*This post is apart of our A Week of Married Life collaboration series on A PittStop and JM. For the previous posts go here.*
Today's post is from A Pittstop again! :) However there's been a bit of an update. Remember in this post how I said she was 9+ months preggo? Well...baby Quinn arrived Tuesday night and he is the most adorable little guy ever. Full head of hair and all. Congrats Amber & Andrew!
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Frenzy: (n) wild excitement or derangement
Why I am calling this blog post a frenzy: b/c when I read Colossians 3:13 “Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” I want to literally jump up & down and be faulted against just so that I can say, “it’s ok! I love you and totally forgive you! I have no power or right on earth to act any differently!” But, I don’t. Do any of us initially do this?? Although there is without a doubt great liberation in forgiving one another, a wounded ego is often one of the most difficult, hurtful and sometimes even agonizing experiences we can hold on to. It may not be the right emotion to carry with us, but it is the truth that many of us have to deal with.
On the topic of marriage: Is it just me or is it harder and maybe even a slower process to forgive your husband than it is to forgive your friends? We’ve already learned from the blog post on “Encouraging the Husband” that our marriage relationship is the most important relationship and the relationship that should have top priority that God has deemed us with while on earth. So why the resentment and turtle—moving process to forgive him when we’re wronged? Why aren’t we quick to remember “just as Lord forgave me, so must I forgive my husband?”
It would be easy to consider and analyze this question, but let’s attempt something different instead—my question to you is this: what is the gospel? While it has many dimensions, we know intuitively that it is God’s grace in forgiving our sins, right? New idea here: Just as quickly as we can reflect the truth of the gospel (or sins being forgiven), let’s now engrave and embed in our hearts that as we have been forgiven, so must we forgive.
Make it gospel to yourself and within your heart. Forgiveness isn’t about “He’s not forgiving me over this so I don’t have to.” This all too familiar thought process is not justification for our choosing not to forgive, but rather in our hearts we are being called to love, forgive & forget. God holds each of us responsible on how we react, not how our husband reacts toward us when faulted.
C.S. Lewis said it well:
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