Hello Friends,
This post is a little different than I normally do. I hope you enjoy it. This is my response to Quarantined Creatives Art Challenge Day #2. (See my Day #1 post for an explanation.)
Cover-ups are not usually good. Some sins need to be exposed to protect others from harm. Some people will never want to change unless their behaviour is brought into the light. But hurt, anger and pride are not good reasons to publicly expose another.
These were my thoughts as I slowly read this familiar passage:
I'm not as righteous as Joseph. When I've been hurt or betrayed, I want to tell someone, lots of someones. Social media would make that so easy.
I usually know what the right response is. The problem is in trying to drag my emotions, kicking and screaming, over the line of what I want to do and what I should do.
That's when I take my tangled mess of emotions and sensibilities of right & wrong, like so much dirty laundry, and lay them at the feet of Jesus' cross.
Then I hear him saying, "Forgive them. They don't really understand what they're doing."
With that statement, I peer into a mystery. My smallest choices (good & bad) affect people and things, perhaps for generations, long after I'm gone. How can I keep track of it? How can I know all the wrong I've done and its consequences? Should I try to keep a tally of my good deeds so I can feel justified?
I turn back to Jesus and he simply says, "You can't fathom this, Teresa. It's not for you to bear. Don't even try. Just accept my forgiveness and freely give it to others. Freely you have received; freely give.
This is not a cover-up. This is a covering. Jesus is my covering. And he enables me to be a covering for everyone I choose to forgive.
I hope you enjoyed my little devotional thought today. Please notice that our URL has changed to http://tntartspirations.blogspot.com/.
Come back on Friday for a special gift from me to you.
Hugs & smiles,
Teresa
This post is a little different than I normally do. I hope you enjoy it. This is my response to Quarantined Creatives Art Challenge Day #2. (See my Day #1 post for an explanation.)
Cover-up or Covering
Cover-ups are not usually good. Some sins need to be exposed to protect others from harm. Some people will never want to change unless their behaviour is brought into the light. But hurt, anger and pride are not good reasons to publicly expose another.
These were my thoughts as I slowly read this familiar passage:
- "Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly..." (Matthew 1:19 NLT)
I'm not as righteous as Joseph. When I've been hurt or betrayed, I want to tell someone, lots of someones. Social media would make that so easy.
I usually know what the right response is. The problem is in trying to drag my emotions, kicking and screaming, over the line of what I want to do and what I should do.
That's when I take my tangled mess of emotions and sensibilities of right & wrong, like so much dirty laundry, and lay them at the feet of Jesus' cross.
Then I hear him saying, "Forgive them. They don't really understand what they're doing."
With that statement, I peer into a mystery. My smallest choices (good & bad) affect people and things, perhaps for generations, long after I'm gone. How can I keep track of it? How can I know all the wrong I've done and its consequences? Should I try to keep a tally of my good deeds so I can feel justified?
I turn back to Jesus and he simply says, "You can't fathom this, Teresa. It's not for you to bear. Don't even try. Just accept my forgiveness and freely give it to others. Freely you have received; freely give.
This is not a cover-up. This is a covering. Jesus is my covering. And he enables me to be a covering for everyone I choose to forgive.
Come back on Friday for a special gift from me to you.
Hugs & smiles,
Teresa
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