This morning I started in on Darryl Tippen's book "Pilgrim Heart" again. I have been so not in a reading mood lately. Today I read the chapter "Forgiving: The Love That Travels Farther." I'm not a good critic or summarizer, but here are a coupla quotes I liked:"Anybody who lives beneath the Cross and who has discerned in the Cross of Jesus the utter wickedness of all men and of his own heart will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him. Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother." (Bonhoeffer, p.117)
"The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness." (William Blake, p.121)
I know the Bible says money is the root of all evil, but... hmm, I think unforgiveness causes some serious root problems too. Have you ever been around people who are constantly at one another's throats? I believe vengeance and retaliatory stuff are the direct results of unforgiveness. And for many people it's the inability to forgive themselves that drives them to be so bitter and unforgiving of others. We are so afraid to admit we need a Savior. So afraid to admit we might not have our crap together. And in our denial we are then unable to forgive those who are just like us. Forgiveness is hard. That's why it takes a death on a cross to make it possible (well, and the rising part too). And, of course, that has happened... so it is possible.
1 comment:
I think the Bonhoeffer quote should help us all remove any self-righteousness we have in our lives. So often it is easy to pick that out in others, but looking in the mirror is much harder.
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