“NIK, EVERYONE IS DEALING WITH THIS FORGIVENESS ISSUE!”
That was my sweetie, Martha, a few minutes ago! I told her I was embarrassed that I was the God maniac here but still seriously struggling. So, today, I want to share a Ceri perspective as to why we need to be more loving, compassionate, kinder, gentler, patient, and forgiving with each other:
“1 Corinthians 9:22 says:
“When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some.”
_This particular verse, I bookmarked it because the context behind it really stood out to me. It’s just one word that automatically came to my spirit when I read this verse: compassion. It’s so important for us to be compassionate towards people when they’re going through things. As Christians, because of our faith, we have developed a strength that a lot of people who may not have our faith, don’t have. And if we don’t see that. We expect people to be as strong as we are. _
_That’s the thing with strength, like a lot of times, when you are strong, you expect somebody to be able to handle things the way that you handle things, but you have to realize that the strength that we have is extra-ordinary. The normal human without faith is actually a pretty weak creature. They don’t have the strength that we have to bear and endure things. _
They don’t see the purpose like what we see. They don’t realize that it’s a light at the end of the tunnel. They often sink themselves into holes a lot deeper than what they already are by allowing their mind to wander without having something telling them inside (God’s voice), ‘Hey listen, man, you know I have you. I’ve got you.’
In this verse, the Apostle Paul reminds us that you have to be compassionate in sharing their weakness. And that is so important. It’s easy for you to bring somebody to Christ (God), especially when they’re weak, but you must put yourself in their shoes. You can’t just tell somebody to suck it up. When they hurt, sometimes you have to hurt. You have to live through that pain for them. You gotta be compassionate and tell them, ‘Hey, it’s gonna be alright.’ When they ask how do you know, you just tell them because my faith tells me that. God has already shown me that. I have faith in God to know that He’s going to bring you through this. If God brings you to it, He will take you through it.”
It’s so funny that years ago, I thought I was pretty loving, but God told me, “When you are ready, I will teach you more about love.” Oh my goodness, God, I wasn’t expecting all these tough lessons!!!! But that’s my assignment from Him to teach you as I learn them. So, like Ceri teaches me, God extends such love to us, and when He wakes us up every day, He says, “Now go out there and share that love with others!” So help us, God!