Ephesians 4:32 (NLT) Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
I spent quite a bit amount of time praying and thinking about this assignment about forgiveness. I have to say this though; I have been working the 12 steps of recovery for 19 years now and part of the program has a step built in that is to make amends whenever I was wrong. Step 8 is Made a list of all people we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Step 9 is Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. So as much as possible, if I am working " my program" a term used in recovery. I should be continually addressing issues that I am aware of. Of course sometimes things get pointed out that I am unaware of, but hopefully not very often. This has been an ongoing process in my life and have really noticed when I am working my program and when I am not. I draw close to Jesus when I am working on me. The one thing that I can say is that the forgiving myself has been the most challenging part of my faith and of my program. The enemy stirs up things that I did in my youth, choices that I made that I still come up. For example, a few weeks back I was hired to work at the church. When I filled out my application I needed to also fill out a criminal background check. Well the list of criminal activity and bad choices are still there. They don't ever completely go away. No matter how long it has been, I still am dealing with those choices. That makes it hard to forgive myself.
So tell me a bit more Robert . . . I hear you saying 'no one came to mind' after spending some time in prayer about forgiveness? Yes? If so, praise God. I was listening to a sermon by A.W. Tozer the other day and he basically said, "There isn't anyone in my life that I know about with whom I have unfinished business." His point was that he deals with relationship breaches and disconnects as they pop up. Is that how you go about things too? If so, I'm blessed to hear that, because I think for the most part, we bury our conflicts with others and secretly hope they go away, avoiding conflicts as much as possible. Love to hear your thoughts on this. Steve PS Did you receive my email response last night about Isabel's appointment? Let me know if you'd like to talk about this more. Always open to the conversation.
ReplyDeleteFor those blessed with the desire to hold themselves to high standards often comes the difficult task of forgiving oneself. Your faith, and the way you actively live out that faith is truly inspiring Robert and I pray that as you continue to lead others on you will be able to remember how much God loves and accepts you, faults and all.
ReplyDeleteThanks Robert, your thoughts are authentic and that makes them meaningful and beneficial, as they remind me of the simple need to forgive as we go.
I am always so impressed with your character. You're hilarious, an amazing father, a man of his word, a servant, and devoted to Christ. I appreciate your honesty in this.
ReplyDeleteIt is encouraging to me to see how your testimony overflow so much into your ministry, Robert. I think you are serving the the perfect place for you. I am excited to see where the next 4 years in school takes you, and to hear more stories from your ministry. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteRobert. I like you. I like your honesty. I like the story you have and the places that God has taken you. I think it's cool that we are constantly learning and these things on forgiveness of others, and ourselves are something we are constantly working on. Proud of you, Robert. Thanks so much!
ReplyDelete