Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Forgiveness: More than Moving On
More than just moving on, forgiveness is one of the most effective ways to show love. How to keep loving others despite being wronged. Takes a lot of LOVE to do that. And Jesus showed the depth of His love by forgiving us.
God: Always Waiting
The first in the short message format....
When people have problems, they say God hates him/her or is simply void...
That applies to most humans, true. But not to God.
It's not true that God is never around when we need him. He is always there. The problem is WE are not near GOD when we need him the most.
When people have problems, they say God hates him/her or is simply void...
That applies to most humans, true. But not to God.
It's not true that God is never around when we need him. He is always there. The problem is WE are not near GOD when we need him the most.
New Format
Due to the difficulty to think and write a new article consistently and lack of time. I'm introducing a new format to HG's blog... Just simple quotes and bible passages will do...
Wei Lim
Wei Lim
Monday, June 14, 2010
Forgiveness
Due to the fact that I'm the only one left, I guess the burden is on me to revive the blog. Swt, I NEED VOLUNTEERS because I have more than enough problems already! Anyways, here we go again.
This is a practically a summary of what Pastor has been teaching the past month.
For most of my life, I never believed in forgiveness. Because I knew bad things happen to nice people, why bother. Be nice and eventually people will take advantage of your kindness and spit on you in return. It makes pretty much sense to everyone to remember everything and forgive nothing but one thing for certain is that being a believer of God makes no sense literally. Does it make sense to risk your life to preach to strangers? Does it make sense to die on a cross? The Christian life doesn't make sense because the world is the exact opposite of God.
Well maybe you won't get anything in return for forgiving others but well people GOD COMMANDS IT! like it or not. Jesus gave us unconditional love and we are to do the same for Him. Easier said than done because I personally have stumbled to the point of what I call "temporary backsliding".
The reason for all of this is that The Lord first forgave us. Jesus told the parable of a man who was just freed from a seven figure debt by his master upon pleading. But the man despite being removed from his debt killed a man who owed him a few hundred. Face it, we have hurt God everyday without realizing. It doesn't matter if the same bastards scorn us everyday, we still owe a life debt to God.
However there are circumstances in which the things that happen to us are too much to bear, circumstances in which GOD DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. It does make sense, it's just that we don't understand it. We can't, haven't and will never understand why God lets the good people die. Why good people who fight for justice and freedom die. Think Mahatma Gandhi who wanted to unite India, Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, John F. Kennedy who refused to invade Vietnam. All three of these men were killed in cold blood. THINK JESUS who died to save the world. No matter what the pain we face, it is clear that it is our duty, all of us, to forgive.
Taking it up to the person we have wronged is also a necessary step. Most people think it is easier just to walk away but in truth, past sins will always haunt us. We can attempt to run away from our past, but our past follows us like a shadow.
Confrontation is possible but it must be in a way in which no one gets offended which means no raising our voices, foul language etc.
Some people deal with offenses by striking back. Like they say the best defense is offense. But when I brought this up, Pastor said....
"How many people can you whack"
Sure, you can whack male friends, siblings but you can't whack most of the people you know. Guys who whack women have serious mental issues. But how many people can we whack. We can't whack the prime minister or president but some cases people succeed like JFK, Gandhi, Lincoln.
Although whacking may enable us to put things behind, it's not worth it. A guy who spends his time whacking people every time he is wrong will rot in jail. A guy who neither whacks nor forgives will have anger in his heart. And anger shortens life span. If laughter can cure cancer, anger actually causes cancer.
According to one psychologist, half of his patients would have no need of his services if they'd simply forgive.
but we must remember, forgive is not forget. Some conflicts are so deep that relationships remain strained forever.
Like it or not guys, forgiveness is the best medicine, second only to laughter perhaps.
This is a practically a summary of what Pastor has been teaching the past month.
For most of my life, I never believed in forgiveness. Because I knew bad things happen to nice people, why bother. Be nice and eventually people will take advantage of your kindness and spit on you in return. It makes pretty much sense to everyone to remember everything and forgive nothing but one thing for certain is that being a believer of God makes no sense literally. Does it make sense to risk your life to preach to strangers? Does it make sense to die on a cross? The Christian life doesn't make sense because the world is the exact opposite of God.
Well maybe you won't get anything in return for forgiving others but well people GOD COMMANDS IT! like it or not. Jesus gave us unconditional love and we are to do the same for Him. Easier said than done because I personally have stumbled to the point of what I call "temporary backsliding".
The reason for all of this is that The Lord first forgave us. Jesus told the parable of a man who was just freed from a seven figure debt by his master upon pleading. But the man despite being removed from his debt killed a man who owed him a few hundred. Face it, we have hurt God everyday without realizing. It doesn't matter if the same bastards scorn us everyday, we still owe a life debt to God.
However there are circumstances in which the things that happen to us are too much to bear, circumstances in which GOD DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. It does make sense, it's just that we don't understand it. We can't, haven't and will never understand why God lets the good people die. Why good people who fight for justice and freedom die. Think Mahatma Gandhi who wanted to unite India, Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves, John F. Kennedy who refused to invade Vietnam. All three of these men were killed in cold blood. THINK JESUS who died to save the world. No matter what the pain we face, it is clear that it is our duty, all of us, to forgive.
Taking it up to the person we have wronged is also a necessary step. Most people think it is easier just to walk away but in truth, past sins will always haunt us. We can attempt to run away from our past, but our past follows us like a shadow.
Confrontation is possible but it must be in a way in which no one gets offended which means no raising our voices, foul language etc.
Some people deal with offenses by striking back. Like they say the best defense is offense. But when I brought this up, Pastor said....
"How many people can you whack"
Sure, you can whack male friends, siblings but you can't whack most of the people you know. Guys who whack women have serious mental issues. But how many people can we whack. We can't whack the prime minister or president but some cases people succeed like JFK, Gandhi, Lincoln.
Although whacking may enable us to put things behind, it's not worth it. A guy who spends his time whacking people every time he is wrong will rot in jail. A guy who neither whacks nor forgives will have anger in his heart. And anger shortens life span. If laughter can cure cancer, anger actually causes cancer.
According to one psychologist, half of his patients would have no need of his services if they'd simply forgive.
but we must remember, forgive is not forget. Some conflicts are so deep that relationships remain strained forever.
Like it or not guys, forgiveness is the best medicine, second only to laughter perhaps.
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