Thought you would enjoy my husband’s exhortation over on his blog this morning.
Monthly Archive for July, 2011
The disciples had questions about forgiveness, just like we do. Sure, we can understand the need to forgive someone once, especially if they repent and seek our forgiveness. But what about the person (say, a family member) who just keeps on doing the same thing over and over and then over and over again? And what if they know they’re sinning, but they still do it? What about them? Where do we draw the line and say, “That’s it! I’m done forgiving you! I’m just going to get bitter now.”
It’s worth noting that it is usually those closest to us (i.e. family members) who can bother us the most. And they are the very people with whom we should have the sweetest fellowship. There are two sins involved in this (at least). One is the sin of the offender; and the other is the sin of the one who takes offense. Taking offense and keeping it is like taking ugly pills. Ever seen the face of a long embittered woman?
This whole forgiveness thing must have seemed a little outlandish to Peter. He wanted to know just how many times he had Continue reading ’70 x 7′
We all know we are supposed to forgive one another. That is not a new, shocking idea that I cooked up this morning while having my coffee. It is fundamental to the Christian life. But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy.
Let’s say someone has wronged you, and it’s not your imagination; it’s an objective sin. It is easy to put that grievance in a compartment somewhere in your heart and keep it there. For years and years. After all, it was a real sin and it’s easy to feel totally justified in being indignant. It could be one of your family members, or someone at work or at church; it could be the neighbor who cussed you out for parking funny, or it could be one of your own children who didn’t sin at all, but just woke up too early this morning. We can gather up grudges from all kinds of places, for real or imagined sins.
But Jesus wants us to think about this a different way. Upside down in fact. Do we want God to put our wrongs in a compartment where He can review them regularly and hold a grievance against us? Aaaackk. No! We want Him to put them Continue reading ‘Forgiveness’
One day when I was feeling particularly like homemaking and child-rearing were exercises in futility, I called my mother-in-law to get a little pep talk. She had married Jim when she was 33 and he was 26, and her first of four children (my husband) was born when she was 34. Before her marriage, she had spent several years on the mission field, and she was a first-rate Bible teacher. So I called her up and told her how I felt that morning: like each day I grabbed my shovel to start moving the pile and by evening it was still there, maybe even higher and bigger.
So I was expecting a nice little word that would cheer me up. I was expecting a little sympathy. But here’s what I got instead. She told me about a missionary who was imprisoned for his faith and hung upside down in a cave. His wife had to bring him food and feed him in that condition. She brought him his books so he could continue to study while he was hanging there. Hmmm. I certainly did not have it that bad, not even on the worst laundry days. You can imagine, that was not what I was expecting to hear. I remember reacting a little bit on the inside. “Oh come on! That’s not relevant to my situation! See if I call you next time I need a little cheering up!”
She also reminded me that I had three in my congregation, three in my little Bible school at home. Now that was a new image Continue reading ‘Heart-tenderizing Words’
I know that it’s tough to see the outcome when you are in the midst of rearing up a handful (or two!) of kids. But when a farmer is planting his fields, he’s got his eye on the harvest. Moms need to be a little bit like farmers. You are sowing and planting a field, and when the kids are little, this is the season that takes a lot of heavy investment of time, attention, and energy. But remember to take the long view. Harvest time is coming, and all this work of planting and weeding and watering will yield a crop.
Since I am a grandmother, that’s easy for me to say. I see the crop. It’s in the barn now! Now my own children are busy in their own fields, and now I’m the one praying for them as they are bringing up their children. Oh, what a serious business it is to raise a family.
Now I can see with my eyes what I had to believe by faith years ago. I want to encourage you many moms out there to look with faith at your children. Trust God to bring a harvest. Your labor is not in vain. He sees it all. All those little things you do for your kids: listening to them and looking them in the eye, rubbing their backs and fixing that ponytail, washing their clothes and changing their diapers, feeding them and teaching them, playing with them and correcting them….all these things are going into an account that you can’t see. But God does!
Take the long view. You’ve got to be patient because it doesn’t happen overnight. Keep your eye on the outcome and trust God to use all your labors to bring about a harvest far greater than you expected. Far greater than any of us deserves.
Christians are sometimes suspicious of success. We are far better at failure. We can be “spiritual” about our own failures, but we can feel guilty when God blesses us with success. We can even process it pretty well when someone works hard and nearly succeeds. But when a fellow Christian really succeeds, many Christians start to get a worried expression. Some feel the need to express the warning, “Be sure this doesn’t go to your head.” Others may assume immediately that the person must have already compromised the faith simply because of the success.
Some Puritans had the view that if you were not being afflicted, God must not love you. Some even prayed for affliction because they felt left out. I know that’s hard to believe! But it seems so spiritual. So sometimes our natural instinct is to assume success and blessing must be the result of some compromise. Continue reading ‘Dealing With Success’
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