Grudges= Bad, Forgiveness=Good, It's Simple Really

While I don't intend to vomit up all the discussion that occurred at my Bible Study last night, I do want to share a few short points about forgiveness.

We are currently reading the Philip Yancey book What's So Amazing about Grace? and just completed a chapter about how to forgive. I discovered something ugly about myself: I tend to hold grudges. I think about all the injustices that have occurred in my life and I plot in my head how to confront people and make them feel awful about what they did to me. Of course, almost none of the scenarios ever actually play out. But I have a suspicion that God would prefer if I spent my time thinking of other things besides revenge and witty comebacks.

What really happens when I spend my time plotting revenge, holding grudges, and generally pouting, is that I poison myself. Instead, I could pray for God's help, forgive that person, and allow healing to occur. Well, easier said than done. Especially, as someone in Bible Study noted, when there is a "repeat offender" in your life who hurts you consistently with little or no remorse.

My new strategy for dealing with my desire to NOT forgive is to go to Psalm 130. It will kick your butt when you feeling unwilling to forgive.

Go ahead, give forgiveness that you have been withholding.
Go ahead, ask for forgiveness from someone you have wronged.
Go ahead, let the healing begin.

Where Have all the "Real" Christians Gone?

God startled me the other day.

I began my week attending a church service with Josh McDowell as the speaker. He was, as always, profoundly convicting and stirringly concise as he explained that it was “just stupid” that Christians are unable to answer simple questions like, “Why are you a Christian?” As a whole, our inability to communicate the facts regarding the existence of God is depressing. I took Mr. McDowell’s challenge to read 15 minutes of his popular and often updated book New Evidence for Christianity each day, to help me express my beliefs more affectively, particularly with non-believers.

Unfortunately, while waiting for his book to arrive in the mail, I was confronted by a non-believer who wanted me to explain why I am a Christian. Very funny, Lord.

This young lady explained that she was writing a paper in her philosophy class and needed the “Christian” perspective about right v. wrong, punishment for sin, etc. So I answered a few easy questions like Can you name the 10 Commandments? and Does God decide what is right and wrong for Christians and non-Christians alike? What troubled me was how impressed she was with my answers. She said she had spoken with many self-proclaimed Christians and not one of them could name more than 2 of the 10 Commandments. When she asked about the Old Testaments “eye for an eye” philosophy of punishment and revenge, she told me I was the first person to mention Christ’s “turn the other cheek” as a more appropriate response for our era. Not one Christian had even mentioned Christ while answering her questions.

This brings me to my crisis point: Where have all the REAL Christians gone?

Call me judgmental, but if you are too ashamed or embarrassed of your faith in Christ, why are you even pretending to be his follower? I have had my moments of weakness or bashfulness. But how does one explain the basis for Christianity without mentioning Christ?

I have a long way to go. But it makes the road so much longer when all around you fellow believers are dropping like flies.

God startled me. The reality is, in a country where the religious majority is allegedly "Christian," the actual number may be much smaller than we think.

Is God Organic?

I was reading a book today that explains how to live an "organic" life. Basically, it tells you what cleaning supplies to use, what chemicals are harmful to the environment, things like that. So as I am reading this book, I am thinking to myself, Is this worth anything to God? I know that reading God's word and spending time in prayer or fellowship is completely worthy of my time. But does God care if I make the environment cleaner? Does he want me to spend my time worrying about whether or not the dishsoap I use is going to corrupt the sewer system, or does he want me to spend my time in other ways. I honestly don't know the answer.

I believe that God gave us this planet to enjoy and care for. I think we should be responsible and do the best we can when it comes to keeping the environment safe. But I am reminded of a few verses that keep coming up in a lot of different contexts. The words of Jesus are so simple, yet so difficult for us to live by. Matthew 6:25-27 & 34 says:

"That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

Why do we spend so much time worrying about what is going to happen to our planet in 20 years? Isn't God in control of that? Yes, we should be responsible. But are we going overboard spending money, time, and resources on things that have no eternal value?

I am Righteous!

I can't get over the fact that God and I are all good.

I was sitting in church a couple months back fully expecting to hear a nice sermon about some well-known passage that I'd heard many times before. Instead, the pastor made scripture come alive for me and changed the way I viewed my status with God.

Romans 5: 1&2 says this: Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. (New Living Translation)

If you just read that and thought, "Yeah, I know" read it again! Think of it, if we accept salvation through Christ, we are made right with God. This means that no matter how much I gossip or yell or act like a fool, I am still right with God. Certainly it delights Him when I bring glory to Him and act in a way that is pleasing to Him, but even when I don't, He still says, "We're okay."

I was talking to a woman recently who is admittedly not the religious sort. She told me that when you weighed all the good things she has done against all of the bad, she wouldn't even make it to the steps of Heaven. This is a great mental picture of what we would look like without grace. We would constantly be taking steps away from Heaven with the occasional good deed that would send us forward briefly. Without Christ, we are all stuck outside of Heaven and the presence of God. But because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we can all be made "right" with God.

I am righteous! Are you?

My Maiden Blog

This blog is really a way for me to get out a lot of my thoughts, concerns, questions, etc. about Christianity and what it means to daily follow the Lord. I hope you will read this blog with an open mind and an open heart. Please send along any questions you have. I hope you learn more about God and the Wonder of knowing Him. If I can do anything to encourage you please let me know.

Lord, thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! -King David (Psalm 139:14)