Forgiveness

-

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” Colossians 3:12-13

Forgiveness. One of the hardest parts of being a Christian is the call to forgiveness. We want people to be perfect and act exactly the way we want them to, but when they don’t, we write them off. Yet, I think forgiveness starts with oneself. It is hard to forgive others, but even harder to forgive ourselves. Simple things can cause us to become negative. For instance, all summer I have been good about eating, riding the bike four miles, and lifting weights, but the scale does not reflect it. I can become negative about body image, the fact that I am aging, but I need to forgive myself for wanting that perfect image and permit myself to just be. Taking care of oneself is great, eating healthy and exercising is needed for one's daily life, just as much as prayer and study. Today, forgive yourself for those things you feel you fall short on and permit yourself to love who you are on the path… 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Red Sky

-
  “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31      Red Sky. This morning, the sky was red and pink. My grandpa taught me the saying, “Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors warning.” The vibrant colors of the morning sky was helped by the Canadian wildfires. Reading the sky or the situation is important to our survival. The faithful of Christ gathered in a room because they knew they needed to stay together. They “read” their sky and felt that without Christ, they were in danger. They knew they were stronger together. Their reward was the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave them courage and wisdom to continue the work of Christ. Together, we can create a red sky at night for others to see. We can help them to see the delight in following Christ. As I wait for the “littles” to come out so they get a ride home...
Read more

Friendship

-
  “ If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help.” Ecclesiastes 4:10 Friendship. Two are always better than one. Yesterday, I had to tie down some of my climbing rose branches that were growing out of control. My husband held the ladder as I bent stems, weaving them into the canopy. I was thankful for my husband holding the ladder because it was in my garden and on uneven ground. Many tasks are easier when there are two or more people to accomplish them.   Likewise, some events are easier to navigate when there are two or more. I think of recent tragedies and how so many people have come together to help those affected. The truth is, we are all affected. As the Mexican firefighters who came to help Texas stated, they are human beings, and we are human beings… beautiful, they reached the core of life not concerned with whether a person was worthy or not. For all those hurting, know the...
Read more

New Things

-
  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” ( Isaiah 43:18-19)   New Things. It is not easy to move forward. It is not easy to make your way through the wilderness and streams to the wasteland. The wasteland, to me, is the unknown. Yet to grow, to be fully alive, we must venture into wastelands. Sometimes we are thrust into it: a child comes along, when aging parents face their decline; job changes, or retirement can all be the time when we find ourselves in the wasteland. Forgetting former times isn’t about forgetting memories, but more about what we thought it would be like when we reach the wasteland. The ideas, ways things should be. Be situationally aware and embrace the joys, the difficulties, LIFE, for it is in the wilderness we face ourselves and find out what we are made of and who we really are as a child of God on th...
Read more