THE LOOK OF LOVE, pt 6

"You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" (Matt. 5:43-44 NLT)

"When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day. Do not give the devil a way to defeat you." (Eph. 4:26-27 NCV)

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (James 1:19-20 NIV)

"[Love] is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." (1 Cor. 13:5 NIV) 

Interesting how one's countenance changes when they're not easily angered or keeping record of wrongs.

Kinda looks like love to me. Don't you agree?

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

REACTIONS SPEAK VOLUMES

What do you do when someone has done you so wrongly that you want to do them harm instead of showing grace? Steph, Gab and I are dealing with just such an issue, and we have been for several months now. In order to preserve my family's privacy, I won't go into detail about this issue. However, I will say that it gets more and more difficult to forgive the more we deal with it.

Jesus said to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." (Matt. 5:44-45a - NIV) I'm finding that more and more difficult to do every time I'm wronged. Jesus answered that one, too:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
(Matt. 18:21-22 - NIV)

What an incredibly difficult concept to grasp when you're in the heat of the battle.

Maybe this video will help us understand the concept a little better:


How easy is it for you to forgive, and how often do you practice it?

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

Wise Words from Max Lucado

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,...who walk according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 (NKJV)

Does the Word of God say, "There is limited condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"? No.

Does it say, "There is some condemnation..."? No.

It says, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Think of it--regardless of our sin, we are not guilty!

From: Everyday Blessings
Copyright (J. Countryman, 2004)
Max Lucado

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

In the Words of C. S. Lewis

I just finished reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis and found it to be incredibly insightful and, though written in the early 1950's, very relevant. Here's an excerpt from chapter 7 entitled "Forgiveness."

I have often thought to myself how it would have been if, when I served in the First World War, I and some young German had killed each other simultaneously and found ourselves together a moment after death. I cannot imagine that either of us would have felt any resentment or even any embarrassment. I think we might have laughed over it.
I imagine somebody will say, 'Well, if one is allowed to condemn the enemy's acts, and punish him, and kill him, what difference is left between Christian morality and the ordinary view?' All the difference in the world. Remember, we Christians think man lives for ever. Therefore, what really matters is those little marks or twists on the central, inside part of the soul which are going to turn it, in the long run, into a heavenly or hellish creature. We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. We may punish if necessary, but we must not enjoy it. In other words, something inside us, the feeling of resentment, the feeling that wants to get one's own back, must simply be killed. I do not mean that anyone can decide this moment that he will never feel it any more. That is not how things happen, I mean that every time it bobs its head up, day after day, year after year, all our lives long, we must hit it on the head. It is hard work, but the attempt is not impossible. Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves - to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not.
I admit that this means loving people who have nothing lovable about them. But then, has oneself anything lovable about it? You love it somply because it is yourself. God intends us to love all selves in the same way and for the same reason: but He has given us the sum ready worked out in our own case to show us how it works. We have then to go on and apply the rule to all the other selves. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves. For really there is nothing else in us to love: creatures like us who actually find hatred such a pleasure that to give it up is like giving up beer or tobacco...

"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part."
(Matt. 6:14-15, The Message)

Peace, Love, and Chocolate