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I wonder when you’ve been hurt? It might not have been something big, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. I wonder when you’ve hurt others? It might not have been something big, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important. I wonder if you can pinpoint the times when one of those things has been the result of the other, and you’ve hurt someone because you’ve been hurt? That might be the person who hurt you, or it might be someone else who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was asked to speak about Ephesians 4:32 : “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” But I needed a little bit more context, so want to add in the verse before it as well. Ephesians 4:31-32 (New International Version) The Bible talks a lot about forgiveness, and suggests emphatically that it’s a good thing.
It talks about forgiveness being a sign of love, of being a way of restoration, a way of beginning to rebuild relationships, but mostly as a way of re-discovering Shalom... **No potty mouth warning, but a request for you to read with grace** Today's "to-do" list was short from the off. I had decided that there was going to be a single item on it, and I was going to do it well. (Granted, I had forgotten about the assembly that I had to deliver this morning, so that added to it). Today's "to-do" is simple: Read and reflect upon "God in Love Unites Us - The report of the Marriage and Relationships task group, 2019" The list is simple, the task less so. The task is bound up in my history, my upbringing, my theological journey, my desire to see God, my longing for others to meet him, my calling to "Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with my God". Wherever my journey with this report takes me, I have to submit myself to God.  Every day I get near enough the same message come up on my phone:
"You have memories with Suzanne Williamson and x others to look back on today" And every day I get the same feeling... Every day I get excited to rack my brain as to what we might have been through together on this day at some point in the last 10 years. I'll be honest, when I click the link and look back through the Facebook posts it's not all as riveting as my mind imagines, but the point is she was there, we were making memories together, and that still excites me. Aside from the obvious fact that she is stunning, and her tolerance levels are greater than anyone I've ever met (except possibly my mother who has my dad to contend with too), there's a choice that we both make every day that says whatever comes our way we choose to love each other, to want to be with each other and to love each other... |
MARCRemarcable is one man blogging about Youth Work, Theology, Family, Life and those other random things that come to mind. Archives
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