II Corinthians 2:8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
We live in a world of offenses. A world of ‘cancel culture.’ Where snap judgments are made and and doors are slammed shut, barred from the outside, and painted in bright colors so that all may know the offender and offense. It’s easy to see it. It’s often easy to condemn such reactionary behavior. But it’s also far too easy to practice what we might consider a ‘far more reasonable’ version of it ourselves.
Do we have a list of unwritten standards? A group of sentences that start with, “No one ___________________ to me!” I think that nothing so discounts a Christian witness as such a mindset as this. Do we really imagine Jesus thinking or saying such a thing? It’s silly to con-sider! “No one calls Me names!” “No one gets in My face!” “No one nails Me to a cross!” These are exactly the kinds of things that did happen to Jesus. And the fact that they did and the way He responded was just what showed His love for us.
One of the most difficult teachings of Jesus was about forgiveness. The committed follower of Jesus is required to act like He did. We are required to forgive as He forgave. Not just once or twice, but “seventy times seven!” In other words, we always forgive.
“But what if they did that thing on purpose!?!” Well, we’d have nothing to forgive if it wasn't on purpose!” We show understanding when something is an accident. We forgive wrong actions and words. “But I just don’t know if I can forgive. You don’t know what they did!” That’s where the empowering grace of God comes in. You might not be able to forgive on your own. But if I am going to call myself a Christian, I am going to have to learn to let Him work through me and forgive. Even the times I’d rather not.
To live like Christ is to love others. To love like Christ is to love others. To forgive is to reaffirm my love for others! Nothing else will be such a shining example of Christ! Nothing is needed more in our world.
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
