{"id":15728,"date":"2013-11-14T00:01:03","date_gmt":"2013-11-14T06:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15728"},"modified":"2013-11-13T21:30:36","modified_gmt":"2013-11-14T03:30:36","slug":"16-day-love-challenge-chapter-9-love-keeps-record-wrongs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/11\/14\/16-day-love-challenge-chapter-9-love-keeps-record-wrongs\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Day Love Challenge: Chapter 9 Love Keeps no Record of Wrongs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"16daylovechallengenorecordofwrongs\"<\/a>Have you ever played putt-putt golf? \u00a0Do you remember what the scorecard looks like? I\u2019m thinking that it looks a little like the one we keep in our heads. \u00a0Who\u2019s name is at the top of the scorecard? \u00a0Is it a husband, friend, sibling, parent or yourself? \u00a0Is it an ongoing score card? I know…I’m asking a lot of questions…but only because I’m concerned. \u00a0I, too, was a score keeper. \u00a0I had so many scorecards with so many names on them and I can tell you I didn\u2019t let anything go. \u00a0No free passes and no excuses and not much grace. \u00a0I wanted grace but I didn\u2019t give it. \u00a0Which brings me to the hard question that is in the book, \u201cWould I want to hold another accountable for their small transgression against me and run the risk of having the Lord repay me for all of my sins?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hold on to that scorecard for a minute. \u00a0I want you to look up 2 Corinthians 5:14-21<\/a>. \u201cSo we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view\u201d (verse 16). \u00a0\u201cSo we are Christ\u2019s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ as we plead, ‘come back to God.’ \u00a0For God made Christ, Who never sinned to be an offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ\u201d (verses 20-21).<\/p>\n

Jesus tells us that because of His death on the Cross, we are a new creation. \u00a0We are never the same person that we were. \u00a0We are His<\/strong> <\/em>ambassadors. \u00a0The way we do things and the way we see things has to be 180 degrees different than the rest of the world. \u00a0We are Christians and, as His followers, we do things a little differently. \u00a0So, if the rest of the world is holding grudges and taking other people\u2019s inventory and suing his Christian brother, what are we to do differently? \u00a0I know, we are to go the extra mile for our neighbor. We are to love our enemies. \u00a0We are to wash the feet of those who have wronged us. \u00a0We are to remember that—just as our own sins were nailed to the cross all those 2,000 years ago—so are the people\u2019s sins that are at the top of your score cards.<\/p>\n

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our sins…<\/p>\n

Isaiah 53:5<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0I feel that if Jesus were sitting right here today, He may just tell us to go ahead and rip up the scorecards. \u00a0To shred them into pieces and throw them away. \u00a0And He would speak words to us , maybe something like this\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMy child, I suffered evil, shame and wrong, yet I love all of you who brought Me pain. \u00a0I have never sinned, yet I gave up my rights for your sin and I was slain. \u00a0My love was rejected by sinful men, yet I loved expecting nothing in return. \u00a0I have been mocked and beaten, yet I forgave. \u00a0From me, and my example, learn. \u00a0Make my death count for something. \u00a0For when you keep a record of someone else’s wrongs against you, you are saying that my death wasn\u2019t enough. \u00a0I ask you to love Me with everything you have—your heart, soul, mind, and strength—and second, love your neighbor as yourself. \u00a0Especially when they’ve wronged you. \u00a0And forgive, forgive, forgive and forgive again. And love, love, love them. For I love you and I\u00a0forgave you and I erased your sins and the slate is clean. Remember, if you want to be My disciple…deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Friend, have you been hurt? \u00a0Wronged deeply by someone you love and trusted? \u00a0Then may you ask for grace greater than all your sin and theirs because usually when we are hurt, we usually sin against the person that has wronged us. \u00a0Jesus wants you to know that He has overcome the world and, as His followers, we too will overcome the world. Freedom, my friends, comes from forgiveness. \u00a0The record of wrongs keeps us in bondage. \u00a0The person you are keeping record of usually has no idea. \u00a0It\u2019s in our minds and hearts; and can become so big it stands in the way of our God. \u00a0Free yourself today by forgiving whoever you need to forgive and pray to your Father to fill you will such love for others that you will never be the same! \u00a0You will never be the same!<\/em><\/p>\n

I leave you with this…Jesus praying for us and about us to His Father.<\/p>\n

And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it,
\nthat the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.
\nJohn 17:26<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Let us pray<\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, You are our Maker, our Redeemer, our Provider, and You are full of mercy. \u00a0Lord, we come to You today asking for forgiveness for keeping records of wrongs made against us. \u00a0We keep score and pride slips in and makes us feel better or less. Lord, we are all sinners but You died to forgive us, You died so that we don’t have to carry the weight of our cross day in and day out. \u00a0Give us the strength to let it go, to lay the scorecards at Your feet forever and leave them there. \u00a0If we are tempted to pick them back up, help us to remember that You died for them too. \u00a0Give us a heart to respond to others and to pray for others. \u00a0Help us to know You better and to serve You with all that we have. \u00a0We love You and we thank You for what You are doing in each one of our lives. Thank You for freedom from these chains. For it’s in Jesus name we pray. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n