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Great advice! Memorize this passage and try to fulfill it. Most of the "suggestions" (?) in that passage we may resent. They may sound foolish. Why should we be compassionate to those who are lazy and ignorant? Why should we be kind to some who don't deserve kindness -- like the neighbor whose dog barks all night or the family who lets there children scream in the restaurant where we are trying to eat in peace? How can we be humble when we are hard-working, honest people who pay our taxes and who are trying to win in this competitive world? How can we be patient when some around us are so slow to do anything about situations that need immediate attention? I am guilty of a lack of patience when the driver in front of me is creeping along at the speed limit. What about when you are starving and the waitress is so slow about bringing your food? What about standing in line at the checkout counter and the cashier is having a friendly chat with someone ahead of you?
How hard it is to forebear when someone is hurting you? Do we always put up with our mate or our children when they try our patience? Are we ready to forgive or do we like to make the other one suffer a little first?
Does this sound like the basis for a New Year's resolution? I think God wants to make it a new life resolution. New Year's resolutions only last a few days!
Forgiveness is often thought of as a sign of weakness. We excuse ourselves by saying that we just want to teach the other one a lesson or by yelling that we can't stand what the other one is doing and forgiveness will just encourage it. (As we forgive others?) Is that showing love? Love is the most important element in life. God so loved the world -- what are we doing to deserve that love?
One of my members complained about her husband's drinking. Every weekend he succumbed. She told me that she "admonished" him and yelled at him, but it did no good. I suggested something that made her laugh. I said, "Why not just treat him with love and see what happens?" She said she tried everything else, but even though it sounded stupid, she would try. When I came back from vacation a few weeks later, he was in the hospital. He told me, "I don't know what you did to my wife, but she even helped me to bed when I came home plastered. She was so good to me that it drove me crazy. I had one weekend when I didn't get sober for two days, but when I came around, I told her to bring me to this detox ward." I received a letter from her years later saying that he never drank again. God's ways can sound stupid to us, but they work. Happy New Year!
How hard it is to forebear when someone is hurting you? Do we always put up with our mate or our children when they try our patience? Are we ready to forgive or do we like to make the other one suffer a little first?
Does this sound like the basis for a New Year's resolution? I think God wants to make it a new life resolution. New Year's resolutions only last a few days!
Forgiveness is often thought of as a sign of weakness. We excuse ourselves by saying that we just want to teach the other one a lesson or by yelling that we can't stand what the other one is doing and forgiveness will just encourage it. (As we forgive others?) Is that showing love? Love is the most important element in life. God so loved the world -- what are we doing to deserve that love?
One of my members complained about her husband's drinking. Every weekend he succumbed. She told me that she "admonished" him and yelled at him, but it did no good. I suggested something that made her laugh. I said, "Why not just treat him with love and see what happens?" She said she tried everything else, but even though it sounded stupid, she would try. When I came back from vacation a few weeks later, he was in the hospital. He told me, "I don't know what you did to my wife, but she even helped me to bed when I came home plastered. She was so good to me that it drove me crazy. I had one weekend when I didn't get sober for two days, but when I came around, I told her to bring me to this detox ward." I received a letter from her years later saying that he never drank again. God's ways can sound stupid to us, but they work. Happy New Year!
