The most terrifying 4 letters in the Bible are "as we."
Jesus prayed "forgive our sins AS WE forgive those who have sinned against us." i know what i need to be forgiven for...but what of those who have hurt me...
A few people have asked me to publish my acronym about the myths about forgiveness.... well here it is.
F.A.M.P. " i fent my fids to fummer famp." ...you're welcome.
Forgiveness is not:
Forgetting: Only God forgets. You may have heard "forgive and forget" but i think it should be said "forgive and obsess less." I know i am wrestling w/ unforgiveness because i have all these wonderful discussions in my head where i say all these funny cutting things, and the person i am angry at says nothing.
You won't forget most of the big offenses you live through. The devil won't let you. BUT you can obsess less today than you did a year ago...or a month ago. Celebrate those moments! Those moments where you have to be reminded of the offence mean you are working towards truly forgiving a person.
Approval: Forgiving someone does not mean you approve of what the
y did. In fact, part of the forgiveness process means confronting the reality that what someone did to you was evil...not just annoying, but evil. You're forgiving them means that what they did was wrong, but you're forgiveness starts God on making it right.
Remember, as long as you forgive, you win. Unforgiveness is like drinking poision and waiting for the other person to die.
Moment: Forgiveness is not a one time event. Frequently, truly forgiving will be a process...and sometimes a lengthy one. The best thing you can do is to praise God for the strength to have survived the offence, and just pray "Lord thank you that i have faith enough to forgive ____ as you have forgiven me." Being able to turn these moments from feeling angry to feeling thankful is one of the best skills you can learn.
Permission: Forgiving someone is not permission to let them do the same thing again. The power to forgive is deeply linked to the power to discern. After you forgive someone, you have the discernment to know when pigs are being offered pearls....or pearls are being tossed to pigs...something like that.
Forgiveness is the heart of God. He refuses to let anyone bear His name who won't forgive. The cross is the great equalizer... the sin committed against me are nailed to the same cross alongside the sins i have committed against others.
Bottom line: forgiveness is releasing God to be the judge...and not me.
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sean lumsden is a pastor, copy writer, waiter, musician and now a blogger...because, he needs just one more outlet...here you will find inspriational Biblical messages, random thoughts, and some seriously self indulgent music...(did you know that blog is greek for "self indulgent?)"
7 comments:
In the world of instant gratifacation (read: make it go away NOW)--you got this one right. Couldn't agree with you more. I like to think of the rot I have forgiven as compost. If a gardner works that garbage around the plant too soon it burns the plant. He has to let it sit a long time, turn the stinky stuff, manage it, and let it moulder some more. The process no only changes garbage into compost and it changes the gardner because he has to "care" for it. With enough time lo and behold it can be fertilizer for growth.
Go ahead and put that "t" on the word not in the above message
Truly fabulous post. A map for the geography of forgiveness that we might traverse the rough terrain. I think one of the enemy's most effective ploys is to give us the wrong map. Imagine finding the Eiffel Tower with a map of New York. Even the most stouthearted cannot turn New York into Paris. And isn't destination everything?!
Also, Goat, LOVE the compost metaphor.
We worship God because that is the ultimate statement of reality. For all eternity, those created beings closest to God can’t stop saying “Holy, Holy, Holy.” When we echo that here on earth, we are giving voice and authority to that Reality here in our life and in our time.
There is a reason Jesus goes straight to worship in the prayer He taught…”Our Father in heaven, Holy is Your name….
Also, the enemy’s biggest desire is to stop the worship of God. When we stop worshipping, we stop expanding in faith. We can expand mind knowledge w/out worship, but we can’t expand heart knowledge and spiritual authority without worship.
And guess which one the world needs more of…
Bottom line: only worship consistently softens our heart and strengthens our resolve.
FINE- i’ll address this issue later.
Thanks for the time and the thoughts…i hope to get the pleasure of meeting you…your sister and her ilk are truly some of my favorite people.
sean
ps… i have to add this…you can’t worship and stay a victim.
pss… more to come.
still sean
Mrs Pig,
Thanks for your reply...i will work on a blog on the subject...
today i am trying to wrestle my message into a semi cohesive state.
currently it is called, "betrayal, denial, de-trial"
remember one thought in reference to my comment...all Christianity comes down to kindgom reposession...with the hope that we can create a God centered environment "on earth as it is in heaven."
and what is going on in heaven right now?
sean
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