For all my years of faith, I keep looking at the flawed human beings in front of me and forgetting that I'm in a SPIRITUAL battle. Duh!
The PEOPLE are perfectly and wonderfully made. It's just the deceptions of the ENEMY that makes them so unpleasant at times. *sigh* The truth of Ephesians 6:12, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (friends, family, strangers), but against (the enemy in all his forms)" needs to be constantly projected in front of my eyeballs.
I think this is why forgiveness is so essential to the Christian faith. Why the LORD instructs us to pray for those who hurt us. Why we must be kind to our enemies. They are no different than us! It's just that they have become entrapped in darkness--for a moment!--in an area where we may--temporarily--have received light. To NOT quickly forgive is to pridefully boast by our actions that we believe ourselves to somehow be better than they, when--in truth--our ONLY boast can be that the LORD had mercy on our own pathetic selves, threw us a life jacket, and reeled us in when we were faced with the same situation.
How quickly the enemy can snuff out our OWN torches and leave us stumbling in the dark, selfishly and fearfully wounding many of those we encounter, desperately groping for the Light of the World once again. Suddenly the mirror is before me and I see something altogether hideous and frightful--a person who--despite my own good intentions--has become the antethesis of who I wish to be in Christ Jesus.
The battle for kindness, love, hope, peace, and truth is never ending. The enemy is constantly pressing his advantage, devising clever lies and lures which lead to hatefulness and death. While it is human to want to retreat--to quit the field of battle altogether and hide away from all humankind in a cave, "love never gives up." Therefore, by the grace and power of the LORD, I must also never GIVE up.
I love you. Sometimes I'm an uncomprehending dolt. Please forgive my blindness.
Sable House
March 19, 2010
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