I F@%!ive You
http://www.reactlove.com/2010/07/i-five-you/
I remember the first time I got my mouth washed out with soap. That was both a first, and last time for me. What brought out the bottle of liquid soap and toothbrush, was a back talking incident with my mom.
Now, before I had my mouth washed out, I had heard of this type of punishment from my friends. So I have to admit, I was pretty curious as to how the punishment was going to be executed. Was I going to have to hold a bar of soap in my mouth like in the movie, "The Christmas Story"? Or was I going to have to bite off a piece of soap and chew it up, and swallow it.
None of the above.
I had to squirt liquid hand soap on my toothbrush, and scrub my tongue for like 5 minutes. I believe that is the worst way to execute that punishment. Since I had to use my regular toothbrush, the taste of soap lingered for a couple of days after.
How many of you have gotten your mouth washed out with soap? When you were young, did your parents hear you or hear about you saying a bad word?
Have you ever said the F-word? It's not that easy to say, it is one difficult word to let roll off of your tongue. There are situations in my life right now, where I need to drop an F-bomb.
I forgive you.
I believe that the other f-word is easier to say than forgive. Do you realize that you are the only person that is hurting you, when you don't forgive someone for something they have done to you? 9 times out of 10 the person that hurt, or offended you has no clue they did so or even care that they did. But that doesn't matter, because we are to forgive them anyways.
In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks a pretty serious question, one that a lot of us have asked ourselves. “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus replied, “I tell you, not seven times, but 70 times 7.” In other words, every time. I have heard this story illustrated, where Peter has been depicted as being a wise guy. Sure, he might have been the most pessimistic of the disciples, but in this moment I believe he was asking this question in a serious tone. Maybe he had some skeletons in the closet, stuff that he needed to let go, stuff that he was letting control his attitude towards others. What do most people do when they have a question about something? They ask it.
Just like I believe Peter had an honest question for Jesus, about forgiving those that have wronged me, I think that you and I have those types of questions about forgiveness also.
What if the person I should forgive is still a jerk? Yes.
What if the person I should forgive is not in the same state, city, or room as me? Yes.
What if the person I should forgive is not alive anymore? Yes.
Forgiveness is more about you and your relationship with God, than it is with the person that hurt you. When we go into the presence of God, we want grace. But when we go out into our lives, where we are hurt and offended, we want justice. The level of grace we extend must be the level of grace we receive.
So, who cares if the person is around to hear you say this, or maybe they are, let's just say it.
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I forgive you!
Created almost 2 years ago
