To err is human…

The following “blog” is something I posted on social media a while back, but it bears repeating… because forgiveness = good, unforgiveness = bad.  🙂  It all comes down to (for me anyway) living the Golden Rule.  It really is that simple.  Do unto others as you would have them do to you.  You are human… they are too.

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them… – Matthew 7:12

Some of you are running around being mad and not forgiving someone for what you did to them. << you all may want to read that one again.  You are holding a grudge against someone for your behavior towards them.  Not good and I’m not pointing fingers.  Most times I write these, I find I am not just “preaching” to others…I am preaching to myself. I’ve been on both ends and without forgiveness, things almost never end well. Relationships lost, friendships gone forever… You go for days, weeks, months and years without talking to someone you thought you’d never go a day without talking to. Laughing, loving, enjoying, happiness reduced to ashes because of unforgiveness…

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. – Ephesians 4:32

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. – Mark 11:25

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. – Colossians 3:13

 

And don’t forget a favorite of mine (sarcasm intended as it hits a little too close to home)..

“Let any one of you who is without sin, throw the first stone.” 

Forgiveness. It’s a beautiful thing… it’s a gift from God.  Use it.  It’s just like everything else in life… you can’t take it with you.  Do not, do not, DO NOT take unforgiveness to the grave with you.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t want that regret in my life.  It’s not always easy to do, and in fact, it rarely is…but it’s worth it.  Forgiveness is love and at times may just be the best example of love you can show someone.

Again, it’s a re-post, so if it says Thursday and is posted on Sunday.  It is what it is.  🙂

 

Good Thursday afternoon, facebook friends.  In case you thought I have given up doing these, I haven’t.  I’ve been sitting on this one for a few days thinking on what to say.  But isn’t that what we all do?  We sit on forgiveness.  We all look for the words to say.  And days turn into weeks turn into months turn into years… And in the process friendships are lost. Relationships thrown away.  Sometimes for good reasons, but most of the time, not good reasons at all.

But I get it.  We have all developed our own specific survival techniques that allow us to get through the hurt, pain, disappointment we’ve been dealt and move on… or at least get by.  We try to forgive.  We read books about how to forgive.  We read Bible verses on forgiveness.  And we think we forgive.  And we may to a certain extent, but rarely achieve full forgiveness as God intended.  It’s hard to be like Jesus.  To live as He lived, to love as He loves, and to forgive as He forgave us.

And I don’t have any answers, magic words or potions to help.  I just try to remember the person who wounded me most likely has wounds of their own that need healing.  They may have wounds from when they were 5, or 15, 25, etc, or from last week and their way of dealing with their hurt, pain and disappointment is to hurt you.  Strongholds are tough things to get past.. that’s why they’re called strongholds and theirs aren’t much different from yours.  No, that doesn’t make what they did right, but 98% of the time their offenses against you are forgivable.

Still no magic words to say.. I just know for every one person that has hurt me, disappointed me, abandoned me, let me down… I have probably done the same to two. Forgive them.  If you’re saying I’ll forgive but not forget, they still have a hold over you. Don’t let that happen.  Don’t ever forget their offense/s against you, but forgive them. Don’t be a doormat for them, but forgive them.  Leave it with God.  Leave them with God. Ask Him to help them.  Ask Him to help you.  Forgive them for their offense.  Forgive yourself for yours.  Take it to the cross, lay it down and leave it there.

#thinkdifferent
#nomorestrongholds
#ichoosehappiness
#ichoosejoy
#trustandobey
#gratefulandblessed

 

A Living Hope

Happy Tuesday everybody. Has to be happy, right? It’s not Monday. 😉😊
We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. – Hebrews 6:18b-19a

First things first before a God story or God wink about hope. Encourage one another. Again and again and again, sprinkle that stuff everywhere!! Speak words of kindness and compassion. Love each other as He has loved you. Live by the fruit of the Spirit and the golden rule. Treat others as you want to be treated. Yes, I know… people can be all people-y sometimes, but we can be all people-y, too. I can be stubborn, hard headed, difficult to get along with and unlovable at times. I don’t mean to be. None of us do, but it’s truth. Just be kind. I’ll go back to what my mother told me…If you can’t think of anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. But if you can… if at all possible….
Speak what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. – Ephesians 4:29

Now hope… one of the BIG three. Faith, hope and love. I’m pretty full in the faith reservoir. The love one could always be better. But my hope reservoir has been drying up for a while now. I’m really, really trying to persevere, but dang! So last week I’m driving along talking to God.. a very common occurrence these days. He’s talking, I’m listening. What I do say He already knows, but still I talk and the subject is hope.

My life is good. God has blessed me greatly and I’m thankful, yet there are areas of my life I would like to be better. I know God isn’t a genie and the Bible isn’t a wish book, but still I wish and dream and hope…. I pour out my heart to God. Again He already knows, but He likes His children to ask. So I ask. Then what happens? I look up at that exact moment when He would answer… and He did.

I know where I’m at and where I’m driving to, so I wasn’t paying much attention to the roads I’m going by. But at that exact moment, I look up and notice I’m passing Hope road. It’s not a big road. It’s not one I’ll ever need to drive on, but there it was. You can say it’s just a road or that it was a coincidence, but I know in my heart it was much, much more.

Nothing is random, and coincidences or happenstance are also much more than that. God gave me an answer. God gave me himself. Don’t know if my hope bucket is full, but it’s darn close and filling up fast. And there’s more than enough to go around. Help yourself to hope, my friends. Have a blessed and wonderful and wonderfully blessed day. 🙂

#choosejoy

#choosehope

#chooselove

#chooselife

#choosefaith

#choosetrust

#chooseGod

p.s. Hint: If you choose that last one first, all the others are included. 🙂

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13