As much as I hate to admit it,
sometimes I can let a grievance I have with someone linger too long in my
mind. While I know I should let it go, I
find myself replaying the situation over and over in my mind, leading me to get
upset all over again. During this Easter
season, the Lord has been impressing on my that when one of these recurring
thoughts come to me, I need to paint it red.
Ephesians
1:7 - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished
on us.
Things to think about:
· Human
relations have been marred by real and perceived slights since the beginning of
time.
· Maybe there
is a situation you are dealing with right now where you have been hurt by
someone else and you’re having trouble letting it go.
o
FACT: Whatever we feel aggrieved by, it pales in comparison to how
we have fallen short with God
· While our
verse in Ephesians is true that we have forgiveness of sins, the story doesn’t
stop there
o
Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive one
another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you. “
· You will
recall the story Jesus told of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35 about
the man who was forgiven of a debt of ten thousand bags of gold and yet he
refused to forgive someone who owed him a paltry sum of money.
o
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he
said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t
you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the
jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat
each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
· This past
weekend we remember the great debt we were forgiven of by the death of Jesus on
a cruel Roman cross. His blood was
spilled for my debt.
· As part of
the renewal of my mind, I am asking God to give me a paintbrush dipped in His
blood to cover over the minor offenses I sometimes hold on to.
o Once that
debt has been covered with the grace and mercy I was shown, I am refusing to try
and remove the paint. Rather I want to
focus on His blood shed for me to help me forgive as I have been forgiven.
·
How about you? Do you need
to start a painting project too?
