Forgiveness

We've relegated the letter F to the trash heap of society. When we hear "the f-word" we think of a very offensive word that society has manufactured. But God has another f-word—the real f-word—that we all need to think about: forgiveness.

There are going to be times in life when people will hurt us so badly that we don't even want to think about forgiving them. But when we choose not to forgive, we are choosing to be attached to anger, resentment, and hurt that will only weigh us down.

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22 A lot of people read a verse like the one above and think, "I'm not going to let anybody get away with hurting me 77 times!" But Jesus was not being literal in his math. He was simply telling Peter how ridiculous to count how many times he forgave people. Forgiveness is designed to be immeasurable.

Christ wants us to experience the most out of life. And the person who is experiencing the most out of life doesn't allow themselves to be weighed down by the junk and funk of unforgiveness. Don't hold yourself back from experiencing life just because someone hurt you. Instead, ask God to help you experience the power of forgiveness.

Transformation!

Colossians 3:13, "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others."
Forgiving someone who has hurt us is one of the hardest things we can do. We'd rather stay leashed up to the resentment like a dog to a fence. Because in our minds, our unforgiveness is paying them back for the pain they caused. But when you refuse to release the leash of unforgiveness and drag that anger through life, you only end up hurting yourself.

It is natural for us to hold on to our wrath because of our sinful nature. The last thing we want to do is forgive.

But that's just what the Bible tells us to do. We're to forgive others as the Lord has forgiven us. When Christ died on the cross for our sins, he was giving us the ultimate forgiveness. He was saying, "My love for you outweighs any wrong thing you have ever done or ever will do to me."

If we're honest with ourselves, we'll realize that we don't have what it takes to truly forgive someone of the wrong they have done to us. That type of power only comes from God. We must learn to open our hearts and allow God to replace our anger with his love. Let God's love transform your heart. Because it is the only way that we can truly forgive someone.

Potent...

God knows your potential even when you feel meaningless. Have you ever seen a video of a lion stalking its prey? The moves are quite precise as it sneaks up as close as possible to the unsuspecting mark. It is able to stalk with its body low to the ground to prevent from being seen. And during the approach, the lion makes note of every weakness and has no problem exploiting them for the purpose of a tasty meal. Then, when the prey least expects it, the lion pounces.

The Bible says that Satan is like that lion. It states, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 Satan watches from a distance noticing each weakness and area of temptation. He sneaks into our lives in ways we do not detect, and camouflages his actions so that we mistake his deception for fulfilling opportunities. But the difference between Satan and a lion is that Satan does not always have to run after us; many times Satan leads us to a place where we render ourselves helpless and defeated.

Not every opportunity is from God. Satan can open doors as well. In fact, he loves to consume our time with good opportunities so we miss the great opportunities God has for us. God wants us to enjoy a full, abundant life of freedom. But we will never experience that fullness as long as there is a gap between our priorities and commitments.

God desires to bring out the best in us. Arranging our priorities based on God's Word will help to keep us out of the bondage of Satan's grasp and in the freedom of Christ's plan for our lives, discovering our true potential.

The race of time!

There are several companies that have made a fortune tapping into a resource everyone has, but few use to the best of their ability. They do not create more of this resource, although many customers feel that they come close. In fact, they really have no more claim to this precious commodity than anyone else. But what these companies have capitalized on is the management of this resource: time.

Through various forms of calendars, day planners and organizers, companies like Franklin Covey and Day-Timer help people to maximize the limited time they have. The goal is not literally to create more time. That would be impossible. The goal is to use the time each person is allotted to its fullest potential, creating an illusion of having more hours in a day.

God has set a limit on our time. When we run out of time, there is no way to get more. The average person may have 70 to 80 years worth of time available, provided they take appropriate care of their bodies. Even those with an above average life span only have about 100 years. And God wants to accomplish amazing things with that amount of time.

When we truly understand how precious and limited our time is, we are left with the very important decision of what to do with it. When we closely align our God-directed priorities with our biblically-guided commitments, we will find ourselves in tune with what God wants. And that is the best way to ensure we are making perfect use of the time we are given.

"Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16

It makes the world go around!

Have you ever known one of those people who knew just the right thing to say on every occasion? No matter how puzzling the question, they have the right answer. The enemies of Jesus must have viewed him as a silver-tongued genius. Every time they got together to set a verbal trap for Jesus, he had just the right thing to say.

One time Jesus' enemies tried to stump him by asking him to pick one commandment that was above all others. But Jesus had the perfect answer. He started with the priority of a relationship with God. Not just any relationship with God, but an all-encompassing relationship with God—a relationship that touches the deepest parts of who we are and what we desire.

God is also concerned with our relationships with other people. Jesus calls us to have a love for others that goes beyond our selfish nature. We should love others the way we want to be loved.

Our priorities are set by God and reaffirmed by Jesus. Make sure you're following those priorities. And discover just what it means to live life the way God designed it!

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39

Vantage Point

When we talk about priorities, there is no doubt that the first things on our list should be God and then our families. But we tend to get things all mixed-up after that. We tend to spend the remainder of our time working or participating in recreation. And recreation isn't bad, but it should take a back seat to our involvement in the local church.

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
1 Corinthians 12:27

The church is the body of Christ. And every believer is a part of the body. So every believer should hold the church as a priority. When church is not a priority for a believer, they are not only depriving themselves, but also they are depriving the rest of the body.

If you feel stunted in your growth as a Christ-follower, it could be that you have moved the church out of the priority line-up of your life. God placed it there because he knew how it would benefit the church as a whole, and how it would benefit you as an individual as well.