Hey you guys!
Praise the Lord. You know what? He is awesome. I may sound like a broken record, but I'm so excited about what He's teaching me, I can't help it.
This is one of my favorite quotes from Amy Carmichael:
"If I cast up a confessed, repented and forsaken sin against another and allow my remembrance of that sin to color my thinking, and feed my suspicions then I know nothing of Calvary's love."
We so often condemn others, when we should be merciful. And why? Why do we feel at liberty to tear others down......to tell them that their sin defines them.......to make them feel that they need to hide their sin. WHERE IS THAT IN THE BIBLE? That makes me so angry. I have been forgiven and set free, what right have I to look down upon ANYONE. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be held accountable....we need that. However, Jesus would be disgusted by us tearing down those that need help. Can we please get over our self-righteousness and get onto helping one another? If you don't have any sin, then stop reading, this doesn't apply to you. But if you do, if you're like me and you're not perfect.....then.......
This scripture has been on my heart the last few days. It amazes me.
"Luke 7:49-43
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
Do you see the significance of this passage? The man who was forgiven more, loved more. He had more compassion, he had more understanding of the grace of God, and so he had a greater ability of how to extend that grace to others.
That is the beauty of grace. Do we want to sin? No. Do we need to stop sinning? Of course! But praise the Lord that he turns our ashes into beauty! He takes our sin and uses it to teach us to love more deeply, to extend more grace to one another.....if I had not experienced sin and all its vices how could I extend grace to others? So I hate sin. It's horrible....but I'm thankful for how I learn from it. I'm thankful that my sin, as terrible as it is, has been used by the Lord to change me and to give me a heart for others.
Self-righteousness and judgment are replaced with compassion and mercy in light of the cross. Praise him.
2 comments:
"if I had not experienced sin and all its vices how could I extend grace to others?" - to balance that I would add that it is still better to not have to suffer the consequences of sin. The fact that we can extend grace is an artifice of our sinful nature; if we don't extend grace, what that means is that we are denying our sinful nature.
Love, Daddy-O
"if I had not experienced sin and all its vices how could I extend grace to others?"
I would query the assumption behind that question; if God can extend grace to others, and God has not experienced sin, experience of sin needn't be necessary to extend grace.
Being forgiven gives a perspective on forgiveness that can be an impetus to forgive others, but its not necessary.
Better to avoid sin altogether - it won't hinder one's ability to forgive.
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