Like little children

And he said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”- Matthew 18:3

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”- Pablo Picasso

I completed my elementary/secondary student teaching practicum during the winter quarter of my senior year at Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois.  My elementary experience was with Diane Stuhlmacher’s first and second graders at Zion Lutheran School in Chicago.  Toward the end of my five week internship, Miss Stuhlmacher instructed each student to “secretly” draw a picture of me, often approaching their subject to take a closer look.  Completed impressions then were assembled into a class portfolio. It was presented to me on my last day with them.  While most drawings were typical of six and seven year olds, one picture stood out.  Georgette’s 7+ inch high figure didn’t miss a detail- from my brown hair and glasses to the distinctive pattern in my belt (my hands were behind my back).

Young children bring exuberance and a sense of wonder to learning.  John Ortberg (The Life You’ve Always Wanted) writes that preoccupation with self keeps adults from experiencing joy.  The minutes of life are divided into two categories: living and waiting to live.  We literally are killing time, unable to pour ourselves out for the joy of others or delighting in the infinite variety of small gifts God daily offers us.  Yet, the joy the happiest child shows is but a fraction of the joy that resides in God’s heart, as G. K. Chesterton speaks of in Orthodoxy:

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.  They always say ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead.  For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.  But perhaps God is . . . . It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon.”

Compatibility with pain is one test of authentic joy. Worldly joy always is joy “in spite of” something. Theologian Karl Barth characterized joy as a “defiant nevertheless” slamming the door against bitterness and resentment.  It is an illusion to believe that joy will come someday when conditions change.  Today is the day to know joy. We, like little children, can be joy-carriers!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJxmy9QvcbQ

 

 

 

Like little children

Barriers to forgiveness

As June Hunt continues Chapter 5 of How to Forgive, she lists some of the most common barriers to forgiveness.  Of the twelve barriers June lists, three caught my attention:

• believing that bitterness is a required response to betrayal– “God knows my feelings are normal”


• requiring an apology or show of repentance– “He shouldn’t be forgiven because he’s not really sorry”


• feeling a sense of power by hanging on to unforgiveness– “He needs to see how wrong he is”

Ms. Hunt states that these stones of animosity can block forgiveness and burden us down.  June adds that she has heard two additional rationales so often they warrant further explanation.  The firs rationale is discussed today.

1.  “It wouldn’t be fair.”  The issue of justice is at the heart of this statement.  It seems that our need for justice is so strong and natural, while the idea of forgiveness is so difficult and unnatural.  June believes there are three reasons for this:

a.  God has instilled within every heart a sense of right and wrong.  Because everyone has a God-given conscience, we feel a need for justice when someone mistreats us.

b.  Based on the law, forgiveness seems inappropriate.  While a black-and-white , law-and-order system seems controllable  and quantifiable, the very essence of Christianity is grace.  June adds that “individually we are to extend mercy.  We are to leave individual justice to God.”

c.  We feel outraged when justice is denied.  Everyone cries for justice- except the guilty person waiting to receive justice(emphasis author’s).  Ms. Hunt finds it ironic that we plead for justice when we have been wronged, yet plea for mercy when we’ve done wrong.  She states this double standard may be human nature, but it sabotages a forgiving spirit.

Today’s question: What stones of animosity have been barriers to forgiveness for you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “Like little children”

Barriers to forgiveness

The fruit of forgiveness

“The fruit of forgiveness is always peace. . . . When we forgive, we free ourselves every bit as much as those who have hurt us.”- June Hunt

Today, in Chapter 4 of How to Forgive, June Hunt concludes here discussion of five key factors we know about forgiveness- based on the example of Jesus.

3.  Forgiveness removes the conditions for grace.  When faced with a devastating situation, such as a ministry downsizing or vocation loss, it is common to struggle with drawing the line on forgiveness.  If we don’t draw the line somewhere, we feel we will be overwhelmed.  Who gets forgiven?  Who doesn’t?

We may believe God has set His standards too high, that we can’t live up to them.  Ms. Hunt emphasizes our quandary ends when we adopt a single standard- God’s unconditional love.  We are freed from the burden of judgment.  We become more like Christ.

4.  Forgiveness is a doorway to reconciliation.  It takes two to reconcile, so reconciliation isn’t always possible.  June states:

“Forgiveness is a doorway, but we do not always get to walk over its threshold.”

June adds that when extraordinary forgiveness is in our hearts, even the peace we think is most elusive is attainable- within reach.

5.  Forgiveness erases the debt.  Ms. Hunt truly believes that if Christians understood how much God loves them and how Christ has freed them (at the heart-and-soul level), everything about life would change for the better.  We would manifest the fruit of forgiveness.  June explains that our challenge is:

” . . . to try to grasp, with our finite minds and limited comprehension, the love God lavishes upon us.  If we could fully experience the magnitude of our forgiveness from God down deep at the very core of our being, we would more readily, even eagerly, grant forgiveness to others.”

Today’s question: Which of June’s five key factors of forgiveness resonate most with you?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Barriers to forgiveness”

 

The fruit of forgiveness

Extraordinarily loved

“We can extraordinarily love because we are extraordinarily loved.  We can extraordinarily forgive because we are extraordinarily forgiven.”- June Hunt

June Hunt continues Chapter 4 of How to Forgive by looking at five key factors we know about forgiveness.  The first two factors will be discussed today.

1.  Forgiveness brings life, not death.  Christ brought forgiveness and freedom, the gift of grace.  Adherence to a strict code of sacrifices no longer was necessary.  Ms. Hunt cites D. L. Moody’s  distinction between law and grace:

“When Moses was in Egypt to punish Pharaoh, he turned the waters into blood.  When Christ was on earth he turned the water into wine.  That’s the difference between law and grace.  The law says, ‘Kill him’; grace says ‘Forgive him.’  Law says, ‘Condemn him; Grace says ‘Love him.’  . . . I would a thousand times rather be under grace than under the law.”

Before Christ, June points out, forgiveness was not permanent.  Blood sacrifices had to be repeated.  The forgiveness Christ gives to believers is free, complete, and irreversible.

2.  Forgiveness is ongoing and endless.  June emphasizes that God’s forgiveness has no timetable and no expiration date.  The timeless ingredients of God’s forgiveness are grace and love.  In Psalm 100:5 we read: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Although many people place limits on how many times they will forgive someone, God’s willingness to forgive never ends.

Today’s question: What does it mean to you that your are extraordinarily loved and extraordinarily forgiven?  Please share.

Coming Monday: the new Short Meditation, “Like little children”

Tomorrow’s blog: “The fruit of forgiveness”

Extraordinarily loved

"Extraordinary forgiveness"

“To rational, logical minds, extraordinary forgiveness is shocking and, to some, even offensive.  It goes against all our instincts.”- June Hunt

As June Hunt continues Chapter 4 of How to Forgive, she notes that competition, not forgiveness, is pervasive in our culture.  Even those who believe in forgiveness attach all kinds of qualifiers- conditions (for bestowing forgiveness) of their own creation.

Our merciful God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins.  June explains a second purpose God had in sending Jesus to earth:

“Thankfully, the time Jesus lived on earth served another purpose as well: to provide a living, breathing example of what forgiveness looks like.  Everything He did and said was an attempt to explain it and exemplify it. . . . Jesus was always willing to forgive- always.  We rarely feel like forgiving.  We’re reluctant to forgive.  We struggle.  We clasp our fingers tightly around the tiniest pebble of offense.  But not Jesus.”

June believes that, without a proper understanding of God’s unconditional forgiveness, it’s nearly impossible to forgive someone who has deeply hurt us.  Ms. Hunt reminds us that God wants our specks of sand as well.

The author explains that aggregates, like sandy gravel and crushed stone, add strength to whatever substance in which they are mixed- like cement.  But specks of sand have no purpose if they’re in your eyes or shoes.  Forgiveness must be complete:

“We are called to forgive as we have been forgiven- completely.  Not a speck of spite remaining.  When you give your miniscule grudges to God, the Master Builder, He will mix your painful experiences into His master plan to construct the path that  is right for you.  Realize that even specks of sand can accumulate and make for a heavy load- even specks we don’t think are important.”

Today’s question: What has helped you grasp the extraordinary forgiveness of God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Extraordinarily loved”

"Extraordinary forgiveness"

Perceptions of God"s nature and character

In Chapter 4 (“What Father Gives His Child a Stone”) of How to Forgive, June Hunt cites a study done at Baylor University about ten years ago.  The study included a Gallup survey that identified four distinct perceptions of God’s nature and character.  The findings were as follows:

• Authoritarian God (31.4%)- those who believe in a God “who is angry at humanity’s sins”


• Distant God (24.4%)- those who believe in a God who is more “a cosmic force that launched the world then left it spinning on it’s own”


• Critical God (16%)- those who believe in a God who “has his judgmental eye on the world”


• Benevolent God (23%)- those who believe God is forgiving and accepting when someone repents

Ms. Hunt observes that nearly three-fourths of those surveyed had a negative view of God, while less than one-fourth viewed God as loving, accepting, and forgiving.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus compares the goodness of an earthly Father to the goodness of our heavenly Father:

“Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone. . . . If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?”- Matthew 7:9-11 (ESV)

Of the many things we need, June asks, what do we need more than forgiveness- especially from God?  From our human point of view, God’s forgiveness makes no sense because it cannot be bought, sold, or rationed.  There is no scientific formula to determine when to apply God’s forgiveness or determine to whom it should be applied.  Ms. Hunt concludes:

“Let’s be honest: God’s forgiveness is so far-reaching and all-encompassing that it’s incomprehensible . . . inexplicable . . . inconceivable.”

Today’s question: What are your perceptions of God’s nature and His character?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Extraordinary forgiveness”

Perceptions of God"s nature and character

Learning to forgive

“Learning to forgive someone who has wronged us is nothing short of learning to think and act like God.”- June Hunt

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil.  Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.”- Romans 12:7

June Hunt concludes Chapter 3 of How to Forgive by discussing what forgiveness is.  Ms. Hunt states that the New Testament word for forgiveness, aphesis, means “pardon, cancellation of an obligation, punishment or guilt.”  An offense that is not forgiven, in contrast, is an unpaid debt- and even a spiritual debt- between two people.  Unforgiveness binds the two together.  Neither one is free from the debt.

June writes that as we forgive, one offense at a time, our hearts begin to resemble God’s heart.  Ms. Hunt adds that the New Testament Greek verb, aphiemi primarily means “to send away.”  That means when we forgive, we send away, or release, the debt owed when another person wrongs us.  June explains:

“This implies that you need to release your right to hear ‘I’m sorry’, to release your right to be bitter, to release your right to get even. . . . This means to release your right to dwell on the offense, to release your right to hold on to the offense, to release your right to keep bringing up the offense.”

Proverbs 17:9- “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”

Today’s question: What Scriptures have enabled you to release your right for justice and fairness, to begin the process of learning to forgive?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Perceptions of God’s nature and character”

Learning to forgive