Accepting I'm Sorry:)

Who of us, in our walk through the day, haven't encountered a few sour-pickle people who make us secretly think, "Where's my voodoo doll?" Show of hands? Well, for the sake of my ego, I'm going to pretend you all have the same warped sense of humor and are voodoo wishers. Now I love Jesus, but that doesn't mean I haven't met those people~ and it certainly doesn't mean I haven't thought that thought. :)

But stop! Grab that thought, hold it fast and give it up. We're instructed to "love thy enemy." Is voodoo loving? *crickets*....Ehem, let's just go with "No" on this one. (There's pins involved, pain, chunks of hair~ I could be wrong, but doesn't look super lovey.) Work with me here.

We're also told,  

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. " (Mark 11:25)

God doesn't say "Forgive them when they say they're sorry." He tells us to FORGIVE them. And that's the challenge. Because sometimes, we just don't wanna. It feels unfair and uncomfortable and just plain hard!...hmmm, do I sound like my 3 year old yet? :) 

I know unforgiveness. And it has a stink and a rot all it's own.  Thus, though thinking "voodo" at sour-pickle people might seem freakin' hilarious, it's more detrimental in the long run. Hold that thought by the tail coats and pray for the ability to forgive utterly. A good friend once said, "You don't want doctors to come back from a cancer surgery only to say 'well, we got most of it.' You want them to come back victorious, having kicked that cancer's BUTT!" Bits of things unforgiven congeal and ferment to bitterness. And that is a whole 'nother monster. 

So I'm working on leaving the voodoo out of my thought life and keeping the Jesus in. Join me?

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Eph 5:1