January 17, 2014

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. - Matthew 6:14-15

I can truly say that I didn't want to discuss this topic today.  For the past four days the Marriage Devotional that Julie and I read and discuss together has been pelting us with the topic of forgiveness to the point of we have to fight and push ourselves to keep reading it.  Then today it wasn't on forgiveness and we were pretty excited that it was over, but now this Uncommon Devotional from Tony Dungy discusses it today.  Aaahhh!

I believe that Tony makes a valid point in his writings, at least as this topic relates to me, so I am going to republish a good bit here. "I can't help but wonder sometimes if I don't have trouble forgiving others because I don't want to forgive myself for all the stuff I've done.  ...  I mean, it seems as though sometimes the baggage we carry isn't really something  we want to carry around, but we do it anyway.  Either we enjoy the misery and want the self-imposed pity parties we're throwing to continue, or more likely, we simply can't forgive ourselves for all the times we have fallen short of God's standard.  So, we turn around and don't forgive others.  And our hearts begin to harden not only toward others, but toward ourselves."

Get off my toes, Bro!  Yikes. 

Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”  Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. - Philippians 2:14-16

Oh man!  Got it.  Time to forgive myself, get over my pity parties and forgive others.  And do it without grumbling or arguing.  But I like grumbling and if I argue it delays the time to have to do it, right?  My kids do this all the time.  If they can "engage" in a conversation or change the subject maybe just maybe we'll forget about that directive or charge we just gave them.  It doesn't work for them, why do I think it'll work for me?

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. - 2 Corinthians 5:20

Apparently this is REALLY important for me to do because I am an ambassador of Christ.  Ummm, I really don't think God has thought this out too well.  He really should look somewhere else, I mean, I would and I'm not nearly as wise as He.  Obviously, He believes in me much more than I do.