Thursday, October 23, 2014
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C O L O S S I A N S 3 : 1 2 , 1 3
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
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What kind of a world would this be if everyone acted the way we act?
What kind of church would we have if every Christian lived the way we live?
What kind of a family would we have if everyone reacted the way we react?
Honest answers to these thought provoking questions are always in order.
As a young child I tossed a gum wrapper out the car window. Seeing what I had done my father instantly reproved me. He asked, "What if everyone in the nation threw their gum wrappers out their car windows?" He answered his own question to be sure his point was made: "The roads would be littered and the country would be a mess!"
Consider: If everyone acted like Muhammad (the prophet of Islam) what kind of world would this be? If everyone acted like Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism) what kind of world would this be? If everyone acted like Jay Z (the rap star) what kind of a world would this be?
Then think about this: What kind of people would we be if we thought and lived like Jesus?
Suppose we put on His merciful nature?
Suppose we had His kind heart?
Suppose we possessed his humility and meekness?
Suppose we were as longsuffering as He was, and is, and certainly will be?
Suppose we made allowances for the frailties of others as Christ did?
Suppose we were as forgiving as Christ?
And suppose that the awareness that Christ has been so gracious to forgive our offenses, that we freely and anxiously forgave those who offended and quarreled with us?
We relish the thought that Christ has so freely forgiven us. We recoil at the implications of "Forgive us our trespasses, even as we forgive those who have trespassed against us."
Dwight L. Moody once pictured the Lord Jesus saying to Peter:
"Go hunt up the man who put the crown of thorns on my head, and tell him that I love him. Tell him that he can have a crown in my kingdom--one without a thorn!"
"Find the man who spat in my face and preach the Gospel to him. Tell him that I forgive him and that I died to saved him!"
"Find the man who thrust that spear into my side and tell him that there is a quicker way to my heart."
Suppose we were as forgiving as Christ?
C. S. Lewis wrote, "Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive."
At the close of the Second World War, Corrie Ten Boom, herself a captive in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Ravensbruck, was faced with a forgiveness crisis. Her sister had perished at Ravensbruck. The conditions they endured at the hands of their Nazi captors was indescribable. But Corrie felt led to encourage the devastated people of Europe to choose forgiveness over bitterness. Everywhere she went she spoke of God's grace that had sustained her in her darkest hours.
One night as she was speaking she recognized one of men in her audience. He had been a guard at Ravensbruck. He did not recognize her, but she could never forget him. Following her message he approached Corrie. Holding out his hand he testified to God's forgiveness and then he begged her forgiveness. "I wish I could go back and undo those years. I can't. But I've been prompted by God to come tonight and ask you, would you forgive me?"
Corrie said it was a moment that seemed like an eternity. Her mind raced back to the atrocities, the death of her sister, and the abuse she had endured in that concentration camp. She inwardly cried, "Jesus help help me. I can lift my hand, but you will have to do the rest." The Holy Spirit prompted her, "What have you been telling everyone else to do? As an act of your will, will you choose to forgive?"
She reached out to him and said, "I forgive you brother! with all my heart." She later testified, "It was like a dam broke loose--all the bitterness and resentment--and God set me free...You never touch the ocean of God's love as when you forgive and love your enemies."
Who is our perfect example? Simply Jesus.
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