1 Corinthians 13:5 Love does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs.
My parents were married for over 50 years when my dad died. Their life was not easy, they worked hard for all they had. They loved, they struggled, they scrimped, they saved, they worked at their marriage. The one thing I never heard from either of their lips was a list of wrongs the other had done. I never heard my dad complain about my mom and I never heard my mom complain about my dad. I'm sure there were things that the other did that made them mad, but I never heard about it. I'm sure that each one of them hurt the other, they were human, but I didn't know. That's the way it should be according to this verse in scripture but for some reason, we tend to gloss over this and dismiss it.
" If you knew how many times my husband (or wife) hurt me you'd keep a list too!" Sound familiar? I know I used to keep a list of who wronged me and how they hurt me. Oh I may not have written it down, but I kept a mental list in my mind. That way if they ever got in my face about something I did, I had ammunition to fire back at them, never mind it may have been years ago. Memories became a weapon instead of something precious. Instead of focusing on the good, I focused on the wrongs done to me. Now I know I'm not the only one out there who does this. How do I know? I've heard it out of people's lips and written all over Facebook.
Oh yea we like to keep a list of wrongs done to us. That way when we throw ourselves a pity party we can pull up the past and relive it over and over and over again. It's not just husbands and wives that this verse talks about. It talks about all of those we say we love. Brothers, sisters, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, best friends and our everyday friends are all possible victims of our list of longs. In fact some of us live to shove people's mistakes in their faces. Read Facebook, it's all over there for millions to read. "My family wasn't there for me like I needed them to be." " My ex has screwed me over for the last time." "Some friend you are. Remember when we were in high school and you stole my boyfriend?" You know my list of saying are endless, in fact you could add to my list couldn't you?
Why do we keep a record of wrongs? To make us feel more superior? To make us feel sorry for ourselves? To remind us of how many people have hurt us? To remind us which people to defined and block us on Facebook? Seriously? Who do we think we are? God?
After all let me be perfectly blunt here, if anyone should keep a record of wrongs it's God! We have used His name in vain, we have disobeyed al out every commandment and then some. Yet He doesn't keep a record. He forgives! He wipes our record clean when we ask for forgiveness. So when we keep a record are we saying God should also keep a record? Or are we saying we know more than God? Listen I do not ever want to even come close to comparing myself to God.
THERE IS A GOD AND IT IS NOT YOU!
We need to stop the madness! The list of wrongs done to us is nothing compared to the list of wrongs we have done to God. Just like the story of the king who forgave a massive debt from one of his servants the in turn the servant would not forgive a small debt owed to him by one of his workers. That is how we are if we keep a list of wrongs done to us.
Listen I totally get it that some of you have been wronged in ways I cannot imagine, but this verse doesn't say don't love keep record of small wrongs, it says love doesn't keep track of wrongs, period. That means all wrongs. If you're keeping a list of wrongs then we are not being like Jesus. Jesus was killed by soldiers, He had no friendship with them, He may not have even known their names yet from the cross He said, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." Jesus didn't keep a record of the wrongs the soldiers had done to them. By doing this I believe many of those soldiers truly believed in Him, because He wiped the record clean.
I know sometimes this is hard to do but if God can wipe our record clean, can't we do the same for us other human beings who screw up and make mistakes? What makes us think we're perfect? I'm sure you've made mistakes and hurt someone you didn't intend to? We're humans, we're not perfect. We live offended and bitter lives by keeping a record of wrongs done to us. Families have been destroyed by keeping a list of wrongs. Lives have been ruined by keeping a list of wrongs. Friendships forever altered by a list of wrongs.
Listen what's done is done. You can't change it or alter it. It is what it is. People may not have intended to hurt you. When we live keeping a list of wrongs, we're opening the door expecting the worst. We expect to keep our list growing, and guess what it will. The way we perceive things is not always the way things are meant. We read into things, we read into a persons words, we read into a persons actions. We assume they mean to hurt us, especially if we tend to keep a list of wrongs.
Want to live like Jesus? Get rid of your list of wrongs. Forgive the past and move on for your own sake. Bitterness and living a life offended leads to sickness and health problems of all kinds. Let it go! Erase that list and thank God He has erased your list.
" If you knew how many times my husband (or wife) hurt me you'd keep a list too!" Sound familiar? I know I used to keep a list of who wronged me and how they hurt me. Oh I may not have written it down, but I kept a mental list in my mind. That way if they ever got in my face about something I did, I had ammunition to fire back at them, never mind it may have been years ago. Memories became a weapon instead of something precious. Instead of focusing on the good, I focused on the wrongs done to me. Now I know I'm not the only one out there who does this. How do I know? I've heard it out of people's lips and written all over Facebook.
Oh yea we like to keep a list of wrongs done to us. That way when we throw ourselves a pity party we can pull up the past and relive it over and over and over again. It's not just husbands and wives that this verse talks about. It talks about all of those we say we love. Brothers, sisters, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, cousins, best friends and our everyday friends are all possible victims of our list of longs. In fact some of us live to shove people's mistakes in their faces. Read Facebook, it's all over there for millions to read. "My family wasn't there for me like I needed them to be." " My ex has screwed me over for the last time." "Some friend you are. Remember when we were in high school and you stole my boyfriend?" You know my list of saying are endless, in fact you could add to my list couldn't you?
Why do we keep a record of wrongs? To make us feel more superior? To make us feel sorry for ourselves? To remind us of how many people have hurt us? To remind us which people to defined and block us on Facebook? Seriously? Who do we think we are? God?
After all let me be perfectly blunt here, if anyone should keep a record of wrongs it's God! We have used His name in vain, we have disobeyed al out every commandment and then some. Yet He doesn't keep a record. He forgives! He wipes our record clean when we ask for forgiveness. So when we keep a record are we saying God should also keep a record? Or are we saying we know more than God? Listen I do not ever want to even come close to comparing myself to God.
THERE IS A GOD AND IT IS NOT YOU!
We need to stop the madness! The list of wrongs done to us is nothing compared to the list of wrongs we have done to God. Just like the story of the king who forgave a massive debt from one of his servants the in turn the servant would not forgive a small debt owed to him by one of his workers. That is how we are if we keep a list of wrongs done to us.
Listen I totally get it that some of you have been wronged in ways I cannot imagine, but this verse doesn't say don't love keep record of small wrongs, it says love doesn't keep track of wrongs, period. That means all wrongs. If you're keeping a list of wrongs then we are not being like Jesus. Jesus was killed by soldiers, He had no friendship with them, He may not have even known their names yet from the cross He said, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." Jesus didn't keep a record of the wrongs the soldiers had done to them. By doing this I believe many of those soldiers truly believed in Him, because He wiped the record clean.
I know sometimes this is hard to do but if God can wipe our record clean, can't we do the same for us other human beings who screw up and make mistakes? What makes us think we're perfect? I'm sure you've made mistakes and hurt someone you didn't intend to? We're humans, we're not perfect. We live offended and bitter lives by keeping a record of wrongs done to us. Families have been destroyed by keeping a list of wrongs. Lives have been ruined by keeping a list of wrongs. Friendships forever altered by a list of wrongs.
Listen what's done is done. You can't change it or alter it. It is what it is. People may not have intended to hurt you. When we live keeping a list of wrongs, we're opening the door expecting the worst. We expect to keep our list growing, and guess what it will. The way we perceive things is not always the way things are meant. We read into things, we read into a persons words, we read into a persons actions. We assume they mean to hurt us, especially if we tend to keep a list of wrongs.
Want to live like Jesus? Get rid of your list of wrongs. Forgive the past and move on for your own sake. Bitterness and living a life offended leads to sickness and health problems of all kinds. Let it go! Erase that list and thank God He has erased your list.
No comments:
Post a Comment