This I write to a few of my family. Will they read it? Maybe, maybe not, but I write anyway. For once I'm not going to name names, but you all will know of whom I speak. I think though this applies to most at some point or another.
We have certain ones who appear as though they have changed... again. I'm 54 this year and I have watched this play out time and time again, we all have. I probably look foolish being nice or giving them a chance to change, maybe I am, you decide. You know as well as I that I don't go to church, can have a potty mouth at times. Prowlers come around I handle it, have little use for 911. I stand my ground and do not bend, even a little bit. I do read the Bible quite a lot, and the more I learn the more I find I don't know. What I do know is that it isn't open to interpretation, especially not mine. I consider myself a Christian, maybe not the best one, but one all the same. I'm not much on the dogma that seems to go along with that title, nor was it forced on me, I chose to be.
I have found that me pointing a finger at wrongs don't help make them right. I found that you can't take a Bible and beat the Hell out of someone with it and make them good. If you scare someone into it that wears off. I believe that saying of everybody gets something different out of it is a load of bull, it is what it is and it says what it says. Part of being a Christian I believe is that you accept Jesus' offer of a new Covenant, thus replacing the old stuff... save for the 10 Commandments. So we start there.
I have tried hard to keep peace within the family. One member that everybody has the hardest time with seems to have changed. Is it real? Who knows, probably not but maybe. I explained my kindness with them as to the persons as this is the hardest part of being a Christian, forgiveness and trying to give them a chance to change. I'll be 54 this year and I have seen this go back and forth since I can remember, but here is the thing. Do they deserve another chance, probably not, but neither did I when I asked God to forgive me and give me a chance to change. I've fallen more than I've stood, crawled more than I've walked, failed everyday in some way... yet He is faithful. I am sure I sound like a broken record by now, but He is patient. As I have read and understood it to be, we are to do the same. I use to think you can fight fire with fire, yet evil cannot be outdone with evil, only good can undo evil. Maybe I will be fooled and looked upon as a fool, if this is a fake change, but I will be known as a fool with a heart. I will be shown as a man with mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and love.
When I face my God, I do so with Jesus as my shield, but that comes with a price. Do not let anybody fool you on this one, it has a price. We are suppose to at least try and follow His lessons, and that ain't easy. We fall and then we get back up, and if you fall one thousand times you get back up one thousand and one times. That is where Grace is your safety net. It isn't an excuse to do wrong but rather a net to catch you and protect you when you do. It has a catch though, that you follow in His examples. You have to forgive to be forgiven. Well, I need forgiveness... every day.
We have certain ones who appear as though they have changed... again. I'm 54 this year and I have watched this play out time and time again, we all have. I probably look foolish being nice or giving them a chance to change, maybe I am, you decide. You know as well as I that I don't go to church, can have a potty mouth at times. Prowlers come around I handle it, have little use for 911. I stand my ground and do not bend, even a little bit. I do read the Bible quite a lot, and the more I learn the more I find I don't know. What I do know is that it isn't open to interpretation, especially not mine. I consider myself a Christian, maybe not the best one, but one all the same. I'm not much on the dogma that seems to go along with that title, nor was it forced on me, I chose to be.
I have found that me pointing a finger at wrongs don't help make them right. I found that you can't take a Bible and beat the Hell out of someone with it and make them good. If you scare someone into it that wears off. I believe that saying of everybody gets something different out of it is a load of bull, it is what it is and it says what it says. Part of being a Christian I believe is that you accept Jesus' offer of a new Covenant, thus replacing the old stuff... save for the 10 Commandments. So we start there.
I have tried hard to keep peace within the family. One member that everybody has the hardest time with seems to have changed. Is it real? Who knows, probably not but maybe. I explained my kindness with them as to the persons as this is the hardest part of being a Christian, forgiveness and trying to give them a chance to change. I'll be 54 this year and I have seen this go back and forth since I can remember, but here is the thing. Do they deserve another chance, probably not, but neither did I when I asked God to forgive me and give me a chance to change. I've fallen more than I've stood, crawled more than I've walked, failed everyday in some way... yet He is faithful. I am sure I sound like a broken record by now, but He is patient. As I have read and understood it to be, we are to do the same. I use to think you can fight fire with fire, yet evil cannot be outdone with evil, only good can undo evil. Maybe I will be fooled and looked upon as a fool, if this is a fake change, but I will be known as a fool with a heart. I will be shown as a man with mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and love.
When I face my God, I do so with Jesus as my shield, but that comes with a price. Do not let anybody fool you on this one, it has a price. We are suppose to at least try and follow His lessons, and that ain't easy. We fall and then we get back up, and if you fall one thousand times you get back up one thousand and one times. That is where Grace is your safety net. It isn't an excuse to do wrong but rather a net to catch you and protect you when you do. It has a catch though, that you follow in His examples. You have to forgive to be forgiven. Well, I need forgiveness... every day.
