“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
Colossians 3:13 (NLT) Showing grace to others is what God wants us to do, but it’s not always easy because we’re so often focused on ourselves. It’s easier sometimes to be selfish instead of gracious. Maybe you see the slow clerk at the grocery store as an interruption to your day rather than somebody who might be struggling to keep his job—or who just got the worst news of his life. You may see a family member who’s struggling right now as a drain on you rather than someone who feels hopeless over a desperate situation. Or you see the person who cut you off on the freeway as your worst enemy rather than someone in need of God’s love. We all need God’s love. That’s why Jesus Christ came into this world. He came to show people grace. The ultimate way God does this is through forgiveness. And the ultimate way he asks you to show grace to other people is by forgiving them. Colossians 3:13 says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (NLT). People often ask, “How can I find the strength to forgive? I don’t have it in me.” None of us do! The only place you might find the strength to forgive is in remembering how much Jesus has forgiven us. When remembering that, then he gives us the strength and grace to forgive others. Clara Barton, who founded the Red Cross, was reminded by a friend of an especially cruel thing that someone had done to her years before. Barton seemed not to recall it, and the friend asked, “Don’t you remember?” Her famous reply was, “No, I distinctly remember forgetting it.” What do you need to forget? If you don’t forgive, you’re not going to enjoy God’s vision for the rest of your life, because unforgiveness will keep you stuck in the past. When it seems impossible—when you feel like you can’t be gracious toward someone—remember this: Jesus forgave you. Remembering the grace God has shown you will give you the strength to be gracious to and forgive others.
0 Comments
“[Moses] chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.”
Hebrews 11:25 (NIV) If you’re going to be good at anything—if you’re going to have long-term gain—you’ve got to accept short-term pain. Anybody who’s ever played sports knows this. To end up in a championship game, you’ve got to work hard and practice for long hours. But it’s not just true in sports. It’s true in finances and in relationships. To have a good marriage, sometimes it takes working hard at it for years. It doesn’t come easy. To make your marriage work, you’ve got to work at it, just like anything else in life. Many of your problems come from your inability to delay gratification. Society teaches you to say, “I want everything, and I want it now. And I want it to be free and easy.” But life doesn’t work like that! To experience long-term gain, you have to make a choice, like Moses did: “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25 NIV). He chose to be mistreated—to endure the short-term pain for the long-term gain of doing the right thing. Pain is part of life. And if you choose to do the hard thing right now and put in the effort to learn and grow, to become strong and mature, then later in life you will benefit from it. For example, some people are benefiting right now from decisions they made earlier in life not to spend more than they made—to save, tithe, and honor God. They’re benefiting many years later because they were disciplined and did the hard thing first. When you choose the short-term pain like Moses did, you’ll see God deliver you so that you can enjoy the long-term reward. “Then the people of Judah said, ‘The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall.’”
Nehemiah 4:10 (GW) Discouragement is curable. When you get discouraged, you might head straight to the book of Nehemiah. This great leader of ancient Israel understood there were four reasons for discouragement. First, you get fatigued. You simply get tired as the laborers did in Nehemiah 4:10: “Then the people of Judah said, ‘The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can’t continue to rebuild the wall’” (GW). Human beings wear out. You can’t burn the candle at both ends. If you’re discouraged, you may not have to change anything major in your life. You may just need rest! Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed. Second, you get frustrated. Nehemiah says there was rubble all around, so much so that it was getting in the way of rebuilding the wall. Do you have “rubble” in your life? Have you noticed that anytime you start doing something new, the rubble (the frustrations that keep you from working toward your goal) starts piling up? If you don’t clean it out periodically, it will stop your progress. You can’t avoid it, so you need to learn to recognize it and dispose of it quickly so that you don’t lose focus on your goals. Third, you think you’ve failed. Nehemiah’s people were unable to finish their task as quickly as originally planned, and, as a result, their confidence collapsed. They thought, “We were stupid to think we could ever rebuild this wall.” But you know what I do when I don’t reach a goal on time? I just set a new goal. I don’t give up. Everybody fails; everybody does foolish things. The issue is not that you failed; it’s how you respond to your failure. Do you give in to self-pity? Do you start blaming other people? Do you start complaining that it’s impossible? Or do you refocus on God’s intentions and start moving again? Finally, you give in to fear. Giving in to fear leads to discouragement. Nehemiah 4 suggests that the people most affected by fear are those who hang around negative people. To control the negative thoughts in your life, avoid negative people as much as you can. Maybe you’re discouraged because of fear and you say, “I can’t handle this. It’s too much responsibility.” Maybe it’s the fear of criticism. Or you think you don’t deserve to succeed. Fear will destroy your life if you let it. But you can choose to resist the discouragement by saying, “God, help me get my eyes off the problem and the circumstances and keep my eyes on you.” You don’t have to stay stuck in your discouragement. Ask God to help you figure out the reason for it, address it, and start moving forward in confidence. “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For, ‘In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.'"
Hebrews 10:36-37 (NIV) If you’re discouraged because of God’s delay in answering your prayers, understand the delay is not a denial. Just because the answer or the miracle hasn’t come yet doesn’t mean God isn’t going to answer—or that he’s forgotten you or doesn’t care about you. It simply means “not yet”! Part of becoming spiritually mature is learning the difference between “no” and “not yet,” between a denial and a delay. The Bible tells us, “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37 NIV). God’s delay may be a test of your patience. Anybody can be patient once. And most people can be patient twice—or even three times. God tests your patience over and over. Does he do this to see how patient you are? No, he does it so you can see how patient you are. His testing helps you to see God’s power at work in you and to determine your level of commitment to him. God tests you also so that you can know he is faithful, even if the answers you seek are delayed. You may be going through difficult times right now. You may be discouraged because the situation you face seems unmanageable, unreasonable, or unfair. It may seem unbearable, and inside you’re basically saying, “God, I can’t take it anymore. I just can’t take it anymore!” But you can. You can stay with it longer because God is with you. He’ll equip you to press on. Remember, you are never a failure until you quit. Resist discouragement, and finish the race God has set before you. “By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ."
Galatians 6:2 (NCV) When you go through major disappointments in life, it’s natural to want to pull back and isolate yourself. You want to handle it yourself. You want to keep your losses, failures, mistakes, and crises a secret. You want to withdraw. But this is a terrible idea! When you go through disappointment, that’s when you need your friends the most. God doesn’t intend for you to handle pain and stress by yourself. It’s healthiest to accept help from others. We were wired for each other. We need each other. We’re relational beings. One of the first things God said in the Garden of Eden was, “It isn’t good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18 TLB). We’re made to be in relationships. Job 6:14 says, “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (ESV). There will be times in your life when you are in so much pain, you will say, “I don’t even believe in God right now!” You need to have friends who will come alongside you and encourage you in your belief. There will come a time when you’ll say, “I don’t have any faith right now. I’m full of doubt.” The Bible says, “By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 NCV). What is the law of Christ? It’s this: Love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible commands us to help each other. Every time you help somebody who’s going through pain, you are fulfilling the law of Christ. Trying to handle trouble by yourself will only make you more tired and stressed. You need to accept the help of others and let your friends carry you through it, knowing that God is with you all the way. He is at work in your circumstances, even when you can’t see what he’s doing. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1 (NRSV) Dictionaries usually define “conviction” as a fixed or strong belief—but conviction is much more than that. In addition to your beliefs, your convictions include your values, commitments, and motivations. It's been said, “A belief is something you will argue about. A conviction is something you will die for.” Your convictions determine your conduct. They motivate you to take a stand and act according to your values. When you first become a Christian, you often do things simply because Christians around you suggest or model them. You may pray, read the Bible, and attend church services because of their example. This is fine for a new Christian; little children learn the same way. However, as you grow, you must eventually develop your own reasons for doing what you do. Those reasons become convictions. Biblical convictions are essential for spiritual growth and maturity. Ironically, many people today have strong convictions about minor issues, like football or fashion. At the same time, they have weak convictions about major issues—like what is right and what is wrong. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (NRSV). Developing strong, biblical convictions takes time and commitment. But it’s worth it. In the long run, they’ll help you live a consistent, faith-driven life. “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent."
Acts 18:9 (NIV) As you’re forming your worldview, it’s important to understand God’s stance on three issues that are controversial in many cultures today. Here are three because speaking up about them requires the most courage. Not only will most people disagree with you about these topics, but they will also passionately argue with you. It takes an uncommon courage to stand up against that kind of pressure. There are many parts of the Bible that people don’t have a problem with, such as when we’re told to help the poor. Nobody disagrees with that. But the world hates some parts of Scripture, and that makes it difficult for Christians to stand up for what they know is right. Here are three issues related to sanctity that Christians today need to stand up for. 1. The sanctity of life: God has a purpose for every unborn child. God planned your life before you were born: “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:16 NLT). We are to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves—the unborn, the tens of millions of babies around the world who would be here if they hadn’t been aborted. If I claim to be a Christian, then I must believe that every life is sacred. 2. The sanctity of sex: Sex is only for marriage. Sex is God’s idea. It isn’t dirty or wrong; sex is holy. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral” (Hebrews 13:4 NIV). God’s instructions never change: Premarital sex is unacceptable to God. Living together without being married is unacceptable to God. Adultery is unacceptable to God. Pornography and the objectification of women are unacceptable to God. 3. The sanctity of marriage: One man and one woman for life. That is God’s intended, original design. A lot of people ask, “Well, what about all the polygamy in the Bible?” The Bible telling the truth about something that happened doesn’t mean God approved it. And the Bible is very clear on the issue of marriage: “Haven’t you read . . . that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, ’and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:4-6 NIV). People of goodwill can disagree over many issues in life. For example, the Bible offers no economic recovery plan, so Christians can disagree on that. But, as a follower of Christ, it’s important to line up with what God says about the sanctity of life, sex, and marriage. And you need to have the courage to stand up for them, even when—and especially when—it’s not the popular or politically correct thing to do. “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 10:32 (ESV) In a world full of ideas and beliefs that go against God’s Word, God wants you to have an uncommon courage and stand up for Christ. To do this effectively, you need to develop a Christian worldview. What is a worldview? It’s the filter through which you see and understand the world. Everyone’s filter is a little bit different. Even when we all are looking at the same event, you may see it differently from those around you because of varying worldviews. Your worldview influences how you see everything—including God, yourself, others, the past, the present, the future, money, time, good, and evil. Your worldview influences every choice you make. Every time you make a decision, you look at it through your worldview filter and make your choice based on the beliefs that make up your worldview. It’s crucial, then, that you, as a follower of Jesus, base your worldview on the truth of God’s Word. One national survey found that 62 percent of Americans claim they are “deeply spiritual.” When asked how that spirituality affects their decision making, 31 percent said they make moral choices based on “what feels right and comfortable,” 18 percent on “whatever is best for me,” 14 percent on “whatever causes the least conflict with others,” and only 16 percent on “what God’s Word says.” What does that mean? It means most Christians have a non-Christian worldview. You may be a Christian and headed for heaven, but you can also have a non-Christian worldview because you’ve based it on what you’ve learned from the world and not from God’s Word. Having a strong Christian worldview allows you to stand courageously as a believer—to be someone who stands up and speaks truth. Why does that matter so much? Matthew 10:32-33 says, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (ESV) God expects you, as one of his followers, to stand for his truth. Taking that kind of stand requires an uncommon courage that is only available through a Christian worldview based in the knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. “Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls [into temptation], it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (GNT) God wired us to need accountability. We need each other to break free from our hurts, habits, and hang-ups. So, if you’re serious about breaking free from temptation, you will need the support of others. In fact, once you understand that you can’t change on your own, you’ll be free to see how God is already working to transform your life. And you’ll see how he uses other people to help you change. The truth is, we need each other to grow. Sometimes the thing you want least is the very thing you need most. So you need a friend who checks up on you, and you need a group that supports you. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, “Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls [into temptation], it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him” (GNT). Everyone is tempted. You will never get to a point in your spiritual life where you’re not tempted. In fact, the more mature you become, the more Satan is going to put you on his “most wanted” list. But consider this: If you were more consistent in confessing your temptations to others, you wouldn’t have to confess so many sins. The Bible says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group does something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help make him right again. But be careful, because you might be tempted to sin, too. By helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2 NCV). What’s the law of Christ? Love your neighbor as yourself. How do you love your neighbor as yourself? By helping each other through temptation, by helping others be faithful to their commitments, and by helping them break bad habits and start good ones. That’s the best way you can love your neighbor and obey the law of Christ. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
All
Archives
July 2024
|