Over the course of my series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness, we have learned how abuse or trauma has left us broken. We have studied God's character so that we can imitate him. Yesterday, we looked into our own character and asked God to reveal our faults. Today, we take the next step on the road to forgiveness by asking God to forgive us.
The Lord's Prayer
All of us are guilty of sinning. Therefore, we need to go to God daily to ask him for forgiveness. When someone asked how we are supposed to pray, Jesus gave us the model for prayer known as The Lord's Prayer:
You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name. Come and set up your kingdom, so that everyone on earth will obey you, as you are obeyed in heaven. Give us our food for today. Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others. Matthew 6:9-12 (CEV)
There are two types of forgiveness prayers.
We learned earlier that God's grace provides us with salvation from eternal punishment when we say that we believe in Jesus as our savior. When we arrive at the point of surrendering control of our lives to Christ, we pray for forgiveness so that we might be saved. We only need to pray for that type of forgiveness once. We need just one salvation, and we can never lose it unless we later denounce God the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.
Let me simplify this concept for you. If we love someone and desire to marry them, we go to a person licensed by the state to join us as husband and wife. There is no need to return daily, weekly, or annually to that officiant to be married over and over. Once is enough. The same is true of our adoption into God's family. One prayer asking for forgiveness and surrendering control is adequate.
The second type of forgiveness prayer does need to occur daily. The Bible clearly tells us in the passage above that we need to talk to God daily. During our time with him, we need to ask him to forgive us for our daily sins so that we can also forgive others.
This type of forgiveness prayer is designed to help us restore our relationship with God each day. Because if we're all sinners, we're constantly breaking down that relationship.
To clarify this, we can think again of the marriage model. We don't need to find someone daily to re-marry us to our spouses. But we do need to tell our spouses daily that we love them. Imagine how difficult it would be to remain in a relationship with a spouse that you never talked to, never spent time with, never loved, or never apologized to. Such a marriage would be unbearable.
God loves us and wants to have a close, vital relationship with us every day. If we fail to go to him to confess our faults, we create a really strained and distant relationship with him that lacks the peace we are seeking.
Sometimes, we can't identify our sins.
There will be times when we can't identify any sin in ourselves. This does not mean that we are sin-free. It simply means that we need to spend more time reflecting on who we truly are. Scripture clearly tells us that we are liars if we claim to be without sin:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (I John 1:8-10 NIV)
Even when we can't see any sin in ourselves, it is still present. By following the discipline of daily prayer, asking God to forgive us, we put ourselves into a closer relationship with him.
Our own forgiveness comes before we can forgive our enemies.
We must ask for our own forgiveness before we can fully forgive the person who has hurt us. Why? If we don't understand the process of our own forgiveness, we can't possibly understand what is expected of our enemies.
If we don't personally experience the forgiveness of our own sins, and we expect our enemies to apologize to us on our terms; all we're really looking for is control over the situation. Our pride demands that our enemy gives us back the power that we lost so that we can continue to feel superior toward him.
By fully recognizing God's righteousness and our own faults, we see that all people need forgiveness. We level the playing field so that we are no longer superior to anyone in need of forgiveness, including that person who has hurt us most deeply.
God showed me where I was wrong.
The image of my father being taken away in handcuffs will forever be imprinted in my mind. At that moment, I realized that all of us deserve punishment for our sins. God's angels could be taking me away in cuffs to spend eternity separated from God. The only difference between my father and me is that he committed a sin that also happened to break a law.
God has used my father's crimes and his sentencing to reveal to me my sin of pride. This new understanding of my own faults has drastically changed the way I look at myself and the process of forgiving. Until God revealed this flaw to me, I was stuck in the forgiveness process. What's holding you back from forgiving?
Today's ChallengeIf there is something keeping you from forgiving an enemy, ask God to reveal your own sin. When he does, admit it to God and ask for his forgiveness. As soon as you do, peace will flow into your life, as it has in mine.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Admit Your Faults
We continue with our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness. Now that we have learned how to recognize both righteousness and sin, we move on today with a look into our own faults. Recognizing that we are not perfect takes us one step closer to forgiving our enemies who have abused or traumatized us.
Forgiveness is impossible without humility.
If we want to forgive someone, we cannot keep an attitude of pride or superiority toward them. If we approach forgiveness with our noses in the air, we either make our enemies defensive, or we make them feel insignificant. Neither outcome is pleasing to God, who calls us to love one another.
I Peter 5:5 (NIV) tells us, All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." We can see that our efforts to forgive will be opposed by God if we approach the process with prideful attitudes. Our efforts are backed up by God's grace is we approach forgiveness with humility.
Stop judging your enemy.
There is an old saying that whenever we point a finger at someone, there are three others pointing back at us. We cannot forgive if we are focused on our enemy's sins. Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV):
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Beginning today, stop thinking about and clinging to all of the things that your enemy did to hurt you. Release these bitter thoughts to God and focus, instead, on the sweetness of his love for you.
Start examining yourself.
Lamentations 3:40 (NIV) reads, Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Before any of us can forgive, we must look deep within to examine the condition of our own hearts. We are all sinners, and those of us who have suffered abuse or trauma generally carry with us sins such as anger, revenge, pride, and hatred.
I am not asking you to examine yourself to see if you have any sin. I'm asking you to look into your soul to see which sins need to be addressed. Through prayer, ask God to reveal your sins to you. Ask a trusted friend or your spouse what sins they see in you.
Admit your sins to God.
After you have identified which sins are hindering you from forgiving, admit them to God. He already knows what they are, but confessing them to him will relieve you of the burden of carrying them around.
Tell God that you have made a mess of your life and that you cannot manage it any longer. Ask him to lead you. Then pray that God will give you the good sense to follow him, rather than expecting him to act like a genie in a bottle whenever you need him to carry out a task for you. Remember, Christianity is about learning how to be a follower, not the leader. Leading is God's job, not ours.
Tell one other person about your sins.
We are not required to go to confession to have our sins forgiven. Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection gave us full access to him. However, I believe that telling someone whom we can trust about our faults gives us a great deal of leverage against sin. With an accountability partner knowing about our shortcomings, we have greater power through their prayers and encouragement.
Admitting our own faults is an important step in the forgiveness process. Why? Because we expect our enemies to admit their faults to us. And if we're going to come to an understanding of how difficult that can be for them, we must be willing to do it first.
I think about how hard it must have been for my father to carry around the secret of child molestation for so many years. Imagine how hard that would be. If just one child spoke out, his life would come tumbling down like a house of cards.
I am grateful that my dad finally confessed to the police about what he did to my daughter. It spared her from tremendous embarrassment and the stress involved with court appearances. More importantly, it set him on the road to forgiveness alongside us.
As we travel this journey, we are struggling to forgive someone who has deeply hurt us. It is important to remember that our enemies are struggling just as hard to let go of their sins. By admitting our own faults, we walk in their shoes. In doing so, we can begin to empathize with their battle.
Today's Challenge
Set aside some time for reflection and prayer. Ask God to reveal sins that you may not even be aware of in your quest to forgive. When they surface, write them down in your journal. Admit your sins to God and to one other trusted person. Write down how you think your enemy might be feeling about admitting his own faults. Begin to pray for him.
Forgiveness is impossible without humility.
If we want to forgive someone, we cannot keep an attitude of pride or superiority toward them. If we approach forgiveness with our noses in the air, we either make our enemies defensive, or we make them feel insignificant. Neither outcome is pleasing to God, who calls us to love one another.
I Peter 5:5 (NIV) tells us, All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." We can see that our efforts to forgive will be opposed by God if we approach the process with prideful attitudes. Our efforts are backed up by God's grace is we approach forgiveness with humility.
Stop judging your enemy.
There is an old saying that whenever we point a finger at someone, there are three others pointing back at us. We cannot forgive if we are focused on our enemy's sins. Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV):
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Beginning today, stop thinking about and clinging to all of the things that your enemy did to hurt you. Release these bitter thoughts to God and focus, instead, on the sweetness of his love for you.
Start examining yourself.
Lamentations 3:40 (NIV) reads, Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Before any of us can forgive, we must look deep within to examine the condition of our own hearts. We are all sinners, and those of us who have suffered abuse or trauma generally carry with us sins such as anger, revenge, pride, and hatred.
I am not asking you to examine yourself to see if you have any sin. I'm asking you to look into your soul to see which sins need to be addressed. Through prayer, ask God to reveal your sins to you. Ask a trusted friend or your spouse what sins they see in you.
Admit your sins to God.
After you have identified which sins are hindering you from forgiving, admit them to God. He already knows what they are, but confessing them to him will relieve you of the burden of carrying them around.
Tell God that you have made a mess of your life and that you cannot manage it any longer. Ask him to lead you. Then pray that God will give you the good sense to follow him, rather than expecting him to act like a genie in a bottle whenever you need him to carry out a task for you. Remember, Christianity is about learning how to be a follower, not the leader. Leading is God's job, not ours.
Tell one other person about your sins.
We are not required to go to confession to have our sins forgiven. Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection gave us full access to him. However, I believe that telling someone whom we can trust about our faults gives us a great deal of leverage against sin. With an accountability partner knowing about our shortcomings, we have greater power through their prayers and encouragement.
Admitting our own faults is an important step in the forgiveness process. Why? Because we expect our enemies to admit their faults to us. And if we're going to come to an understanding of how difficult that can be for them, we must be willing to do it first.
I think about how hard it must have been for my father to carry around the secret of child molestation for so many years. Imagine how hard that would be. If just one child spoke out, his life would come tumbling down like a house of cards.
I am grateful that my dad finally confessed to the police about what he did to my daughter. It spared her from tremendous embarrassment and the stress involved with court appearances. More importantly, it set him on the road to forgiveness alongside us.
As we travel this journey, we are struggling to forgive someone who has deeply hurt us. It is important to remember that our enemies are struggling just as hard to let go of their sins. By admitting our own faults, we walk in their shoes. In doing so, we can begin to empathize with their battle.
Today's Challenge
Set aside some time for reflection and prayer. Ask God to reveal sins that you may not even be aware of in your quest to forgive. When they surface, write them down in your journal. Admit your sins to God and to one other trusted person. Write down how you think your enemy might be feeling about admitting his own faults. Begin to pray for him.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Don't Become a Vampire Christian
We continue with our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness. I believe that understanding God's character and looking closely at the nature of mankind's sin is helpful as we attempt to forgive. Yesterday, we identified sin in ourselves and in others. Today, we think about how sin impacts everyone's lives.
Sin is a waste of our time and energy.
God wants Christians to progress along a path of ever-increasing righteousness. If we think about trying to become more like God, we can compare it to walking up a mountain toward eternal life. When we sin, we do an about-face and head back down the slope we just climbed. Clearly, this is a waste of effort and destroys the Christ-like character we are seeking.
Sin hurts us and others.
Each time that we allow sin into our lives, we inevitably experience a loss of spiritual strength. We suffer as God disciplines us.
Sin also harms our effectiveness in doing the work of God's kingdom. So not only does our sin hurt us, it also hurts others who might benefit from our imitating God's character.
I believe God wants me to use my gift of writing to help survivors of abuse and trauma. If I harbor anger or hatred toward my enemies, I'm not going to be able to serve my readers very effectively. My own sin would hurt me, but it would also hurt others who need to hear about God's love and how we can forgive.
Our sin affects our heavenly rewards.
There are degrees of reward in heaven, as evidenced by the words of I Corinthians 3:12-15 (NIV):
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This passage is telling us that our righteousness will be evaluated on Judgment Day. We will receive heavenly rewards that are in keeping with our efforts to imitate God. Even if the world tells us that our righteousness is like gold, God's fire may prove that it is only as valuable as straw.
Don't spend your life as a Vampire Christian.
As we learned yesterday, a Christian who professes faith in Christ and spends his life striving to obey God's laws will not lose his place in heaven if he sins. Believers who enter into a relationship of grace with God through baptism and then do their best to remain in God's grace through obedience are known as born-again Christians. They do not engage in a lifestyle of sinning, and it is evident by their behavior that they have surrendered their will to Christ.
We must become aware that it is possible for some so-called believers to be what I call Vampire Christians. They desire just a little taste of the blood of Christ, but they aren't willing to fully immerse themselves in that blood through total surrender of their lives.
Vampire Christians are people who profess to be Christians, based on the fact that they attend a church or exhibit behaviors that seem to conform to moral standards of living. They profess belief in Christ and get baptized, but their behavior from that point onward does not lead anyone to see that they are Christians.
The problem with Vampire Christians is that they often take on a consistent pattern of disobedience to Christ. For instance, they may attend church and show up for plenty of church functions; but they perpetually sin through alcoholism, compulsive gambling, pornography addictions, and so on. Some of their sins may be less obvious, such as resentment, bitterness, anger, or hatred.
Vampire Christians lack evidence of spiritual growth, and it is nearly impossible to see in them the fruit of the spirit, as described in Galatians 5:22 (NIV):
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Jesus warns Vampire Christians that they will not inherit eternal life in Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV):
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
These verses point out the importance of sanctifying grace, which comes through doing God's will throughout our lives--obeying his laws and commands to the best of our ability. Saving grace, which comes through baptism and profession of faith, is only a starting point. Sadly, Vampire Christians believe it is all that is necessary to achieve eternal life.
I was a Vampire Christian.
Before I met Joe, I was a Vampire Christian. I had been raised in a church that taught forgiveness through rote confession on Sunday mornings, regardless of the enormity of my sin throughout the week. Like all vampires, I lived a half-life, always hiding in darkness and never fully understanding how wonderful it felt to live fully in the light of Christ's love.
When Joe began teaching me about the importance of sanctifying grace, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I had been living a lie. I was not a true Christian, and if I wanted my reward of heaven, I needed to change my ways. Specifically, I needed to give up my sins of pride, anger, bitterness, and revenge toward people who had abused me. I began reading my Bible, studying Joe's books on theology, attending Bible studies, and meeting with more mature Christians.
The light dawned, and I realized all that I had been missing in my life as a Vampire Christian. Even though I had been baptized as an infant, I was baptized by immersion on my 40th birthday. When I came up out of the water, I knew that I had become a true Christian, never again to live that miserable half-life of the Vampire Christian.
Seeing our own sin takes us one step closer to forgiving others.
In summary, sin is the opposite of everything that God sees as right. While it is easy to point out our enemy's sins, we must be open to the possibility of our own sinful actions and thoughts.
If we are truly born-again Christians, our sin can never cause us to lose our salvation; but we may expect God to discipline us. Sin is a waste of time, hurts us and our witness to others, and affects our heavenly rewards.
Look inward to make sure that you aren't a Vampire Christian who is satisfied with mere belief in Christ but who lacks the ambition to become more like Him by obeying his laws. In order to forgive, survivors of abuse and trauma need to fully understand their own need for forgiveness, which comes through both saving grace and sanctifying grace from Jesus Christ.
Today's Challenge
How is your sin harming you? How is it affecting your ability to help others? Are you a born-again Christian, or are you guilty of living as a Vampire Christian? If you realize that you have been coasting through life on just your profession of faith, commit your life to Christ today by talking to a more mature Christian who can help you.
Sin is a waste of our time and energy.
God wants Christians to progress along a path of ever-increasing righteousness. If we think about trying to become more like God, we can compare it to walking up a mountain toward eternal life. When we sin, we do an about-face and head back down the slope we just climbed. Clearly, this is a waste of effort and destroys the Christ-like character we are seeking.
Sin hurts us and others.
Each time that we allow sin into our lives, we inevitably experience a loss of spiritual strength. We suffer as God disciplines us.
Sin also harms our effectiveness in doing the work of God's kingdom. So not only does our sin hurt us, it also hurts others who might benefit from our imitating God's character.
I believe God wants me to use my gift of writing to help survivors of abuse and trauma. If I harbor anger or hatred toward my enemies, I'm not going to be able to serve my readers very effectively. My own sin would hurt me, but it would also hurt others who need to hear about God's love and how we can forgive.
Our sin affects our heavenly rewards.
There are degrees of reward in heaven, as evidenced by the words of I Corinthians 3:12-15 (NIV):
If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
This passage is telling us that our righteousness will be evaluated on Judgment Day. We will receive heavenly rewards that are in keeping with our efforts to imitate God. Even if the world tells us that our righteousness is like gold, God's fire may prove that it is only as valuable as straw.
Don't spend your life as a Vampire Christian.
As we learned yesterday, a Christian who professes faith in Christ and spends his life striving to obey God's laws will not lose his place in heaven if he sins. Believers who enter into a relationship of grace with God through baptism and then do their best to remain in God's grace through obedience are known as born-again Christians. They do not engage in a lifestyle of sinning, and it is evident by their behavior that they have surrendered their will to Christ.
We must become aware that it is possible for some so-called believers to be what I call Vampire Christians. They desire just a little taste of the blood of Christ, but they aren't willing to fully immerse themselves in that blood through total surrender of their lives.
Vampire Christians are people who profess to be Christians, based on the fact that they attend a church or exhibit behaviors that seem to conform to moral standards of living. They profess belief in Christ and get baptized, but their behavior from that point onward does not lead anyone to see that they are Christians.
The problem with Vampire Christians is that they often take on a consistent pattern of disobedience to Christ. For instance, they may attend church and show up for plenty of church functions; but they perpetually sin through alcoholism, compulsive gambling, pornography addictions, and so on. Some of their sins may be less obvious, such as resentment, bitterness, anger, or hatred.
Vampire Christians lack evidence of spiritual growth, and it is nearly impossible to see in them the fruit of the spirit, as described in Galatians 5:22 (NIV):
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Jesus warns Vampire Christians that they will not inherit eternal life in Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV):
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
These verses point out the importance of sanctifying grace, which comes through doing God's will throughout our lives--obeying his laws and commands to the best of our ability. Saving grace, which comes through baptism and profession of faith, is only a starting point. Sadly, Vampire Christians believe it is all that is necessary to achieve eternal life.
I was a Vampire Christian.
Before I met Joe, I was a Vampire Christian. I had been raised in a church that taught forgiveness through rote confession on Sunday mornings, regardless of the enormity of my sin throughout the week. Like all vampires, I lived a half-life, always hiding in darkness and never fully understanding how wonderful it felt to live fully in the light of Christ's love.
When Joe began teaching me about the importance of sanctifying grace, the Holy Spirit convicted me that I had been living a lie. I was not a true Christian, and if I wanted my reward of heaven, I needed to change my ways. Specifically, I needed to give up my sins of pride, anger, bitterness, and revenge toward people who had abused me. I began reading my Bible, studying Joe's books on theology, attending Bible studies, and meeting with more mature Christians.
The light dawned, and I realized all that I had been missing in my life as a Vampire Christian. Even though I had been baptized as an infant, I was baptized by immersion on my 40th birthday. When I came up out of the water, I knew that I had become a true Christian, never again to live that miserable half-life of the Vampire Christian.
Seeing our own sin takes us one step closer to forgiving others.
In summary, sin is the opposite of everything that God sees as right. While it is easy to point out our enemy's sins, we must be open to the possibility of our own sinful actions and thoughts.
If we are truly born-again Christians, our sin can never cause us to lose our salvation; but we may expect God to discipline us. Sin is a waste of time, hurts us and our witness to others, and affects our heavenly rewards.
Look inward to make sure that you aren't a Vampire Christian who is satisfied with mere belief in Christ but who lacks the ambition to become more like Him by obeying his laws. In order to forgive, survivors of abuse and trauma need to fully understand their own need for forgiveness, which comes through both saving grace and sanctifying grace from Jesus Christ.
Today's Challenge
How is your sin harming you? How is it affecting your ability to help others? Are you a born-again Christian, or are you guilty of living as a Vampire Christian? If you realize that you have been coasting through life on just your profession of faith, commit your life to Christ today by talking to a more mature Christian who can help you.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Recognize Sin
For the past few weeks, we have learned about God's character in our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness. Today, we look at the concept of sin. By recognizing it in ourselves and in our enemies, we become better prepared to forgive those who have hurt us.
What is sin?
Previously, we defined righteousness as God's goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peacefulness, justice, jealousy, and wrath. Defining sin is simple, because it is the opposite of God's righteousness: sin is any failure to conform to God's character or law with any act or attitude.
Many times, we think of sin as those acts that people can see: lying, stealing, cheating, and so on. But God also prohibits attitudes such as jealousy, anger, and selfishness. Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV) describes both obvious and inner sins which can get us into trouble:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, faction and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
It is easy to recognize sin in those who have hurt us.
I John 3:4 (NIV) tells us that Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. When someone abuses us or commits an act that leads to trauma, it is pretty easy to see it and label it as sin. Our justice system can prove a person's guilt, based on his actions and its interpretation of the law.
Ask any survivor of childhood sexual abuse if their perpetrator committed a sin when molesting them, and they will unequivocally answer with a resounding,Yes! Ask survivors of 911 whether or not the terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center were sinning, and most will cry out, Undoubtedly!
It is not so easy to recognize sin in ourselves.
At the beginning of this series, I identified the roadblocks to forgiveness as anger, fear, lack of trust, low self-esteem, guilt, revenge, pride, hatred, and depression. Many of these characteristics are present in survivors of abuse and trauma.
I would like to assert that if these feelings are left unchecked, they can become a source of sin for survivors. For instance, we may feel a sense of anger toward our perpetrators. This is a natural response and drives us to seek help. However, if we allow ourselves to remain angry for the rest of time, I believe we have an issue with a sinful attitude.
For the past year, God has been using the case of my father molesting his grandchildren to teach me about my own sin. I never realized before how prideful I had been in comparing myself to others. Seeing my father taken away in handcuffs made me think about how guilty I have been of sinning.
I deserve eternal punishment for my sins of pride, anger, hatred, revenge, and unforgiveness. I thank God more than ever now for the gift of grace through Jesus' death on the cross. When we recognize our own sins, we become far more careful about committing more or looking at ourselves as superior to our enemies.
Sin does not change our standing with God if we're born-again Christians.
When a born-again Christian sins, his legal standing before God remains unchanged. Our salvation is not based on how well we behave, but is a gift from God. (Romans 6:23) In other words, even if we sin, we keep our adoption as one of God's children, and we get to spend eternity in heaven with him.
God disciplines us when we sin.
When we sin, God still loves us, but he may become displeased with us. As parents, we understand that we always love our children, but we may not be thrilled when they throw tantrums, break their curfews, or hit their siblings. We discipline them and teach them to improve.
We can count on God to discipline us when we sin, whether we commit evil acts or harbor sinful attitudes. Hebrews 12:10 (NIV) tells us, God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
God disciplines all of his children.
Imagine a family where each of the children got punished for misbehaving, except for one. Think about how unruly and prideful that child might become.
We inevitably expect God to discipline our perpetrators for their sins against us, but how many of us ask God to bypass disciplining us when our attitudes toward our enemies get out of hand? We need to accept his discipline and learn from it so that we can become more like him each day.
Tomorrow, we will continue our discussion about sin with a look at people who are known as Vampire Christians. Are you one of them?
Today's Challenge
Do you have a different understanding of your sin now? Which one of your attitudes toward your enemy needs to be released to God? How do you feel now about God's discpline for you?
What is sin?
Previously, we defined righteousness as God's goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peacefulness, justice, jealousy, and wrath. Defining sin is simple, because it is the opposite of God's righteousness: sin is any failure to conform to God's character or law with any act or attitude.
Many times, we think of sin as those acts that people can see: lying, stealing, cheating, and so on. But God also prohibits attitudes such as jealousy, anger, and selfishness. Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV) describes both obvious and inner sins which can get us into trouble:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, faction and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
It is easy to recognize sin in those who have hurt us.
I John 3:4 (NIV) tells us that Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. When someone abuses us or commits an act that leads to trauma, it is pretty easy to see it and label it as sin. Our justice system can prove a person's guilt, based on his actions and its interpretation of the law.
Ask any survivor of childhood sexual abuse if their perpetrator committed a sin when molesting them, and they will unequivocally answer with a resounding,Yes! Ask survivors of 911 whether or not the terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center were sinning, and most will cry out, Undoubtedly!
It is not so easy to recognize sin in ourselves.
At the beginning of this series, I identified the roadblocks to forgiveness as anger, fear, lack of trust, low self-esteem, guilt, revenge, pride, hatred, and depression. Many of these characteristics are present in survivors of abuse and trauma.
I would like to assert that if these feelings are left unchecked, they can become a source of sin for survivors. For instance, we may feel a sense of anger toward our perpetrators. This is a natural response and drives us to seek help. However, if we allow ourselves to remain angry for the rest of time, I believe we have an issue with a sinful attitude.
For the past year, God has been using the case of my father molesting his grandchildren to teach me about my own sin. I never realized before how prideful I had been in comparing myself to others. Seeing my father taken away in handcuffs made me think about how guilty I have been of sinning.
I deserve eternal punishment for my sins of pride, anger, hatred, revenge, and unforgiveness. I thank God more than ever now for the gift of grace through Jesus' death on the cross. When we recognize our own sins, we become far more careful about committing more or looking at ourselves as superior to our enemies.
Sin does not change our standing with God if we're born-again Christians.
When a born-again Christian sins, his legal standing before God remains unchanged. Our salvation is not based on how well we behave, but is a gift from God. (Romans 6:23) In other words, even if we sin, we keep our adoption as one of God's children, and we get to spend eternity in heaven with him.
God disciplines us when we sin.
When we sin, God still loves us, but he may become displeased with us. As parents, we understand that we always love our children, but we may not be thrilled when they throw tantrums, break their curfews, or hit their siblings. We discipline them and teach them to improve.
We can count on God to discipline us when we sin, whether we commit evil acts or harbor sinful attitudes. Hebrews 12:10 (NIV) tells us, God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
God disciplines all of his children.
Imagine a family where each of the children got punished for misbehaving, except for one. Think about how unruly and prideful that child might become.
We inevitably expect God to discipline our perpetrators for their sins against us, but how many of us ask God to bypass disciplining us when our attitudes toward our enemies get out of hand? We need to accept his discipline and learn from it so that we can become more like him each day.
Tomorrow, we will continue our discussion about sin with a look at people who are known as Vampire Christians. Are you one of them?
Today's Challenge
Do you have a different understanding of your sin now? Which one of your attitudes toward your enemy needs to be released to God? How do you feel now about God's discpline for you?
Monday, March 14, 2011
God Hates Sin
Today, we arrive at the tenth and final attribute of God as we continue with our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness. Since God loves all that is good and right, it comes as no surprise that he hates everything that stands in opposition to his chacter.
God's opposition to evil is total and permanent.
The Bible reassures us that if we believe in Jesus, we will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. But it also tells us that if we reject Jesus, we will experience God's wrath. John 3:36 (NIV) reads: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
God's character does not allow him to turn a blind eye to evil. He must punish it, otherwise it would make a mockery of all that is good. If we understand this attribute of God, we can feel better as survivors of abuse, knowing that God opposes those who have hurt us. We are not alone in our suffering.
When we hate the injustice that has occurred in our lives, we are imitating God. He hates evil, injustice, and sin. Therefore, we no longer need to feel guilty about the rage we feel. It is natural if we are made in the likeness of God to become upset when someone sins against us.
Imagine what the world would be like if God didn't get all that upsest about child molesters hurting little children. Think about what life would look like if God either delighted in sin or was not troubled by it. I sure wouldn't want to worship that kind of God. He would be as warped as the child molesters and other criminals on our planet.
God is slow to act on his anger.
God delays the punishment that people deserve for the evil acts they commit, because he wants them to come to a point of repentance. Remember, we learned earlier that God is merciful, gracious, and patient. Psalm 103:8 (NIV) reads, The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. While God hates sin, he loves all people.
We must be patient with our enemies.
Like God, we know that it is part of our character to hate evil. But we must also remember that God still loves sinners, so we must do the same. Our enemies may not yet have come to a point of repenting for their actions. Therefore, it is up to us to remain patient while they work toward that point of change.
As at teacher, I frequently taught small children who couldn't seem to learn at the pace of the average kid. God has always blessed me with the ability to patiently work with people who are slow to pick up on new concepts.
I once had a student in kindergarten who could not grasp what we call 'sight words.' These simple words, such as and and the needed to be memorized in order to move on to more difficult reading tasks. Every other student had moved ahead to beginning readers, but this poor little boy couldn't get it.
One Monday morning, he came up to me as I was preparing to start our day. With confidence, he said, "Look what I can do." He opened a little book and read it perfectly from beginning to end.
I was flabbergasted and figured that someone at home must have been drilling him all weekend. I asked, "Who taught you how to read?"
Without hesitation, he smiled up at me and said, "You did."
That moment showed me that we never know how much of an impact we are having on someone. Even when our efforts seem to be fruitless, we never know what is going on in someone's heart or mind.
As I wait for my father to repent of his sins of molesting children and my mother to learn how to love as God does; I remember that little boy. I must be patient and kind to the people who have hurt me the most. Like my student, my parents may be the type of people who are slower to catch on to God's lessons for them.
I want to be there when someone asks the question of my parents, "Who taught you to love?" Hopefully, they'll give God the credit first and also mention that my kindness toward them helped along the way.
How do we find the patience to love slow learners?
I find it extremely difficult to love my parents. My mother, especially, is the type of person who pushes people away or turns on them when they try to express God's love to her. While my kindergarten student was eager to learn and please, my mother is more reluctant to do so.
I do not have the capacity to love either of my parents without God's help. Learning more about his character and how I am supposed to imitate him shows me what I must do. With ongoing prayer, I can tap into God's power to do the impossible. So can you.
Apply God's moral attributes to your own life so that you can forgive.
Over the past several weeks, we have looked at our own problems that have been caused by abuse or trauma: anger, fear, lack of trust, low self-esteem, guilt, revenge, pride, hatred, and depression. I call these the roadblocks to forgiveness, because as long as they remain in place, we cannot move forward.
Along the way, we have also learned what it means to become more like God. We have studied his goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peace, justice, jealousy, and wrath.
With a well-balanced view of God's character, we can better understand where we are out of balance. By understanding our own weaknesses and imitating God for strength, we can approach forgiveness with greater confidence. We now have the tools to remove the roadblocks so that we can continue on our journey toward forgiving.
Today's Challenge
In your journal, write about the anger or hatred you have felt against people who have hurt you with their evil actions. Ask God to give you the patience you need to pray for them while they work toward repenting for their sins. If it is safe to do so, think of ways to show your enemy God's love through acts of kindness.
God's opposition to evil is total and permanent.
The Bible reassures us that if we believe in Jesus, we will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. But it also tells us that if we reject Jesus, we will experience God's wrath. John 3:36 (NIV) reads: Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
God's character does not allow him to turn a blind eye to evil. He must punish it, otherwise it would make a mockery of all that is good. If we understand this attribute of God, we can feel better as survivors of abuse, knowing that God opposes those who have hurt us. We are not alone in our suffering.
When we hate the injustice that has occurred in our lives, we are imitating God. He hates evil, injustice, and sin. Therefore, we no longer need to feel guilty about the rage we feel. It is natural if we are made in the likeness of God to become upset when someone sins against us.
Imagine what the world would be like if God didn't get all that upsest about child molesters hurting little children. Think about what life would look like if God either delighted in sin or was not troubled by it. I sure wouldn't want to worship that kind of God. He would be as warped as the child molesters and other criminals on our planet.
God is slow to act on his anger.
God delays the punishment that people deserve for the evil acts they commit, because he wants them to come to a point of repentance. Remember, we learned earlier that God is merciful, gracious, and patient. Psalm 103:8 (NIV) reads, The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. While God hates sin, he loves all people.
We must be patient with our enemies.
Like God, we know that it is part of our character to hate evil. But we must also remember that God still loves sinners, so we must do the same. Our enemies may not yet have come to a point of repenting for their actions. Therefore, it is up to us to remain patient while they work toward that point of change.
As at teacher, I frequently taught small children who couldn't seem to learn at the pace of the average kid. God has always blessed me with the ability to patiently work with people who are slow to pick up on new concepts.
I once had a student in kindergarten who could not grasp what we call 'sight words.' These simple words, such as and and the needed to be memorized in order to move on to more difficult reading tasks. Every other student had moved ahead to beginning readers, but this poor little boy couldn't get it.
One Monday morning, he came up to me as I was preparing to start our day. With confidence, he said, "Look what I can do." He opened a little book and read it perfectly from beginning to end.
I was flabbergasted and figured that someone at home must have been drilling him all weekend. I asked, "Who taught you how to read?"
Without hesitation, he smiled up at me and said, "You did."
That moment showed me that we never know how much of an impact we are having on someone. Even when our efforts seem to be fruitless, we never know what is going on in someone's heart or mind.
As I wait for my father to repent of his sins of molesting children and my mother to learn how to love as God does; I remember that little boy. I must be patient and kind to the people who have hurt me the most. Like my student, my parents may be the type of people who are slower to catch on to God's lessons for them.
I want to be there when someone asks the question of my parents, "Who taught you to love?" Hopefully, they'll give God the credit first and also mention that my kindness toward them helped along the way.
How do we find the patience to love slow learners?
I find it extremely difficult to love my parents. My mother, especially, is the type of person who pushes people away or turns on them when they try to express God's love to her. While my kindergarten student was eager to learn and please, my mother is more reluctant to do so.
I do not have the capacity to love either of my parents without God's help. Learning more about his character and how I am supposed to imitate him shows me what I must do. With ongoing prayer, I can tap into God's power to do the impossible. So can you.
Apply God's moral attributes to your own life so that you can forgive.
Over the past several weeks, we have looked at our own problems that have been caused by abuse or trauma: anger, fear, lack of trust, low self-esteem, guilt, revenge, pride, hatred, and depression. I call these the roadblocks to forgiveness, because as long as they remain in place, we cannot move forward.
Along the way, we have also learned what it means to become more like God. We have studied his goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peace, justice, jealousy, and wrath.
With a well-balanced view of God's character, we can better understand where we are out of balance. By understanding our own weaknesses and imitating God for strength, we can approach forgiveness with greater confidence. We now have the tools to remove the roadblocks so that we can continue on our journey toward forgiving.
Today's Challenge
In your journal, write about the anger or hatred you have felt against people who have hurt you with their evil actions. Ask God to give you the patience you need to pray for them while they work toward repenting for their sins. If it is safe to do so, think of ways to show your enemy God's love through acts of kindness.
Friday, March 11, 2011
God Expects Honor
We continue with our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness, with further thoughts about God's character. So far, we have learned about his goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peace, and justice. Today we look at God's expectations for us to honor him.
What is honor?
Honor is special esteem or respect that we give to someone. A soldier may receive honor for his service. We pay honor to people in positions of power, such as the governor or a judge.
God expects us to give him the highest honor.
While we may honor some of the people around us whom we respect, God inists that we honor him above all other people or things. The second commandment reads, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God...(Exodus 20:4-5 NIV)
The Bible uses the word jealous whenever God speaks about his expectations regarding his honor. In other words, he will not put up with our placing anyone or anything ahead of him. He expects our fullest respect, similar to the way a husband might expect honor from his wife.
What is an idol?
When I was younger, I used to think that following this commandment was pretty easy. After all, I wasn't bowing down to carved idols in my backyard.
As I grew older, though, I began to realize that idols can be present in our lives without our even recognizing them. What do they look like? Idols can be our favorite TV shows, food, alcohol, gambling, electronic games, movie stars, books, cars, sports figures, goals, or even our exercise routines.
Perhaps I can clarify this with an example. Think about someone you know who is really enthusiastic about something...a golfer who hits the links daily to see how close he can come to par, a sports enthusiast who never misses a single baseball game all season, or a businesswoman who spends every waking hour knocking herself out to meet self-imposed goals.
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these pursuits. Golf, baseball, and goal-setting are all useful activities. The trouble arises when a person ignores time with God in order to pursue them.
A good rule of thumb in determining whether idols are making God jealous is to consider how many hours each day are spent with God and how much time is spent on other interests. God expects us to give him more honor than we give to our television sets, our cars, our homes, our children, our jobs, our hobbies, and so on.
I'm not saying that we should quit our jobs and neglect our children. There is a balance in life regarding all of our responsibilities. But if we are honest with ourselves, my guess is that most of us spend far more time watching TV or pursuing our own interests than we do reading our Bibles. Our life gets out of balance and God gets jealous when we choose to spend our free time on everything except God.
Honor others more highly than yourself.
The point in studying God's expectations for honor is this: if we are imitators of God, we must learn to honor others more highly than ourselves. This comes back to an earlier post regarding pride and humility. We can never extend forgiveness to an enemy if we always regard ourselves with higher esteem than we do others.
The apostle Paul reminded early Christians, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." (Romans 12:10 NIV) This is easy to do with fellow believers who conduct themselves nicely. But do we really have to honor people who have abused or traumatized us?
The answer to that question in yes. With a spirit of humility, we can look inward and realize that we don't deserve special honor at all. Every one of us has sinned and deserves punishment for something we've done.
Humility is a great equalizer among members of the human race. We are all in the same predicament--deserving of God's punishment for sin. We are no different from our enemies who have deeply wounded us. They deserve our honor as much as the next guy.
How do we honor our enemies who have hurt us?
As I think about my father who molested a number of children in our family, I struggle with this concept of honoring others more highly than ourselves. I want to let my father know that I still honor him as my parent, but I don't know how to do that without confusing him. I'm afraid that if I extend a kindness to him in the form of a letter or visit, he will assume that I'm letting him off the hook for his crimes.
I suppose that the best thing I can do for the moment is to pray for my dad. I am asking God to protect him while he serves his prison sentence. And I pray that God will send good Christian volunteers and prison workers to talk to Dad about God's love for him. This seems like the safest form of honor I can extend to my father now.
Press on in your quest to forgive.
Forgiveness is such a difficult undertaking, but I believe that pursuing it pushes us to grow in many ways. We can't forgive until we fully understand God's character and how we are to imitate him.
This is no small task. But we must keep pressing on, because the rewards of forgiving are worth it. Stick with me through this. In just two weeks, we should all have a better understanding of how to forgive the one who has hurt us the most.
Today's Challenge
Think about how much of your time is spent honoring God. Do you read your Bible daily? Are you praying often? Do you participate in worship services or sing praises to him while you're alone? Do you tell others about his goodness? If not, what can you give up so that you have more time to devote to honoring God?
What is honor?
Honor is special esteem or respect that we give to someone. A soldier may receive honor for his service. We pay honor to people in positions of power, such as the governor or a judge.
God expects us to give him the highest honor.
While we may honor some of the people around us whom we respect, God inists that we honor him above all other people or things. The second commandment reads, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God...(Exodus 20:4-5 NIV)
The Bible uses the word jealous whenever God speaks about his expectations regarding his honor. In other words, he will not put up with our placing anyone or anything ahead of him. He expects our fullest respect, similar to the way a husband might expect honor from his wife.
What is an idol?
When I was younger, I used to think that following this commandment was pretty easy. After all, I wasn't bowing down to carved idols in my backyard.
As I grew older, though, I began to realize that idols can be present in our lives without our even recognizing them. What do they look like? Idols can be our favorite TV shows, food, alcohol, gambling, electronic games, movie stars, books, cars, sports figures, goals, or even our exercise routines.
Perhaps I can clarify this with an example. Think about someone you know who is really enthusiastic about something...a golfer who hits the links daily to see how close he can come to par, a sports enthusiast who never misses a single baseball game all season, or a businesswoman who spends every waking hour knocking herself out to meet self-imposed goals.
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these pursuits. Golf, baseball, and goal-setting are all useful activities. The trouble arises when a person ignores time with God in order to pursue them.
A good rule of thumb in determining whether idols are making God jealous is to consider how many hours each day are spent with God and how much time is spent on other interests. God expects us to give him more honor than we give to our television sets, our cars, our homes, our children, our jobs, our hobbies, and so on.
I'm not saying that we should quit our jobs and neglect our children. There is a balance in life regarding all of our responsibilities. But if we are honest with ourselves, my guess is that most of us spend far more time watching TV or pursuing our own interests than we do reading our Bibles. Our life gets out of balance and God gets jealous when we choose to spend our free time on everything except God.
Honor others more highly than yourself.
The point in studying God's expectations for honor is this: if we are imitators of God, we must learn to honor others more highly than ourselves. This comes back to an earlier post regarding pride and humility. We can never extend forgiveness to an enemy if we always regard ourselves with higher esteem than we do others.
The apostle Paul reminded early Christians, "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." (Romans 12:10 NIV) This is easy to do with fellow believers who conduct themselves nicely. But do we really have to honor people who have abused or traumatized us?
The answer to that question in yes. With a spirit of humility, we can look inward and realize that we don't deserve special honor at all. Every one of us has sinned and deserves punishment for something we've done.
Humility is a great equalizer among members of the human race. We are all in the same predicament--deserving of God's punishment for sin. We are no different from our enemies who have deeply wounded us. They deserve our honor as much as the next guy.
How do we honor our enemies who have hurt us?
As I think about my father who molested a number of children in our family, I struggle with this concept of honoring others more highly than ourselves. I want to let my father know that I still honor him as my parent, but I don't know how to do that without confusing him. I'm afraid that if I extend a kindness to him in the form of a letter or visit, he will assume that I'm letting him off the hook for his crimes.
I suppose that the best thing I can do for the moment is to pray for my dad. I am asking God to protect him while he serves his prison sentence. And I pray that God will send good Christian volunteers and prison workers to talk to Dad about God's love for him. This seems like the safest form of honor I can extend to my father now.
Press on in your quest to forgive.
Forgiveness is such a difficult undertaking, but I believe that pursuing it pushes us to grow in many ways. We can't forgive until we fully understand God's character and how we are to imitate him.
This is no small task. But we must keep pressing on, because the rewards of forgiving are worth it. Stick with me through this. In just two weeks, we should all have a better understanding of how to forgive the one who has hurt us the most.
Today's Challenge
Think about how much of your time is spent honoring God. Do you read your Bible daily? Are you praying often? Do you participate in worship services or sing praises to him while you're alone? Do you tell others about his goodness? If not, what can you give up so that you have more time to devote to honoring God?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
God Demands Justice
As we continue with our series, Removing the Roadblocks to Forgiveness, we learn about God's view of justice. In doing so, we strive to understand his character so that we can reach our ultimate goal of forgiving our enemies.
God is just.
God always does what is fair and right, because he himself sets the standard for what is just. Moses said of God, "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." (Deuteronomy 32:4 NIV)
A just God must punish sin.
Because God is just, he cannot tolerate sin. Therefore, people who practice evil acts must be punished. Sin never deserves reward; it is always wrong.
We were created in the likeness of God. As a result, we expect the world to be a place where justice reigns. This is why we cheer at the end of a movie or novel when the villain gets what's coming to him. The hero causes God's justice to prevail, so that we can believe all is right with the world.
God put judges in place to carry out his justice.
While we are all here on earth, God has devised a plan for judges to carry out his justice. They are responsible for determining punishments for those who break the law.
Sometimes, we are given the opportunity to provide judges with our input regarding our enemy's sentence. This occurred for our family recently as the judge prepared to set a jail term for my father. Members of the family were invited to write letters or speak in court about the impact of my father's crimes on their lives.
I believe there are pros and cons to this inclusion of the victim in the sentencing process. On the one hand, I believe it helps to restore a victim's personal power. If she feels that she has a say in the outcome of a criminal case, the control that the perpetrator stole from her is restored. I think that including the victim's family provides many people with the opportunity to express their grief over the losses that the crime created.
On the other hand, asking a victim to provide input for sentencing can create a new way for her to feel guilty. When the perpetrator goes to jail, the sexually abused victim may feel terrible if she has participated in the sentencing. She may even begin to worry that when the criminal is released, he will come after her to get even.
Justice brings healing to survivors of abuse or trauma.
If we have been the victim of sexual abuse or another crime, justice is an important part of our healing. When we are wounded, our spirits cry out to God for him to make things right. If our perpetrators are punished by the criminal justice system, we feel vindicated. Like the ending of a great novel, we feel satisfied that good has triumphed over evil.
While there is some sense of satisfaction in seeing our enemies pay for their crimes, there is also sadness attached to their punishment. God feels tremendous sadness when one of his children goes astray. If we are like God at all, we will feel both vindicated and sad when our perpetrator goes to jail.
I have been tracking my father's progress through the prison system since his sentencing a few weeks ago. One day, I discovered a mug shot of him online in his prison uniform. All of his life, Dad was very proud of the way he kept his hair. To my dismay, I discovered that his head had been shaved. The look on his face was so grim, I can only imagine how difficult his life has become behind bars. That picture brought me to tears.
Like most members of the family, I felt satisfied that my father was punished for his sex crimes against innocent children. But at the same time, it breaks my heart to think of my dad spending years in prison.
This situation has helped me to understand how God feels about us when we sin. His character demands that he punish evil, so he can't just ignore us when we commit evil acts. His heart breaks, just as mine does, to see someone he loves in jail.
God provided a substitute for our penalty.
John 3:16 (NIV) provides us with a way out of the punishment that we all deserve for our sins: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and ony Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
You see, God loves all of us--even sinners like my father who have been sent to jail. Out of the heartbreak that God feels over our sins, he came up with an alternative to sentencing us.
When God sent Jesus to die on the cross, he provided a substitute for our punishment. Even though we deserve to die for our sins, Christ already paid the price for us. All we have to do is acknowledge that Jesus is God's Son and then do our best to live according to God's laws.
If people refuse to believe that Jesus is God's Son, or believers refuse to conform to God's laws; they can expect to be punished for their sins. We learned previously that God is loving, merciful, gracious, and patient. It gives us all hope that he will give us as many second chances as we need to get our act together.
But make no mistake: our God who demands justice will not let us go on sinning indefinitely without disciplining us. Like any loving Father, he will figure out a punishment that will bring us back in line with what is right. If we fail to respond, our punishment may last into eternity.
Today's Challenge
Write down in your journal how you feel about justice. Do you believe that child molesters should be punished? How do you think God views criminals? Do they deserve God's mercy? Are they 'eligible' for forgiveness from God? from us?
God is just.
God always does what is fair and right, because he himself sets the standard for what is just. Moses said of God, "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." (Deuteronomy 32:4 NIV)
A just God must punish sin.
Because God is just, he cannot tolerate sin. Therefore, people who practice evil acts must be punished. Sin never deserves reward; it is always wrong.
We were created in the likeness of God. As a result, we expect the world to be a place where justice reigns. This is why we cheer at the end of a movie or novel when the villain gets what's coming to him. The hero causes God's justice to prevail, so that we can believe all is right with the world.
God put judges in place to carry out his justice.
While we are all here on earth, God has devised a plan for judges to carry out his justice. They are responsible for determining punishments for those who break the law.
Sometimes, we are given the opportunity to provide judges with our input regarding our enemy's sentence. This occurred for our family recently as the judge prepared to set a jail term for my father. Members of the family were invited to write letters or speak in court about the impact of my father's crimes on their lives.
I believe there are pros and cons to this inclusion of the victim in the sentencing process. On the one hand, I believe it helps to restore a victim's personal power. If she feels that she has a say in the outcome of a criminal case, the control that the perpetrator stole from her is restored. I think that including the victim's family provides many people with the opportunity to express their grief over the losses that the crime created.
On the other hand, asking a victim to provide input for sentencing can create a new way for her to feel guilty. When the perpetrator goes to jail, the sexually abused victim may feel terrible if she has participated in the sentencing. She may even begin to worry that when the criminal is released, he will come after her to get even.
Justice brings healing to survivors of abuse or trauma.
If we have been the victim of sexual abuse or another crime, justice is an important part of our healing. When we are wounded, our spirits cry out to God for him to make things right. If our perpetrators are punished by the criminal justice system, we feel vindicated. Like the ending of a great novel, we feel satisfied that good has triumphed over evil.
While there is some sense of satisfaction in seeing our enemies pay for their crimes, there is also sadness attached to their punishment. God feels tremendous sadness when one of his children goes astray. If we are like God at all, we will feel both vindicated and sad when our perpetrator goes to jail.
I have been tracking my father's progress through the prison system since his sentencing a few weeks ago. One day, I discovered a mug shot of him online in his prison uniform. All of his life, Dad was very proud of the way he kept his hair. To my dismay, I discovered that his head had been shaved. The look on his face was so grim, I can only imagine how difficult his life has become behind bars. That picture brought me to tears.
Like most members of the family, I felt satisfied that my father was punished for his sex crimes against innocent children. But at the same time, it breaks my heart to think of my dad spending years in prison.
This situation has helped me to understand how God feels about us when we sin. His character demands that he punish evil, so he can't just ignore us when we commit evil acts. His heart breaks, just as mine does, to see someone he loves in jail.
God provided a substitute for our penalty.
John 3:16 (NIV) provides us with a way out of the punishment that we all deserve for our sins: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and ony Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
You see, God loves all of us--even sinners like my father who have been sent to jail. Out of the heartbreak that God feels over our sins, he came up with an alternative to sentencing us.
When God sent Jesus to die on the cross, he provided a substitute for our punishment. Even though we deserve to die for our sins, Christ already paid the price for us. All we have to do is acknowledge that Jesus is God's Son and then do our best to live according to God's laws.
If people refuse to believe that Jesus is God's Son, or believers refuse to conform to God's laws; they can expect to be punished for their sins. We learned previously that God is loving, merciful, gracious, and patient. It gives us all hope that he will give us as many second chances as we need to get our act together.
But make no mistake: our God who demands justice will not let us go on sinning indefinitely without disciplining us. Like any loving Father, he will figure out a punishment that will bring us back in line with what is right. If we fail to respond, our punishment may last into eternity.
Today's Challenge
Write down in your journal how you feel about justice. Do you believe that child molesters should be punished? How do you think God views criminals? Do they deserve God's mercy? Are they 'eligible' for forgiveness from God? from us?
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