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Inspiration Point: Most messy family situations start small |
“The cats had a huge, stinky
mess today,” the note laying on the kitchen countertop informed me.
My wife’s scribbling allowed my mind to easily grasp what to expect
in our cat’s basement domain. This wasn’t the first time; it seems
to be more frequent as our cats, Timmons and Ruby, head toward their
twilight years.
Jokingly I asked my wife, “Remind me again, why do we have cats?”
She alluded to their great mice catching ability. Then she said,
“The cats are like relatives, you can’t get rid of them.”
Oh.
Huge stinky relative problems go back to history’s first family
when Cain murdered his brother Abel. From small squabbles to all out
war, the family continues to be a battleground. We even have TV
shows with family woes being the main theme.
Most messy family situations start out small. Let’s consider what
you and I can do to keep them from becoming huge stinky messes.
While this is a complex, multifaceted issue; the question of
forgiveness will certainly swirl in the mix. Jesus was approached by
someone who was willing to forgive “up to seven times” a relative
who had wronged him. Generous, since the Jewish Rabbis of the day
taught that forgiveness should not be extended beyond three times.
Jesus replied, “I tell you not seven times but seven times seventy.”
The point: he wasn’t actually setting the limit at 490, but
illustrating endless forgiveness.
Even forgiving a person once can be gut wrenchingly difficult. It
was kind of like when I went to clean up the cat’s huge stinky. As I
kneeled on the floor with a rag wiping up the smelly mess, the
stench tensed my stomach.
And sometimes we need to bend to our knees with a white cloth and
wipe clean a huge stinky relative problem.
We need to forgive. And let your white cloth be forgiveness in the
manner Jesus prescribed: “From your heart.”
Syndicated columnist Rick Leland is
pastor of The Free Church in Three Rivers, Mich. |
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From
May 19, 2007,
Newberg Graphic
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