"Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you." Colossians 3:13
Are there things that someone has done to you that you think you could never forgive?
You are not alone. Ron Luce, president of Teen Mania Ministries, shares a story that many can identify with. Ron came to faith in Christ as a teenager after enduring an abusive home life. Not long after his conversion, God began to convict him of his need to forgive his mom for the evil things she had done and said to him as a boy. Things like hitting him in the face. Crushing a cigarette butt out on his back. Telling him when he was 13 years old, "Why don't you do me a favor and kill yourself?"
Initially, Ron reacted with typical human disbelief. How could he forgive his mom? She didn't deserve it. But in time, God broke through, and Ron decided he needed to forgive his mother.
So Ron started carrying around Scriptures on little cards—verses about forgiveness he could meditate on and memorize. He began desperately praying that God would give him the ability to give up his right to punish her. It wasn't easy, and it didn't happen overnight. But one day as a senior in high school, he remembers praying, "Lord, You need to reach my mom and touch her, because I love her."
He couldn't believe what he'd just said. "I love her?" He had never spoken those three words before in his entire life! "But I do love her. I do love my mom. And You're the One who put it there, Lord. You must have done it."
We can forgive, because He forgave us. He shows us a better way. A way of freedom from bitterness and punishment. Christ does it through us. And He can do it through you.
Posted at Cup O'Cheer (cheer316@sc.rr.com)
Sent by "Christian Voices" (ChristianVoices@att.net)
Initially, Ron reacted with typical human disbelief. How could he forgive his mom? She didn't deserve it. But in time, God broke through, and Ron decided he needed to forgive his mother.
So Ron started carrying around Scriptures on little cards—verses about forgiveness he could meditate on and memorize. He began desperately praying that God would give him the ability to give up his right to punish her. It wasn't easy, and it didn't happen overnight. But one day as a senior in high school, he remembers praying, "Lord, You need to reach my mom and touch her, because I love her."
He couldn't believe what he'd just said. "I love her?" He had never spoken those three words before in his entire life! "But I do love her. I do love my mom. And You're the One who put it there, Lord. You must have done it."
We can forgive, because He forgave us. He shows us a better way. A way of freedom from bitterness and punishment. Christ does it through us. And He can do it through you.
Posted at Cup O'Cheer (cheer316@sc.rr.com)
Sent by "Christian Voices" (ChristianVoices@att.net)
Sent from Samsung Mobile
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