April 25 2010

The silence was breaking my ears. Every one stopped and thought about what the moderator said. "Value everyone the way God values them." Easier said than done, I thought. I've been attending small group meetings and I must admit, those discussions have been very beneficial. You meet with a few guys and talk about life. It may sound boring, but believe me, it's not how it sounds; it's actually cool and fun. It's obviously not like how women conduct their meetings. No spaghetti talk if you know what I mean. It's more direct. It's more like hey dude, what do you do when you're faced with this stuff or this stuff or that stuff? It's a good place to talk about how God sees us as men and how he wants us to move about as men. Questions are raised, we answer, every one shares. Life is imparted; wisdom is increased; goals are clearly set. And this day, that statement made a difference. It spoke about the choice to forgive. I asked the moderator, "how do we value someone who said he was a brother but along the way has slandered you, made stories about you and back-stabbed you?" Everyone was careful to give their own life stories about forgiveness and how hard it was to forgive. How about the office mate who smiles at you like an angel but smiles like a devil with an enigmatic thought about you when you're not around? How about the taxi driver who treats you like a fool and drives you around in circles thinking you don't know where you're going? or how about the government employee who tells you they're closed when it's only 3 in the afternoon? or worse, a brother who demoralizes you? funny when you see him approaching, you tend to move to another direction. But still, God said love your enemies.

We sometimes become so self righteous that we don't even know we've become one. Who are we to hold a grudge against someone that long? Or maybe I should ask myself that question. Why have I been so far sighted that all I saw was the mistake of others?

I'm not perfect, no one is. That's the point. Instead of pointing fingers at others, why not look at what God is pointing at you? You only point a finger at others but the rest is pointing at you.

This is why I love God so much; he teaches me, he corrects me, he molds me. While it is true that healing will take time (and we should respect that), forgiveness is a choice that has to be done as soon as the offense is made. Healing will not take it's course until the choice to forgive is released. God bless.