2022-03-21
Lukas 6:37 NLV
Sodra jy verstaan dat ouers nie altyd in staat is om dit vir hulle kinders te gee wat hulle self nie ontvang het nie – naamlik liefde, versorging, aanvaarding en fisiese geneentheid – word dit makliker om hulle te vergewe.
Die skrywer Stormie Omartian sê: ‘Soms maak dit wat een ouer nie gedoen het nie, net so seer as die een wat mishandel het. ‘n Ouer se onbetrokkenheid en onwilligheid om in te tree en jou te red, voel soos verraad. Onvergifnis vir ‘n onbetrokke ouer is moeiliker om te herken, maar meer algemeen as wat ons dink. Vra God om vir jou te wys of jy enige onvergifnis het teenoor ‘n ouer wat nie tot jou redding gekom het nie. As dit daar is, moet jy daardie gevoelens eerlik hanteer.
Die eerste stap is om God se vergifnis te ontvang en toe te laat dat die realiteit daarvan ons diepste binneste binnedring. Wanneer ons besef hoeveel ons al vergewe is, het ons geen reg om iemand anders te veroordeel nie. Om vergewe en vrygestel te word van alles wat ons ooit gedoen het is so ‘n wonderbaarlike gawe, hoe kan ons dus weier om gehoorsaam te wees wanneer God ons vra om ander te vergewe?
Vergifnis is ‘n tweerigting straat. God vergewe jou en jy vergewe ander mense. Ons baseer ons besluit nie op dit wat ons voel ons wil doen nie, maar op dit wat ons weet reg is.’
Jesus het gesê: ‘Hou op om ander te oordeel, en julle sal nie geoordeel word nie… As julle ander vergewe, sal julle vergewe word’ (vers 37 NLV). Deur te kies om te vergewe en nie toe te laat dat iemand anders se sonde dit wat jy voel en doen voorskryf nie, word jy vry om in vrede te leef.
Sielskos: Job 11-14; Luk 18:31-43; Ps 116:12-19; Spr 8:10-13
2022-03-20
Philippians 3:13-14 NIVUK
The more someone has hurt us, the harder it is to forgive them. But we must choose forgiveness, because whatever we refuse to forgive and let go of, we carry with us like a weight. Sometimes we may even need to forgive ourselves for something we’ve done.
Whatever our particular hurt, the solution isn’t feeding it by feeling sorry for ourselves, or denying it by pretending it never happened. We have to face the hurt, then forgive and let it go, or we’ll continue to hurt ourselves. Someone once said that choosing not to forgive somebody is like eating poison and expecting the other person to die. In order to move forward, we have to let go and be at peace with the past.
Paul put many Christians to death before he met Christ. He could easily have allowed that memory to destroy him and rob him of his destiny. But he refused to let it. Instead he wrote: ‘Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:13-14 NIVUK). Paul hadn’t forgotten his past, but knowing that God had forgiven him, he wasn’t going to let his past hold him back.
Mark 11:25 says: ‘If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’ (NIV). Starting today, choose forgiveness.
Lev 24:17-22; Deut 15:7-11; Matt 5:38-48
Ephesians 4:32 NKJV
There is nothing worse than the pain parents inflict on their kids. Often it stems from ignorance, but that doesn’t lessen the hurt when you’re on the receiving end.
A Christian author writes: “Needs not met in childhood will be just as strong in adulthood, but they will be expertly camouflaged. If you were abused as a child, don’t be misled into [thinking]… ‘I’m born again – I shouldn’t still hurt.’ The fact that you still hurt doesn’t negate your born-again status or make you less spiritual. Because people tend to view God the way they viewed their parents, it takes a time of healing, deliverance, and getting to know the love of God before total trust comes.
Forgiving your parents is a big part of the healing (and crucial to avoiding the pitfall of abusing your own children). You have to forgive the father who never protected you, the mother who mistreated and abused you, the stepfather who didn’t love you, the grandfather or uncle who sexually molested you, the parent who was never there or deserted you through death or abandonment… the selfish parent who reminded you that you were never wanted, or the emotionally deficient parent who didn’t know how to properly nurture you.
These bitterly painful experiences will continue to hurt you if you don’t… release all that pain and bitterness… and ask [God] to help you forgive… He is a God of restoration and redemption, so He can redeem whatever… occurred in your past. He can mend the breach between you and your children, or parents, or friends. Restoration doesn’t happen overnight, but redemption can. Allow God to redeem your situation now, so it can be turned around and headed in the right direction.”
Soul food: Lev 24:17-22; Deut 15:7-11; Matt 5:38-48
Efesiërs 4:32 NLV
Daar is niks erger as die pyn wat ouers hul kinders toedien nie. Dikwels gebeur dit as gevolg van onkunde, maar dit beteken nie dat dit minder seer is wanneer jy aan die ontvangkant daarvan is nie.
‘n Christelike skrywer merk op: ‘Behoeftes waaraan daar nie in die kinderjare voldoen is nie, sal net so sterk in volwassenheid wees, maar dit sal kundig gekamoefleer wees. As jy as kind mishandel is, moenie mislei word om te dink: ‘Ek is wedergebore – dis nie veronderstel om steeds seer te maak,’ nie. Die feit dat jy steeds seer het, negeer nie jou wedergebore status of maak jou minder geestelik nie. Omdat mense geneig is om God op dieselfde manier as wat hulle hulle ouers beskou het, te sien, neem dit tyd vir genesing, verlossing en om die liefde van God te leer ken, voordat algehele vertroue plaasvind.
Om jou ouers te vergewe is ‘n groot deel van die genesing. Jy moet die vader wat jou nooit beskerm het nie, die moeder wat jou misbruik en mishandel het, die stiefpa wat nie lief was vir jou nie, die oupa of oom wat jou seksueel mishandel het, die ouer wat nooit daar was vir jou nie, die selfsugtige ouer, of die emosioneel gebrekkige ouer, vergewe. Hierdie bitter pynlike ervarings sal aanhou om jou seer te maak as jy nie al daardie pyn en bitterheid laat gaan nie en vir God vra om jou te help om te vergewe nie. Hy is die God van genesing, so Hy kan enigiets wat in jou verlede gebeur het, verlos. Hy kan die brug tussen jou en jou kinders, of ouers, of vriende, regmaak. Laat God toe om jou situasie te verlos, sodat dit omgedraai kan word en in die regte rigting kan begin beweeg.’
Sielskos: Lev 24:17-22; Deut 15:7-11; Matt 5:38-48
2022-03-19
Luke 17:14 NKJV
“Ten… lepers… lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’… He said to them, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and… glorified God… So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the [other] nine?’… And He said to him… ‘Your faith has made you well'” (vv. 12-19 NKJV).
This story teaches us these three things: (1) Sometimes the answer comes quickly; other times it comes slowly, step-by-step. The Bible says, “As they went, they were cleansed.” You don’t know which step will bring the answer, so you must keep walking in faith. Mosaic law dictated that before a leper could be welcomed back into society, the priest must pronounce him “clean.” Think about it: Jesus saw the change in these men before it ever took place; that’s because He has the power to make it happen!
(2) Don’t give up because others reject you. As social outcasts, these men expected Jesus to treat them accordingly. But when you draw close to God, He will draw close to you (See Jas 4:8). Are you struggling with an issue that has caused others to shun you or cast you aside? Jesus won’t do that. He said, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37 NIV).
(3) Always remember to thank and praise God. Only one of the ten lepers passed the gratitude test. Would you have passed it? When you realize how much your thanks means to the Lord, you will never let a day go by without praising and worshiping Him.
Soul food: Job 8-10; Luke 18:18-30; Ps 116:1-11; Pro 8:8-9
