Family Stories
~~ from Our Daily Bread ~~
God . . . has given us the ministry of reconciliation. -2 Corinthians 5:18
Everybody loves a family story, and today's Bible reading contains one of the most well-known stories in all of Scripture-the Parable of the Lost Son.
Author Henri Nouwen, in his book The Return Of The Prodigal Son, suggests that all Christians, at some point in their walk of faith, are represented by each of the three main characters. At times we are the wayward child in need of repentance and forgiveness. At other times we are the big brother who wants to hold on to resentment and withhold forgiveness. But as we mature, we become like the father, whose highest desire is to have all his children reconciled.
Author Henri Nouwen, in his book The Return Of The Prodigal Son, suggests that all Christians, at some point in their walk of faith, are represented by each of the three main characters. At times we are the wayward child in need of repentance and forgiveness. At other times we are the big brother who wants to hold on to resentment and withhold forgiveness. But as we mature, we become like the father, whose highest desire is to have all his children reconciled.
Nouwen ends the book with these words: "As I look at my own aging hands, I know that they have been given to me to stretch out to all who suffer, to rest upon the shoulders of all who come, and to offer the blessing that emerges from the immensity of God's love."
What role are you playing in your family story? Do you need the courage to repent and seek forgiveness? Or do you need the compassion to extend forgiveness?
God has given His children the "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Now would be a good time to start. -Julie Ackerman Link
Lord, grant me the courage to confess my faults to those
I've offended, and the grace to accept the confessions of
those who have offended me. May I become a minister of
reconciliation to bless my family on Your behalf. Amen.
A right attitude with your family begins with a right attitude toward God.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
God has a funny way of talking to me.. i know im stubborn at times and a normal person would easily give up on me.. but still He finds ways to get through to me..
when i was filled so much hatred towards this particular person.. i would imagine myself strangling him.. not without a chair of course.. as he is twice my height.. =p (yes, i still manage to make myself laugh)
the following day.. i read the article above.. sabi ko kay Lord.. 'i know, i know, masyado kong galit.. e siya kasi e..'
i ask God to help me understand this person's hurtful action towards me.. i may not forgive him at once.. but understanding would take me one step closer..
how can you forgive someone who's not even sorry for what he has done? makes me wanna wish him a miserable life.. *bad jane* *sigh* i just cant simply make myself forget..
and then i found myself reading through some more articles.. and i found this one..
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Does forgiving mean forgetting?
Many people believe that to forgive someone they must first be willing to forget. By this they mean that they must be able to dismiss from their memory the painful events that caused a break in their relationship. In other words, they need to pretend that nothing bad ever happened.
Simply trying to forget the wrongs that are done against us is like spray-painting a rusty old car. It seems like an easy solution at first, but eventually the rust breaks through and the problem is worse than before.
Well-meaning Christians often support the "forgive and forget" model of forgiveness by appealing to God's forgiveness, as in Jeremiah 31:34. In their view, this text means that forgetting precedes forgiving. They say that if we don't forget, we can't forgive.
There is a sense, of course, in which God "forgets" our sins. Once He has forgiven us, He will never use them as evidence against us. But the all-knowing Creator can't forget things in the way that we do. Data can be erased from a computer's magnetic memory, human recollections can be obliterated by time and disability, but all of history is constantly before His gaze. From eternity to eternity, God is the same. The divine Author of Scripture caused the sins of Jacob, Moses, David, Peter, and Paul to be recorded for our benefit. He hasn't forgotten their sins in a historical sense, but they will never be used as grounds for condemnation. It is our sin's debt -- the rightful wages of our sin -- that God "forgets."
God doesn't expect us to wipe the sins of others from our memory. In fact, we probably won't be able to, no matter how hard we try. He certainly wouldn't want us to pretend that we have forgotten things we can't forget. What He desires is that we forgive sins committed against us (Matthew 6:14-15) the way He forgives our much greater sins against Him (Matthew 18:23-35).
It takes greater forgiveness to forgive a grievance that we remember clearly than to forgive a grievance that we have partially forgotten. Merely ignoring our memory of a grievance isn't forgiveness, it's only suppression of anger. Genuine forgiveness, like God's forgiveness, clearly sees the offense and then forgives it by withdrawing the penalty and continuing the relationship. It's natural to deal with our anger by suppressing our memory of an offense, but it's supernatural to remember it clearly and renounce our right to revenge. Revenge must be left in the hands of the only One who is always objective and just (Romans 12:19-21).
-Tim Jackson
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
and He does it again!
i guess, like you guys said.. i should listen more intently to my heart and what His trying to tell me.. =) there's just too much noise at times that His voice becomes garbled..
note to self: find time to listen and reflect..
posted by jane @ 6/09/2006 05:30:00 PM
2 Comments:
I read a story somewhere, a long time ago, of a lady who was killed and raped. The family went to the person who did this to their daughter and extended their forgiveness towards the person. And they said that though they have forgiven, that they will never forget what happened (although they no longer hold a grudge), for their daughter's sake. Something like that. Hehe. It's been too long, I don't remember it na.
Yep, Janey, that's a great idea - to find time and listen. I have to say that I've made plenty of mistakes (that I'm still paying for), when I chose to act without listening intently to what He has to say.
Jane...if you're online and suddenly felt like praying...try visiting this site:
http://www.sacredspace.ie/
It's an online prayer site run by Irish Jesuits. :)
Take care. Mwah!
Post a Comment
<< Home