What If It Were YOU?

"If hurts were hairs, we'd all look like grizzlies!"

 

Let's face it, we all get hurt.  Sometimes it's a promotion we were expecting that never materializes.  Getting reprimanded.  A girlfriend or boyfriend suddenly decides we're no longer compatible.  Life is full of hurts!  And deep down, we want to retaliate.  We seethe and rage in our minds wanting to hurt those who hurt us so they will know how it feels!  

Think about this for a moment, what about the times WE have been the one who hurt someone else?  Do you think they wanted to hurt us in return?  I expect so.  Why is it that we want to harbor ill will toward those who hurt us, but don't expect those we hurt to harbor ill will toward us?

Retaliation has its appeal, but Jesus had a better idea! It's called GRACE.  Grace sees our hurt full well.  Yet Grace chooses to see God's forgiveness even clearer!  When Grace is absent, bitterness flourishes.  Where Grace grows, so does forgiveness.  True, forgiveness may not happen all at once, but it can happen to us.

"See to it that no one misses the GRACE of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" - Hebrews 12:15

 

Remember that Jesus taught us to forgive as we want to be forgiven!