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Post by michelle on Feb 8, 2007 20:49:14 GMT -8
12/05:
It seems like my reading has been more like one chapter a week instead of one chapter a day. I am going to recommit to making sure that I post everyday and I hope others will recommit with me. I know it's a hectic time right now with holidays, etc., but I found so much value when there was daily dialogue going on. I love the reminder in verses 1-18 that when we do things like serving, praying, and fasting that we are not to do it to look good to people, but rather to look good to God. I think that it is hard sometimes to remember that God sees everything we do and we don't need everyone else to see everything we do. It's funny/ironic to me that in general we (myself included for sure) like everybody to see the good that we do, but we try to hide the not so good things we do. This passage speaks so loudly to me because I know that there are times when I want "worldly" recognition for the things I do and I have to remind myself that I need to not allow myself to be caught up in what the world thinks of what I do. It can be hard at times because I get tired of giving of myself and not receiving praise or acknowledgement in return. It's always a lesson in humility for me when I read this.
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Post by Josh on Feb 9, 2007 16:37:52 GMT -8
12/05:
That's a good goal, but I have to say these chapters (especially Matthew 5-7) are so jam-packed with dense material, it's almost hard to pick what to comment on.
Yes, Jesus words about recognition here cut right to the heart. They remind me of the quote by Henri Nouwen I posted earlier: about our drive to be recognized as ____________ fill in the blank.
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Post by michelle on Feb 9, 2007 16:38:39 GMT -8
12/05:
I feel the same way about the passages. There is so much great stuff in there. I feel like I could comment on each verse.
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Post by Josh on Feb 9, 2007 16:43:01 GMT -8
12/05:
Verse 15 is huge: if you do not forgive your brother, your Father will not forgive you!
I think a lot of theologians would like to squirm out from under this one. Is God's grace/forgiveness conditional or not? Well, in at least once sense it seems it is.
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Post by michelle on Feb 9, 2007 16:45:17 GMT -8
12/05:
I've often struggled with what it means to forgive someone. How do you know when you've actually done it? It might be easy to say, but is there a kind of transformation that takes place once you've done it? I struggle with knowing that I need to forgive someone of something and feeling like I've forgiven them, but not ever forgetting and often times thinking of what I need to forgive them for. Are they forgiven only once the anger or hurt has gone away? What if it never goes away?
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Post by Josh on Feb 9, 2007 16:45:46 GMT -8
12/05:
I heard it iterated today by someone that "Faith is a cold-blooded act of the will". A bit of hyperbole, but it emphasized the point of how little faith has to do with feelings and how much it has to do with volition. Feelings can attend it sometimes, and sometimes they don't- but an act of faith is a decision of the will. True love can be said to be that as well.
And I certainly think forgiveness can be as well. If we must feel warm and fuzzy toward a person to forgive them, then I think we're all hopelessly sunk on that endeavor. And I don't think to forgive you must forget: sometimes its very healthy to keep remembering so that you don't let a person take advantage of you despite forgiving them.
I think the moment we commit our will to forgiveness (which can be quite an effort), we have forgiven. I do think forgivenss brings about a transformation. The transformation may be a transformation of feeling about that person eventually, but I think the biggest transformation is that it enables us to be more like our Father the moment we do it and it enables us to be obedient children.
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Post by sarah on Feb 9, 2007 16:48:12 GMT -8
12/05:
I think the most comforting thing that I have heard about forgiveness comes from a story about Corrie Tenboom's life. (not certain if that is the correct spelling of her name)
She wrote "The Hiding Place" which was a true story about her family's response to the German occupation of their country. They hid Jews and were eventually discovered and sent to a concentration camp, where all but Corrie were killed by the Germans. She held on to her Christian faith through this experience and went on to be a respected writer and speaker. One of my friends heard her tell this story.
Many years after the war ended, and well after Corrie had made the decision to forgive the soldiers that had harmed her and her family she was doing some shopping in her home town. Just as she was leaving a man walked through the door, and she immediately recognized him as one of the guards from the camp. She reacted with fear and anger and was deeply troubled by her response because she had chosen to forgive the men who had harmed so many. She was troubled for days with old feelings and a new feeling of guilt, believing that she had not actually forgiven after all. Finally she went to her priest to seek some counsel.
After listening quietly to her story he asked her to follow him, and he led her to the bell tower. There he instructed her to pull on the rope until he told her to stop. She pulled for a long time, with tears in her eyes. He then told her to stop. She let go. and the sound of the bell could still be heard above as it came back to a place of rest. When it was quiet the priest simply said, "Forgives is letting go of the rope."
I have found this story deeply impacting in my life. It has helped me to forgive more quickly, and to choose a different way of thinking about my responses to people that have harmed me. Sometimes even after we forgive, the bell still rings for awhile, and we deal with emotions and responses that we wish were different.
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