Facebook Profile Picture - Monday September 29, 2014
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.... Luke 11:4 NIV
Recently I was rethinking a situation that had hurt me many years ago. A friend from high school had changed her profile on Facebook to a black and white wedding photo. She was gorgeous in the photo and her husband (whom I only met once) was very handsome. Once again the pang of not having been invited to or informed of the wedding went through me-she had been my best friend for six years. We had since kept in touch, but distantly.
I felt like the Lord reproved me gently: "Is this about you?"
I thought, and then answered, "No, Lord, it's about You." (My friend rejected her faith.) "It hurt me, though. Oh, it hurt You too, didn't it? You died for this one's sin against me. You shared my pain of being rejected, little thought of or cared about. But You also shed Your blood for this person's sin so it could be forgiven. So it's about Your mercy, and it's about restored relationships. You did talk to Peter about his rejection of You, didn't You? 'Do you love Me, Peter?' But it was not mainly for Your sake, but his. You reaffirmed Your love for him by addressing the issue-betrayal, rejection, deception-and then moving past it through forgiveness. You gave him a way to reaffirm his love for You by identifying with Your heart, Your interests. You even told him how he would end his life-You and him together, him being true to You.
"Thank you for the pattern, Lord. Thank you that you care about my being hurt. Thank you for the power, Your heart in me, to forgive and restore relationships."
Submitted by:
Dotty Vanderhorst
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Isaiah 57:15-59:21
Philippians 1:1-26
Psalms 71:1-24
Proverbs 24:9-10
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