Contrast

Ephesians 4:31-32  Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

There was a young soldier in Napoleon’s army who committed an offense worthy of death. The day before he was scheduled for the firing squad, the young man’s mother went to Napoleon and asked him to show mercy for her son. Napoleon harshly replied, “Woman, your son does not deserve mercy.” “I know,” the mother answered. “If he deserved it, then it would not be mercy.

Have you been hurt? I have, and I’m sure you have. Do you still have ill will or even hatred for the person who did it? That is the way the world handles anger and bitterness. They hold it against the other person and try their best to destroy them. It almost never works.

What a contrast between how the world handles pain and how Christians are called to handle hurt. Get rid of the pain, the bitterness, the need for revenge, and instead forgive, love and be kind.

Our flesh cries out, “No way, Jerry! You don’t know what they did to me.” You are right, I don’t, but God does. And God says forgive them. God says to love them the way He loved you.

How does God love us? God loves us eternally, sacrificially, and he forgives us without remembering.

You can’t do this on your own. It is only as you go to God and lay all of the hurt, anger and bitterness at His feet that you can find the grace, mercy, and intestinal fortitude to forgive.

You don’t have to forgive, but holding on to the pain and hurt is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.

Remember this: if God commands it, He will provide you the strength to do it. All you have to do is ask.

Today’s Readings: Ecclesiastes 7-9; Ephesians 4