As a new Christian, I`ve learned a lot about our Lord the
hard way. Like so many others, I thought I knew God, Jesus, and what church and
religion were all about. I had scales over my eyes and a heart that was fooled
into a false sense of security. This is indicative of those that don`t get into
the Word enough to know better. That was me. As I continue to walk with the Lord,
I continue to see and hear more of his word with ears that hear and eyes that
see. My heart of stone has been made into a heart of flesh and I cannot ignore
the truth about the way that Jesus calls us to follow Him as a disciple.
One of the hardest things in life is to let go of the human
ego. I`ve come to believe that there are two necessary victories in the Christian
walk if we are to be more like Jesus: to love the unlovable (and our enemies),
and to have no human ego (true humility). I think these two battles are at the
core of almost every battle we face in our Christian walk. It`s hard to turn
the other cheek when you have busted heads your whole life, or when you have
been abused in the past and don`t trust people. It`s hard to love those that
hurt us or hate us for no apparent reason beyond the imaginary voices in their
heads. Resentments are like our own personal teddy bears that we love to
snuggle and hold. It`s so much easier to resent or remain angry than it is to
love. We nurture these resentments. We cling to them like a treasure chest. In
reality, we drink a poison that we hope kills the person we resent—it kills us,
not them.
“But what if I`m right,” you say; this one is the hardest of
the hard. I`ve seen people that have been Christians for decades that cannot
take an honest look in the mirror and see their own flaws; however, they are
darn good at seeing flaws in others. Even if we are right, even if we have been
wronged, we must forgive. We don`t have to forget, but it sure helps in the
forgiveness department. Justifiable anger is a tough customer; it`s where the rubber
meets the road. It`s the hardest thing to forgive someone when we have a
justifiable reason to be angry with them. Jesus shows us that this is a true
test of maturity. He says even the tax collectors love those who love them
(Mathew 5:46).
Jesus says many things about forgiveness. For example, He
says we must forgive seventy times seven (Mathew 18:21-22). He says that we
shall be forgiven in the same way we forgive (Mathew 6:14). In addition, He
left us with two things before He ascended to the Father: we are to share the
gospels throughout the entire world (the great commission), and we are to love
the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and love our neighbors as
we do ourselves (The new commandment).
If we are not able to do these things, we are not truly living
in the will of the Father or the freedom of Christ.
I`ve had to take a hard look in the mirror at myself. I`m
not ashamed to admit this. I`ve been called to share the Gospels of Jesus. I`m
a writer and I`ve asked God to show me how to glorify His Kingdom with my
writing. His answer to me was to share truth. I`m to share experiences and
thoughts that I have dealt with in the hope of helping another brother, sister,
or someone that doesn’t know Christ to relate and see the truth.
The wonderful thing about a life of pain, and over indulged pleasures,
is that on the other side—when Jesus saves us—we have a lot to share. Our
greatest tragedies become our greatest assets in winning people to the Lord. I
have been particularly rebellious in my life so I have a lot of mistakes to
share. I`ve been through a lot of mine fields and I can show others how to step
past the mines in the fields of life.
God has called on me to look in the mirror and make sure
that I learn, above all else, to love those who persecute me and to drop my ego
at the foot of the cross. Humble pie is very tasty once you see its true
nutritional value.
Most people enjoy giving advice; however, they detest taking
advice. They like to hold a mirror up to show you your much-needed changes, and
yet, they hate to look in the mirror themselves. Being able to admit we are
wrong is a great show of maturity in our walk with Christ. Then, when we have learned
to use this act of humility to find our true selves, we begin to learn to be more
careful to hold our tongues and to watch our actions. We get tired of falling
on our face before God asking His forgiveness for the same old garbage and we
change our behavior. He is patient and kind. His mercy is beyond my
comprehension.
This has been my walk. I`m in the midst of learning how to
forgive those people that I may never like but that I have to love. I`m
learning to forgive those that have wronged me and to smash resentment. I`m
seeing that the only thing that matters in this world is my relationship to Jesus,
my wife, and my family; the only goal worth pursuing is to share the Gospel
with others. Lord…strip me of all other desires!
To those of you that read this—God bless you. I love and
appreciate you. I hope this helped you as much as it did me. I hope you`ll
share this post with others. SWB
No comments:
Post a Comment