FORGIVE
by
Christine
Phillips
December
19, 2011
It is so unbelievably
hard to "pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over
again" when you're held prisoner by the past. No matter how badly you want
to forget the past, let your heart heal, and move forward, someone from the
past grabs you by the ankles and jerks you back. You fight and kick, with your
fingernails making scratch marks in the floorboards and your mouth wide open in
a terrified scream, and then your captor throws all your mistakes in your face
like a bucket of acid. How can a person overcome the past when the past is
determined to keep you locked in a dungeon for the rest of your life?
Years go by, and you think it’s okay to poke your
head up out of the hole you’ve been hiding in. Then, like in a crazy game of
Whack-a-Mole, someone pounds you on the head with a sledgehammer and knocks you
back down. You definitely didn’t see that coming. Dazed by the blow, you burrow
deeper into your hole and dread coming back out. Sometimes you just don’t want
to go on any longer. It hurts too much. How many times do you have to apologize
for your mistakes? How much punishment can you endure before it ends up killing
you? Don’t they realize they’re tormenting you, and making you wish you were
dead?
Thankfully, God doesn’t waste time reminding us of our
shortcomings. He forgives them and forgets them, unlike some people who call
themselves Christians and yet have a BIG problem with unforgiveness. He listens
to everything we say. He
doesn't mind that we are needy. Everyone else says to suck it up, and be strong,
but Jesus says, "Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand. When you
feel you're going under, hold tighter to My hand. Lean on Me when your heart
begins to bleed. When you come to the place that I'm all you have, then you'll
find I'm all you need." (See the lyrics to the song at the end of this
post. It’s funny how sometimes a song will pop into your head just when you
need to hear a message from God. That’s what happened to me tonight, and I
wanted to share this song with my readers.)
As Christians, we are obligated
to forgive others when they offend us. If we don’t forgive those who trespass
against us, God will not forgive our
trespasses. We are obligated to show agape love. That’s the selfless love felt
by Christians for their fellow human beings. It’s the kind of love the Apostle
Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s the kind of love we should always
show, especially at Christmas time. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to remember…so
instead of loving people, we end up torturing them with reminders of their
shortcomings and failures. We are not content to let the past remain in the
past. It’s over. Done. Leave it alone. Let the wounded hearts heal. Bind up the
wounds -- don’t keep tearing them open and pouring salt in them. Let each other
move forward and leave the past behind. Forgive.
Below are some quotes shared by
Susie’s Daily Quotes on Facebook.com. I especially like the one by William
Arthur Ward.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give.”
--William Arthur Ward
Please Listen
When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving me advice,
you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way,
you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to do something
to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen!
All I ask is that you listen.
Don't talk or do - just hear me.
Advice is cheap - 20 cents will get you both
Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.
And I can do for myself; I am not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.
When you do something for me that I can
and need to do for myself,
you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
But when you accept as a simple fact
that I feel what I feel, no matter how irrational,
then I can stop trying to convince you
and get about this business of understanding
what's behind this irrational feeling.
And when that's clear, the answers are obvious
and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense
when we understand what's behind them.
Perhaps that's why prayer works - sometimes -
for some people, because God is mute.
and he doesn't give advice or try to fix things.
God just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
So please listen, and just hear me.
And if you want to talk,
wait a minute for your turn,
and I will listen to you.
Author Unknown
When I ask you to listen to me
and you start giving me advice,
you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way,
you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me
and you feel you have to do something
to solve my problem,
you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen!
All I ask is that you listen.
Don't talk or do - just hear me.
Advice is cheap - 20 cents will get you both
Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.
And I can do for myself; I am not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.
When you do something for me that I can
and need to do for myself,
you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
But when you accept as a simple fact
that I feel what I feel, no matter how irrational,
then I can stop trying to convince you
and get about this business of understanding
what's behind this irrational feeling.
And when that's clear, the answers are obvious
and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense
when we understand what's behind them.
Perhaps that's why prayer works - sometimes -
for some people, because God is mute.
and he doesn't give advice or try to fix things.
God just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
So please listen, and just hear me.
And if you want to talk,
wait a minute for your turn,
and I will listen to you.
Author Unknown
Lean On Me
by Gary
Mathena
Verse 1
When no one cared about me if I should live or die,
and no one bothered asking why I'd go alone and cry.
When burdens got so heavy that I could not face the day,
then I'd feel His arms around me and I'd hear Him gently say,
Chorus
Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand.
When you feel you're goin' under, hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed
when you come to the place that I'm all you have,
then you'll find I'm all you need.
Verse 2
When the road ahead seems rugged and the path is getting steep,
I feel that I can’t make it and my heart begins to weep.
Then I turn to see who’s comin’ to join me in the way,
and I see that it’s my Savior and I hear Him gently say,
Chorus
Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand.
When you feel you're goin' under, hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed
when you come to the place that I'm all you have,
then you'll find I'm all you need.
Chorus
Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand.
When you feel you're goin' under, hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed
when you come to the place that I'm all you have,
then you'll find I'm all you need.
I’m all you need.
(Found at www.hymnlyrics.org)
When no one cared about me if I should live or die,
and no one bothered asking why I'd go alone and cry.
When burdens got so heavy that I could not face the day,
then I'd feel His arms around me and I'd hear Him gently say,
Chorus
Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand.
When you feel you're goin' under, hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed
when you come to the place that I'm all you have,
then you'll find I'm all you need.
Verse 2
When the road ahead seems rugged and the path is getting steep,
I feel that I can’t make it and my heart begins to weep.
Then I turn to see who’s comin’ to join me in the way,
and I see that it’s my Savior and I hear Him gently say,
Chorus
Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand.
When you feel you're goin' under, hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed
when you come to the place that I'm all you have,
then you'll find I'm all you need.
Chorus
Lean on Me when you have no strength to stand.
When you feel you're goin' under, hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me when your heart begins to bleed
when you come to the place that I'm all you have,
then you'll find I'm all you need.
I’m all you need.
(Found at www.hymnlyrics.org)
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