Read Matthew 5:38-48.
I know that this passage can seem to be more about loving others, but it speaks volumes about forgiveness. You see, forgiving others and loving others goes hand-in-hand.
It’s hard to forgive people who have hurt you, disappointed you, brought evil upon you, your family, your church, or even your homeland – but there’s a reason that Jesus calls us to do it. Ultimately, it’s more about us than it is about them. Our unwillingness to forgive (and the bitterness it causes in us) is a disease that will totally destroy our lives.
Jesus not only teaches us to forgive, but He empowers us to forgive – even those who have hurt us deeply – and the reason might be shocking: Forgiveness and love for even our enemies brings true and lasting freedom into our lives.
What principles come out of this passage that we need to learn and hold on to? And what change will they bring to our lives?
Retaliation
You’ve heard it said: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
The OT law was intended to limit revenge so that retaliation would fit the crime – Jesus said that those who follow Him must go even further. He taught us to not seek after revenge, and to forgive rather than to seek retaliation.
But this goes directly against all of our natural impulses! “Hurt me, I’ll hurt you!”
Why does Jesus teach this? Because we are to be people who seek after the good of even those who wrong us. You see, Jesus doesn’t call us to be better than everyone else (“the world”) – He calls us to be totally different. By loving and forgiving, we not only free ourselves, but we teach the rest of the world what it means to live as part of God’s kingdom.
Generosity
“Let him have your cloak also;” “Go with him two.”
At this time, Roman soldiers could legally force Jews to help them carry things for a set distance. Jesus told His followers to not let their oppressors destroy their Christian love – which should go even beyond what the law demanded.
Our generosity shouldn’t be based on the attitude or reaction of others, but it should reflect to them the love and grace that God so generously gives to us.
Jesus teaches us to not put material gain above human need. Why? Because material things can steal your heart away from God – and material things end up being the biggest traps for us in holding bitterness toward other people. But material things are not worth hurting someone else!
Hate
“…and hate your enemy.”
Some teachers of the law argued that the command to love our neighbor implied permission to hate our enemies. But Jesus teaches that we should love like God loves. That it shouldn’t be limited to those who love us, but should include even those who hate us and seek evil for us.
Now that’s a different kind of life! And we must remember that love doesn’t just involve how we feel about people, but it goes beyond feelings! Love includes actions that are in the best interest of others.
God
“He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good.”
God seeks after the good of all people – and the ultimate good comes in knowing Him. When we seek after the good of all people (even those who hurt us) by loving and forgiving, it is a witness to them of who He is.
All people, including us, will have no excuses for any evil that we’ve done, and for the unforgiveness in our hearts. See, we must begin taking on the character of God – and living as His people in the world around us. But how do we do this? By love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace.
Life
“For if you…” “Therefore you shall be perfect.”
The last thing we must remember is that this must be a life-characteristic. Not something we do once, but someone that we become as we go through life. In saying that, we realize that it isn’t someone we become in one day – it takes time, and the experiences of life are what God uses to mold us into that type of person.
You should be perfect – He says… this means “complete” or “mature” – we are to go on to maturity, and we are to live as mature Christians.
What unforgiveness does, is that it keeps us from being mature – it keeps us from taking on the character of Christ, and living as a witness to the world around us. (Witness – root word is same as for “martyr”)
But when we forgive, when we love even those who desire evil for us – when we can have someone spit in our face and still love them through the anger that wants to rise up in our bodies – then we know that we are becoming like Him (the One who prayed “Father forgive them”).
Last Thoughts
That’s where I want to be – I want to be more and more like Him – even when that means giving up my anger, my unforgiveness, my bitterness toward those who have wronged me.
This isn’t an easy thing. It takes time, determination, and learning to lean on and rely on Jesus every step of the way. But the only way you will experience true freedom, and true maturity, and begin living the life that He has for you is if you learn to let it all go.
Will you let it go?
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Love won, and love still wins.
John 13:34-35 (NRSV):
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" - Jesus.
"Love wins." That's what the bumper-sticker says. When Rob Bell's church, Mars Hill, first started growing at a rapid pace, that became their mantra, so-to-speak, or, as most of us would call it these days, their "mission statement."
Love wins. It's the truth, and the reality of what it means to follow Jesus. But, honestly, if we are going to understand this statement in it's full truth, we must clarify what it means to "win."
Our Culture
We live in the culture of glamour, success, beauty, and instant gratification. We root for the championship winning teams (at least those of us who aren't Cubs fans), our kids get a trophy at the end of the season even if they lose, and the latest heretical crap book from Joel Osteen is sitting on our coffee table.
To us, it would be easy to misinterpret "love wins" to mean that it will be easy, bring success, and always result in a warm-fuzzy feeling on the inside. Of course, love could never bring us harm, right?
Ask God
Well, ask God to show you a picture of what it means to have victory, to always love, and to win. Go ahead, ask, and He will bring before your eyes and astonishing sight: His Son, naked, bruised, beaten, bloodied, and dying, suffering indescribable pain, hanging on a dirty Roman cross.
You see, at the cross, love won. And love still wins, even though it may cost us everything.
May you see that you are called to love - and, as you do, may you remember that it will often result in your being able to say, with St. Paul, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Gal. 6:17 NKJV). And may you understand that this is what it's all about, because bringing heaven to earth doesn't come easy.
"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" - Jesus.
"Love wins." That's what the bumper-sticker says. When Rob Bell's church, Mars Hill, first started growing at a rapid pace, that became their mantra, so-to-speak, or, as most of us would call it these days, their "mission statement."
Love wins. It's the truth, and the reality of what it means to follow Jesus. But, honestly, if we are going to understand this statement in it's full truth, we must clarify what it means to "win."
Our Culture
We live in the culture of glamour, success, beauty, and instant gratification. We root for the championship winning teams (at least those of us who aren't Cubs fans), our kids get a trophy at the end of the season even if they lose, and the latest heretical crap book from Joel Osteen is sitting on our coffee table.
To us, it would be easy to misinterpret "love wins" to mean that it will be easy, bring success, and always result in a warm-fuzzy feeling on the inside. Of course, love could never bring us harm, right?
Ask God
Well, ask God to show you a picture of what it means to have victory, to always love, and to win. Go ahead, ask, and He will bring before your eyes and astonishing sight: His Son, naked, bruised, beaten, bloodied, and dying, suffering indescribable pain, hanging on a dirty Roman cross.
You see, at the cross, love won. And love still wins, even though it may cost us everything.
May you see that you are called to love - and, as you do, may you remember that it will often result in your being able to say, with St. Paul, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Gal. 6:17 NKJV). And may you understand that this is what it's all about, because bringing heaven to earth doesn't come easy.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Innocence Lost
If you think about it, there was a time in our childhood, each one of us, where we were still innocent to the wickedness, sorrow, hurt, and evil found in life. For some of us, the end of this innocence came earlier than for others; but, all of us, at some point, found this innocence shattered by some act or experience. And I would expect that you can still remember when it happened. When, if you will, you woke up to the reality of the world in which we live.
The transition from Genesis 2 to Genesis 3 is very unique. At the end of Genesis 3, we see the man, Adam (which, literally means “man”), and the yet unnamed woman, enjoying life in the paradise of Eden, being “naked” and yet “feeling no shame” (which is symbolic of innocence of the purest form).
Suddenly, however, a new character enters the scene in Genesis 3, symbolized in the story as a serpent. This character brings into the story a temptation to be disobedient to the commands that God has given man and woman. Once this temptation takes effect, the woman and man commit an act of disobedience, which results in “their eyes being opened.” Now, it isn’t that their eyes were not open before, but something evil has taken root in their minds – they now have a sense of shame, which is seen in how they “realize” their nakedness, and hide from God.
Now, they aren’t ashamed of their bodies, they are ashamed of who they have become. And, they are attempting to hide who they truly are (their true selves) from God. The point that is seen, in looking at the text this way, is that we cannot, however, hide our true self from God. He knows us, completely.
You see, we still play this game today. We put on a front, we paint ourselves as someone that we aren’t, and we are ashamed of who we truly are “in the dark” or when we are totally honest with ourselves and others.
The point of this story is that we fail – we all eat the fruit. There comes a day when our innocence is shattered, and the world never quite looks the same again. So, we cover ourselves, and hide ourselves, and sometimes this continues to the place where even we can’t figure out who we are anymore. We suffer under the consequences of our disobedience.
But God’s work is a work of restoration.
He didn’t destroy man and woman. In fact, He cared for them so much that He even personally clothed them, and set in motion a plan to eventually restore fallen humanity to our proper place: paradise. Though we’ve failed, God set in motion a plan to show the fullness of His love, and His forgiveness, to us, culminating an unknown number of years later on a hill called Golgotha, where the punishment for our own disobedience was poured out, not on us, but on the one who took our place – God’s very own son – Jesus. The one who never lost his innocence took the place of all those who did.
It’s here, on this hill, that God’s work of restoration reaches its fulfillment. The King of God’s kingdom is coronated. And the restoration that humanity had so desperately hoped for is initiated.
The transition from Genesis 2 to Genesis 3 is very unique. At the end of Genesis 3, we see the man, Adam (which, literally means “man”), and the yet unnamed woman, enjoying life in the paradise of Eden, being “naked” and yet “feeling no shame” (which is symbolic of innocence of the purest form).
Suddenly, however, a new character enters the scene in Genesis 3, symbolized in the story as a serpent. This character brings into the story a temptation to be disobedient to the commands that God has given man and woman. Once this temptation takes effect, the woman and man commit an act of disobedience, which results in “their eyes being opened.” Now, it isn’t that their eyes were not open before, but something evil has taken root in their minds – they now have a sense of shame, which is seen in how they “realize” their nakedness, and hide from God.
Now, they aren’t ashamed of their bodies, they are ashamed of who they have become. And, they are attempting to hide who they truly are (their true selves) from God. The point that is seen, in looking at the text this way, is that we cannot, however, hide our true self from God. He knows us, completely.
You see, we still play this game today. We put on a front, we paint ourselves as someone that we aren’t, and we are ashamed of who we truly are “in the dark” or when we are totally honest with ourselves and others.
The point of this story is that we fail – we all eat the fruit. There comes a day when our innocence is shattered, and the world never quite looks the same again. So, we cover ourselves, and hide ourselves, and sometimes this continues to the place where even we can’t figure out who we are anymore. We suffer under the consequences of our disobedience.
But God’s work is a work of restoration.
He didn’t destroy man and woman. In fact, He cared for them so much that He even personally clothed them, and set in motion a plan to eventually restore fallen humanity to our proper place: paradise. Though we’ve failed, God set in motion a plan to show the fullness of His love, and His forgiveness, to us, culminating an unknown number of years later on a hill called Golgotha, where the punishment for our own disobedience was poured out, not on us, but on the one who took our place – God’s very own son – Jesus. The one who never lost his innocence took the place of all those who did.
It’s here, on this hill, that God’s work of restoration reaches its fulfillment. The King of God’s kingdom is coronated. And the restoration that humanity had so desperately hoped for is initiated.
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