So, Sunday at church I heard one of the most powerful sermons I think I have ever heard, in my life. Our pastor warned us, that it was VERY convicting and that we just might walk out of the church, "changed." Well, people...I did. The sermon was about "forgiveness."
Now, of course all my life my parents taught me to forgive others, just like Christ did for us, and all my life it was always in the back of my mind. But did I ever act on these words?? Well no, not all the time. I always told myself I would forgive, but when it came down to it, being nice to someone that had done me wrong was just too hard. But after yesterdays sermon, I WILL always not just sometimes forgive. I WILL be a daughter of Christ, I WILL set good examples for my friends and others that look up to me, and I WILL treat others with the same respect that I myself would like to be treated. Forgiving someone is probably one of the hardest things someone can do, you have to suck up your pride (and I have a whole lot of pride), and just do it! Our pastor urged us to write down a list of names of people that we needed to call and apologize to, or that we needed to 'forgive.' So, I did. And hallelujah - it felt good to just say "I'm sorry," and move on!! I thought that would be the hard part....ohhhh boy was I wrong. The hard part is forgiving. There have been some people in my past that have treated me pretty badly, and yes, I have felt sorry for myself because well, it just plain SUCKS. We have definitely had our differences, and it makes it hard because its people that my sweet boyfriend love.
I think its safe to say though, that its time to put those ill feelings away, and move on with life, which means...FORGIVING THEM. During the entire church service, the only thing I could think about was them, and how I felt God was telling me (He's been telling me for quite a while now, I just refused to listen) to forgive and not to necessarily forget, but to let the past be the past. I have to learn to accept the things that I cannot change, and know that I am a good person with an even bigger heart. And so, I pray (and have been praying, trust me) that they can in turn, forgive me. I know it will happen, just in His time.He also talked about telling the people that love, YOU LOVE THEM as often as you can. I'm tellin' ya people, when I give you the link, you HAVE to listen to this sermon, it might just change your life. For proof, when I went up to the nursery after our church service I received this text from my boyfriend: "I love you more than anything in the world and you are everything to me." If my manly-man of a boyfriend can be convicted like that in church, in the fact that he felt the need to tell me that right after church, I KNOW for certain that all you women out there will be!! Not that he doesn't tell me everyday he loves me, but knowing the sermon had that much of an impact on him really pulled at my heart strings!
Knowing that I am a follower of Christ, I try my best to live by His commandments, and always follow His word. My bf and I have put the Lord as our first priority in our relationship (this has only been in the past 8 months or so), and in our lives, and I can't tell you how much our relationship has changed spiritually, mentally, and physically. We live according to His word, and all of our faith and trust is with Him. It's a much easier way to live, by the way. I never knew what real Faith was until about a year ago. I always looked up to my grandpa because the faith he has is unlike the faith I had ever had, and he would and still does always tell me "The good Lord is always with you, hun." Makes my heart and soul smile. :)
This post is probably extremely boring, but I just had to tell you all about it, and it feels good to document it.
Here is the story in the Bible that our pastor read to us that really impacted me (its long but SO worth the read):
Matthew 18:21-35 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
When they get the sermon up, I'll give y'all the link and YOU MUST WATCH IT!!!!! I hope everyone has a fantastic week! And for all you girls out there that LOVE a good love story, 'Dear John' comes out on Friday!!! YAY!
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