Yesterday we began talking about the legal swamp—the tendency of people, and even professing Christians, to march headlong into the mire of courtroom battles, often without any attempt at personal reconciliation. And the longer we’re in the swamp, the more our attitude starts to stink. This is especially true when we choose to press the issue from a strictly legal standpoint.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Forgiveness
The Legal Swamp, Part One
Law never fails to turn me off. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I don’t think we need it . . . it’s just that it leaves me cold. It frowns and demands. It requires and warns and threatens. With a grim glare, it dares us to forget its rules or even think about disobeying its regulations. I know, I know. It protects us. It gives us recourse when we’ve been assaulted or abused.
Read MoreResentment
Leo Held was a paragon of respectability. He was a middle-aged, hard-working lab technician who had worked at the same Pennsylvania paper mill for nineteen years. Having been a Boy Scout leader, an affectionate father, a member of the local fire brigade, and a regular church-goer, he was admired as a model in his community. Until . . .
Read MoreThe Pain of Resentment
LEONARD WAS A PARAGON OF RESPECTABILITY. The middle-aged, hardworking lab technician had worked at the same Pennsylvania paper mill for nineteen years. Having been a Boy Scout leader, an affectionate father, a member of the local fire brigade, and a regular churchgoer, he was admired as a model in his community. Until Leonard decided to mount a one-man revolt against the world he inwardly resented.
Read MoreTwo Questions
Comparing the acts of forgiving and forgetting, I think forgetting is the tougher assignment. Why? Because forgetting is something shared with no other person. It’s a solo flight.
Read MoreWhen God Forgives
TRUTH BE TOLD, it’s God’s forgiveness of us that makes it possible for us to forgive others. Jesus Christ paid in full the penalty for our sin. God’s wrath was expressed against Him—the One who took our place. God was therefore satisfied in His Son’s sacrifice . . . allowing all who would turn, in faith, to the Savior to be totally forgiven. Christ’s blood washed away our sin.
Read MoreThe Power of Forgiveness
LATE ONE SPRING AARON, a seminary student, was asking God for a position at a church or at a Christian organization. When nothing happened, Aaron took a job driving a bus in a dangerous section of Chicago. Soon Aaron realized just how dangerous. A group of tough kids began to take advantage of the young driver.
Read MoreHidden Resentment
THE POISON OF RESENTMENT enters the soul imperceptibly after injury or personal insult. It can also come through the sting of misunderstanding, injustice, and betrayal. Left to itself, its insidious effects begin ever so slowly to eat away at a person’s life—eventually destroying all possibility of happiness or fulfillment. Allowed to fester through neglect, the poison of hatred foams to a boil . . . emitting feelings of anger that grow within the steam room of the soul.
Read MoreBlowing It
IT HAPPENS TO ALL OF US. Teachers as well as students. Cops as well as criminals. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries. What am I talking about? Making mistakes, that’s what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity. Let’s face it, success is overrated.
Read MoreHe Makes All Things New
THERE IS NO TORMENT like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit. Without question, it is one of the most miserable attitudes to experience in life. In the New Testament, every mention of bitterness comes from the same Greek root—pik—which means “to cut, prick.” Peter wept “bitterly” after denying Christ (Matthew 26:75), that is, he wept because he was pricked in his conscience.
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