"The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;"
Daniel 9:9 NIV
What is forgiveness? When is it appropriate? Can one forgive only if the wrongdoer apologizes?
All these questions have been going through my mind lately as I have been dealing with some personal struggles with some of the relationships I have on this campus. Its amazing how many of the little, daily issues that we deal with can disappear if we have this attitude towards those who may wrong us. I dont know if it is the way I was raised or my pride, definately a mixture of both, but when I am wronged, I feel a need to be vindicated and I do not want to forgive someone until the say they are wrong. Well, the only thing I can say is that the Lord, through several different circumstances, has been teaching me the value of true forgiveness in that, I have to be able to forgive and move on, whether or not someone actually says they are sorry.
So many mistakes I have made in my life have stemmed from the very fact that I, until quite recently, have been unable to simply forgive people. The worst part of comes down to this realization I came up with the other day. I was NOT willing to give the SAME forgiveness I was EXPECTING from others!!!! To anyone reading this who may have been on the receiving end of this thought process, I am sorry and odds are that, if you are reading this, I have forgiven and moved on from any difference/issue I have ever had with you.
God commands us to love another as we love Him and part of that love is forgiveness.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wisdom and the LOVE of God
How refreshing is it to know that your peers/friends have some of the same struggles as you? To know that you are not the only one traveling through this temptation-ridden life.
Today, I met with an awesome man named Denny. As I sat there in AJ's talking to this 50 year old guy, I was filled with so much encouragement and hope for my future. Hearing the similarities between our conversion stories and knowing that I am not the only one in the world with these struggles. I also realized the importance of someone in my state to be meeting and talking to older and wiser men. There is soo much in life I do not understand and through talking to men such as Denny, I learn so much.
Paul writes in Colossians 3:1-4 that "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, they you also will appear with him in glory."
As I opened my Bible today, it was the first verse I saw and how appropriate that, as I have been struggling with the temptation of drinking, God chose to show me this. I can't even begin to describe how many times this has happened since I have been taking my Bible reading more seriously.
God knows all and is charge of my life! He loves all of us more than we can grasp and we need to remember this as we look to our future. An ant does not move without God's knowledge so who are we to question His path for those created after His image. This passage beautifully illustrates my point.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. (Matthew 6:25-27)
To God be the glory, for ever and ever!!!!!
Today, I met with an awesome man named Denny. As I sat there in AJ's talking to this 50 year old guy, I was filled with so much encouragement and hope for my future. Hearing the similarities between our conversion stories and knowing that I am not the only one in the world with these struggles. I also realized the importance of someone in my state to be meeting and talking to older and wiser men. There is soo much in life I do not understand and through talking to men such as Denny, I learn so much.
Paul writes in Colossians 3:1-4 that "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, they you also will appear with him in glory."
As I opened my Bible today, it was the first verse I saw and how appropriate that, as I have been struggling with the temptation of drinking, God chose to show me this. I can't even begin to describe how many times this has happened since I have been taking my Bible reading more seriously.
God knows all and is charge of my life! He loves all of us more than we can grasp and we need to remember this as we look to our future. An ant does not move without God's knowledge so who are we to question His path for those created after His image. This passage beautifully illustrates my point.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life. (Matthew 6:25-27)
To God be the glory, for ever and ever!!!!!
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