God to be a merciful God, but to also be a just God, to punish him as well if he deserves it. In other words, David was saying, "God I am being wronged by these people and I am innocent, but don't simply punish them, be merciful and help me to forgive them, and if what I am doing is evil, punish me rightly as well." Can you honestly pray that to God? Can you honestly lay in your bed at night and say, "Dear God, if what I am doing to so and so is wrong, please punish me justly in your mercy so that I will learn"? A truly merciful and honest person would.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, please help me to be more merciful toward those around me just as you are merciful to all. Help me to realize that I can and need to forgive others even if I cannot trust them. To you a sin is a sin, and so to us it should be as well. I know that there is nothing that anyone can do to me that I should not forgive them for, because this is what you want of us, so this is what demonstrates our love for you. But knowing this is not enough. Please help us to put it into action and to show mercy, love, and patience at no limits. In Jesus name, Amen.
Today's Task
Today we've finally got a task that will take more than simply looking within ourselves or praying to God, so I hope that there will be many who read this far and take this to heart. Today try to find someone who you have wronged but have not forgiven, and send them a letter, an email or a phonecall, to just nicely say it's past, and that you will forgive them and love them regardless as we all should. If they think that you are in the wrong and that they have nothing to be forgiven of, then forgive them silently in your heart and with God, and apologize to them anyway to make them feel more comfortable about being honest with you as well.
If you would like to recieve these devotionals as a daily e-mail, PM me your e-mail address and I'll add you to the mailing list. God Bless
Written By: Scott Morgan
Scripture verse taken from The New Oxford Annotated Bible