
This week was a busy one. Busy is such a misnomer. The week flew by but, as I was in it, it seemed to go by so slow. Today was the first day I checked voice mail and I had 10 voice mails since last Monday. The week was full of the usual demands plus babies getting up several times a night-all week, One sick child, and embracing everything that reminds me that I am a female which led me to several naps through out the week. (What a run on sentence)
Yet, Home school was filled with lessons about unrepented sin complete with visual (1 wine glass, colored water-via food coloring, and baking soda0. I gave the children examples of offenses and asked what kind of sin it was i.e. lying, defiance, disobedience, etc. Each time they said what it was I poured a little of the water in the glass. Then we talked about what happens when we do not repent of sin. The conclusion was that it bubbles over in us and affects those around us. At that point, I put some baking soda in the glass and the children watched in astonishment as the colored water bubbled over and spilled onto the disposable plastic table cloth.
Isn't it interesting that when we harbor offenses how easily they can turn into bitterness and spill over onto the lives of others. We become irate customers, drivers with road rage, cynical church goers , and angry mamas and papas. How many lives do we infect because of unrepented sin? Countless.
What legacy are we leaving my harboring faults and offenses? How are we connecting with our spouses, our children, our siblings, our parents, our friends when we hold grudges? We will never sufficiently "get back" at another person by holding a grudge. Often the person who has hurt us knowingly or unknowingly for that matter has forgotten the offense or could care less. Yet we will carry the tension in our joints and other parts of our bodies not to mention torment ourselves and hold ourselves in mental prison unable, to love freely or give freely because we refuse to experience the freedom of forgiveness. Forgiving another person does not mean pretending nothing has happened and becoming best friends. But what it does mean is giving up your right to hate and plot against that person so that you can be free from the prison of anguish the offense has you in. So that you may live your life in freely. Not as a captive. All of this is a process.
The Word of God says that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The only person that you can change is you. You can not require another person to say that they are sorry. Death and Life are in the power of the tongue and although you have been offended you can choose Life, today.
The power of God is available to all who call on His Name in repentance. It does not have to be some grand affair with eloquent speech. God is just looking for a humble heart that says, "Lord, its me, please forgive me".
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