Journey into Light

I am excited! God has changed me- for the good!

Let me explain.

There are so many commands in the Bible that are just impossible to obey without becoming a different person. One of these is to forgive others as God has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32).

I knew that not forgiving others would eat me alive. Not forgiving would cause me to struggle with bitterness and living close to God.

Yet, I wanted revenge for the actions committed by someone who had wronged me. Forgiving was far from what I wanted to do. As a result, I sensed I had to become a different person to forgive.

So, I began to pray daily that God would give me his love and forgiveness for this person. I also reflected on how much I needed God to relate to me in his love and forgiveness.

Then, the other day I unexpectantly met this person for the first time in several months. I was surprised to find that I had no bitterness towards him. Instead, I was glad to see him and felt God’s love and compassion for him.

This was definitely not the old me. This was a new me created by a work of God in my heart.

So, what can we learn from this example?

One teaching is that we cannot live the Christian life by staying the same and trying harder. Improved behavior without change inwardly is being a hypocrite.  “You are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside are full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27).

Another teaching is perseverance. We cannot just listen to truth and expect that God is going to do all the work to enable us to live that truth.

My growth in forgiveness was a process that required me to pray daily and to do a number of soul-searching exercises. God does the miracle of changing us but he does require us to persevere in cooperating with him.

A third teaching from this example is that God wants us to relate to others with mercy. He does not want us to demand justice for others.

I tend to want mercy for myself, but justice for others. But God says “bear with others, forgiving others who you have a complaint against, as I have forgiven you” (Colossians 3:13).

Who do you need to forgive? I encourage you to talk to God about what he wants you to do. He will give you the power to love and forgive this person as you persevere (Luke 8:15).