Category Archives: Forgiveness

Falling Down

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“The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.” 

– Proverbs 24:16 NLT

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 As followers of Christ, we are still human. Humanity is by nature weak. We all fall down. “In our lives, too, there are many times when we fall down–not physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and relationally.” (Nortker, 3-Minute Devotionals For Women, p. 262)            Sometimes we fall down really hard. We all have made mistakes. Maybe we lost focus of God and His lead in our lives. Maybe we gave up on the dreams, that God put in our hearts. Maybe we didn’t handle a situation in a way that reflects God’s love. Maybe we lost our patience in seeing God’s promises fulfilled. Maybe we took things into our own hands, instead of trusting God to guide us. Maybe we have not been the most understanding or maybe we have been unforgiving. Maybe we fell in “our struggle with particular temptations.” Maybe we fell in our attempts “to climb the ladder of success or in our effort to lead consistently Godly lives.”(Nortker, 3-Minute Devotionals For Women, p. 262) Maybe fell trying to carry a burden, that was to was to heavy for us to bear on our own. Maybe we failed to trust God to see us through the dark nights. But, God is still there with His hands reaching out. He still loves us and forgives us. “…God’s love never fails.” -Psalm 136:1 His love never runs out. Everyone else may give up on us, forsake us, and even leave us fallen on the ground. But, GOD NEVER GIVES UP ON US. He is there to help us get up stronger.

Think about the lyrics to this song: Forgiven performed by Sanctus Real.

“Well the past is playing with my head
And failure knocks me down again
Im reminded of the wrong
That I have said and done
And that devil just wont let me forget

In this life
I know what Ive been
But here in your arms
I know what I am

I’m forgiven
I’m forgiven
And I don’t have to carry
The weight of who Ive been
Cause I’m forgiven

My mistakes are running through my mind
And Ill relive my days, in the middle of the night
When I struggle with my pain, and I wrestle with my pride
Sometimes I feel alone, and I cry

When I don’t think and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere
When I don’t measure up to much in this life
Oh, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ.”

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for always being there for us. Please help us to reach out to You, when we trip and fall down. May You help us to reflect Your love by offering forgiveness, support, and love to those who fall down. Amen.
Reference:
Brigitta Nortker, comp. 3-Minute Devotionals For Women. Uhrichsville: Barbour, Ohio. Print.

What is Love?

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“This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.” – 1 John 4:10

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 What is love? Love is God. God is the purest form of love. As humans, we are incapable of loving in the way that God loves us. He sees us as we are and loves us still. He sees our imperfections, flaws, and mistakes. He sees our sinful nature; how easily we can fall into sin. He sees our selfishness, our pride, our unyielding nature, our dishonesty (not only the lies we tell those around us, but the lies we tell ourselves), our ungratefulness, our wastefulness, our vanity, our unforgiving nature. He sees our hunger for earthly desires and our thirst for human approval/praise. After seeing all of this, He still loves humanity. His love is so infinite, it is incomprehensible. Romans 3:10 says, “…There is no one righteous, not even one;” After seeing humanity as it was/is, He could have chosen not to love us. But, instead “..God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.” -1John 4:9  God loves us as we are and not as we should be. Sure, He has plans for us and is still working on us. “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” As humans here on earth, we are and will always be a work in progress. The main point here is: He knows we are imperfect humans. But, he loves us still. In this way, He sets for us the perfect example of love.
1 John 4:11-12 says, “…since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” May God give us His heart, so that we can love as He does. Only then, would we truly know what love is.
Lord, please help us to love as You do. As we see others in their imperfections, please help us to love them still. Fill our hearts with Your infinite love. Amen.

Can a hurt be transformed into something good?

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“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

 –Genesis 50:20 

coat-of-many-colors

Genesis 37-50 tells the story of Joseph, son of Israel (previously known as Jacob). But, Joseph wasn’t just any son. He was Israel’s favorite son out of twelve sons. His brothers envied him. One day when he was away from his father’s protection, they stripped teenage Joseph of his coat of many colors (later they covered his coat in goat’s blood to deceive their father into believing he was killed by a wild beast) and threw him into a pit. Then, they sold him into slavery. As a slave he was promoted, but ended up in prison for obeying God. Twenty years had passed since he had been sold and Joseph had gone from being a prisoner to becoming an administrator of Pharaoh, one of the most powerful men in Egypt. But, God had blessed Joseph with a talent, which would save many lives during the great famine.

Whether the person (who hurt us) intended to harm us or not does not matter. Maybe they slipped up and unintentionally hurt us or perhaps they intentionally plotted to hurt us (as an act of jealousy, revenge or malice). It doesn’t matter. God may use it to bring about good. Elizabeth Elliot wrote “His will that I should be burned? Here we must tread softly. His will governs all. In a wrong-filled world, we suffer (and cause) many a wrong. God is here to heal and comfort and forgive. He who brought blessing to many out of the jealous brothers against Joseph means this hurt for ultimate blessing and, I think for an increase of love between me and the one that hurt me.” When Joseph’s brothers journeyed to Egypt in pursuit of food during the famine, Joseph could have withheld his forgiveness from them and denied them the opportunity to buy food. But, instead he chose to bestow love upon them, restoring his relationship with them. Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” God has forgiven us for the inexcusable. We must be willing to do the same for those who hurt us. We don’t want to be like the unmerciful servant in the parable of Matthew 18:21-35. After he had been forgiven for so much by the King, he was unwilling to forgive his fellow servant for little. May God grant us the patience and selflessness to confront every situation (no matter how hurtful it may be) with peace and love for those around us. “… for love covers a multitude of sins.” -1 Peter 4:8  Reflecting on these words, I look back to a situation, which I did not handle with the peace and love I should have had. I am grateful to those, who forgave me. And, I realize that seeing them forgive me strengthened the bond of love between them and I. In the end, the act of forgiveness and the acceptance of forgiveness give us a greater capacity to love others. Whether you have hurt someone unintentionally or have been hurt, God may use the hurt for good. Amen.