Pride

It was a good morning. Weather, crazy flights and vacation have kept us from Sunday services at our church for almost a month. Today, Pastor Mark was speaking on 1 John 2:29-3:3

If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

I've been struggling with grace lately. Extending it, that is. Forgiveness has been difficult in some situations, and I hate to admit, but bitterness is starting to take root. This passage brought conviction, but also hope.

One the hurts I'm harboring is over the fact that people who have "known" me for years haven't ever really taken the time to get to know me. That is, years into the relationship, things are still very much on the surface. I'm sometimes feel I have nothing to contribute and my feelings, thoughts, and opinions are of no value. There have been times where my faith has been under attack (sometimes subtle, sometimes not). I remembered today that it's not a personal attack on me, but on the God I serve. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

And yet, while I sit here nursing this grudge and letting it fester, I forget How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! The question was asked this morning "What did it cost God to give me this love?" If it cost God His only son, then shouldn't I be able to swallow my pride to love the difficult people in my life?

And so, as I think more about right living (dealing with my sins), right loving (dealing with my brothers and sisters in Christ) and right learning (dealing with my enemies), I ask myself how I can be someone who does what is right. So I will pray that my actions would be in accordance with God's Word, that my motivation will be in line with God's will, and that any good I do will be by God's power. And I will continue to pray for a heart of forgiveness.