It is my absolute belief that (psychological abnormalities aside) humans do not intentionally set out to hurt other humans. Those who inflict the greatest hurt upon others are most often experiencing great hurt within. We lie, cheat and steal in a subconscious attempt at alleviating our pain. Relief is pseudo and temporary at best. When the original hurt resurfaces it will have been strengthened by the very actions we intended to resolve it. It can be a viscous cycle, especially when we rely on ourselves for remedy. Forgiveness is not a natural response of the flesh, quite the opposite really. It is hard, if not impossible to forgive others if we rely solely on our flesh. As Christians however, we are in the flesh, not of the flesh. We have a better way, God’s way. We are to bear with and forgive others as He has forgiven us. We are to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. We are furthermore warned that if we do not forgive others for their sins, God will not forgive us for ours. Armed with God’s commands, by His grace and through the power of the Holy Spirit we can and must forgive others. The commands are clear and non-negotiable. However they do not dictate that we must put ourselves in harms way to love or to forgive others. There will inevitably be people in our lives whom despite our best efforts will still treat us unkind. We must continue to forgive them. We must love them as we know is right. And by all means we must pray for them! However, until such a time that they can extend us the same kindness, forgiveness and love as we have shown them, it may be best (and certainly understandable) that we do these things from a distance.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 17:30:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015