One of the many lessons in my life that I have had to painfully learn,
time and time again, is that the person most negatively affected by
my unwillingness to forgive someone... is me. When the pain becomes
great enough; when the suffering becomes unbearable; when I become so miserable that no one wants to be around me; only then am
I willing to accept a situation for what it is. Only then am I willing to
begin the process of forgiveness towards another.
Genuine forgiveness must always begin within me. I must become willing to accept things for being “the way that they are.” All things occur in God’s world by His design. There are MANY things that happen in our world that I find unacceptable. The tragedies that have affected our church family recently and over the past 6-7 years are difficult to process; to accept. Many situations in the world today are unbearably sad, horrific, evil, unjust and downright tough to comprehend. We live in chaotic times. We do not live in a peaceful world today. So, when I think about what is going on around us and I look to others for hope, I ask myself, “what would God have me do right now?” When I ask Him...when I pray for guidance, the message is always the same. He says, “John, just do the next right thing.” Just DO the next right thing.
Deep down within me, within my soul; that soul of mine that God gave me the day I was conceived, I KNOW what the next right thing is to do. I can hear Him – loud and clear – that doggone “voice” is always consistent, never wavering. He says to me, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” He says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Why, then, do I find it so difficult to follow such simple instructions? I am only human. God made me so. I make mistakes and hold grudges. Yet, He is forever with me, beside me, quietly urging me to remember that true forgiveness must always begin with me.
John Lenhart All Saints’ Family in China
Genuine forgiveness must always begin within me. I must become willing to accept things for being “the way that they are.” All things occur in God’s world by His design. There are MANY things that happen in our world that I find unacceptable. The tragedies that have affected our church family recently and over the past 6-7 years are difficult to process; to accept. Many situations in the world today are unbearably sad, horrific, evil, unjust and downright tough to comprehend. We live in chaotic times. We do not live in a peaceful world today. So, when I think about what is going on around us and I look to others for hope, I ask myself, “what would God have me do right now?” When I ask Him...when I pray for guidance, the message is always the same. He says, “John, just do the next right thing.” Just DO the next right thing.
Deep down within me, within my soul; that soul of mine that God gave me the day I was conceived, I KNOW what the next right thing is to do. I can hear Him – loud and clear – that doggone “voice” is always consistent, never wavering. He says to me, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” He says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Why, then, do I find it so difficult to follow such simple instructions? I am only human. God made me so. I make mistakes and hold grudges. Yet, He is forever with me, beside me, quietly urging me to remember that true forgiveness must always begin with me.
John Lenhart All Saints’ Family in China
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