I finally finished this book a few weeks ago. I know it took me a long time to read but it was deep and nothing something I could do while multi-tasking.
I took away four main points for me. Here they are in no particular order.
1) Love - As God loves us. Unconditionally.
2) Don't be judgmental - Who are we to make the rules? In most cases what another person does wrong is just our opinion or not our way of doing something. God gave us a pretty clear set of rules (the 10 commandments). What a person wears, says, likes, dislikes, how they worship etc. isn't for us to decide. This just sets up barriers that makes it impossible to see them as a person just like yourself.
3) Forgive - People hurt people. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes not. Sometimes people do things that we feel are unforgivable. We need to work on this and be ready to forgive even when it is painful. Reminding yourself of that hurt just sucks the joy out of you and that takes away from God (and a peaceful life).
I have had a hard time with the forgiving part over the years. And the loving. Something the book reminds me though is that even if I do find a way to love and forgive it doesn't mean I have to subject myself with a relationship with someone who has been acted unlovable and unforgivable.
The way I see it, and this wasn't in the book, is that I have two cheeks. If you've slapped both I may just decide NOT to try and continue to cultivate a friendship any longer. To forgive someone means to let go of the personal anger against the wrongdoer (and in this case the character in the book did do something that was clearly wrong by the 10 commandments set by God) and begin to regain peace in your own life. At some point you may even be able to start praying for that person and for them to find that peace as well. You certainly will have an easier time cultivating a healthy, mature relationship with Christ.
Happy Easter everyone. May God bless you all.
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3 comments:
Very simply and well said.....so true and I am in the season of trying to forgive hurts from a family member.....it's hard to go through but I'm glad to finally feel like I'm coming out on the other side even though I may be doing so alone and the other person may not want to be where I am at present.
Very well put.....thanks again, for sharing!
Hey, just read your post and realized you finished The Shack. Did you like it? I thought it was very thought provoking. I did not agree with many ideas the author put forward, but it did make me consider God from a different perspective. It made me let Him "out of the box" a little.
Jennifer, I liked the book. I agree there were some things I wasn't too sure about but I have always felt there were a lot of "rules" in the relationship aspect. I feel like God wants to be reachable. And like you put it very nicely. "out of the box".
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