Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions (39 page)

Over time, as I grew in my relationship with God, I learned the power of believing in the best about people and meditating on the things that were good. As that happened, my thinking sounded like this:
Dave is usually very easy to get along with; he has his areas of stubbornness, but then so do I. Dave loves me and would never hurt my feelings on purpose. Dave is very protective of me and always makes sure I am taken care of
. At first, I had to think these things on purpose, but now I actually feel uncomfortable when I think negative thoughts, and positive thoughts come more naturally because I have disciplined myself to think them.

There are still times when people hurt my feelings, but then I remember that I can choose whether to be hurt or to “get over it.” I can believe the best or I can believe the worst, so why not believe the best and enjoy my day?

I
have learned that any day I spend angry and offended is a wasted day. Life is too short and too precious to waste any of it. The older people get, the more they usually realize that, but I am sad to say that some people never learn it. The society we live in today is filled with angry, easily offended people who are stressed out and tired most of the time. But Jesus teaches us a better way to live.

I want to encourage you to make the most out of today—and every day—because life is a precious gift from God. Every day is filled with wonderful promise and possibility. Enjoy this day! Don’t waste it being angry or offended.

We can choose to live according to God’s Word rather than to live the world’s way, or to give in to fleshly thoughts or emotions. A wise person refuses to live with hurt feelings or offense in his heart. Life is too short to waste one day being angry, bitter, and resentful. The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that our sins are forgiven, and I believe we have been given the ability to forgive those who sin against us. Anything God has given us, such as forgiveness and mercy, He expects us to extend to others. If it comes
to
us, it should flow
through
us—and that should be our goal.

When we are offended, we need to quickly call to mind the fact that God has freely and fully forgiven us, so we should freely and fully forgive others.

I
n Matthew 18:23–35, Jesus tells a story about one man who refused to forgive another. At the end, he makes the clear and strong point that those who do not forgive others get “turned over to the torturers” (v. 34). If you have, or have ever had, a problem forgiving others, I’m sure you can attest to this truth. Harboring hateful thoughts and bitterness toward another person in your mind is indeed torturous.

You may have heard the saying,
“Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and hoping it kills the other person.”
We are not hurting the one who hurt us by being angry at them. The truth is that most of the time people who offend us don’t even know how we feel. They go on with their lives while we drink the poison of bitterness. When you do forgive those who offend you, you are actually helping yourself more than you are helping them, so I say,
“Do yourself a favor and forgive!”

We think,
But, it is so unfair for me to forgive them and then they just have no punishment for what they did. Why should I have the pain while they get the freedom?
The truth is that by forgiving, we are releasing them so God can do what only He can do. If I’m in the way—trying to get revenge or taking care of the situation myself instead of trusting and obeying God—He may sit back and allow me to try to handle things in my own strength. But, if I allow Him to deal with those who offend me by forgiving them, He can work good out of it for both parties concerned.

The book of Hebrews tells us that God settles the cases of His people. When we forgive, we put God on the case (see Heb. 10:30).

M
ark 11:22–26 clearly teaches us that unforgiveness hinders our faith from working, so we can conclude in contrast that forgiveness enables our faith to work. The Father can’t forgive our sins if we don’t forgive other people (see Matt. 6:14–15).

There are still more benefits of forgiveness. For one, I’m happier and I feel better physically when I’m not filled with unforgiveness. We can be healthier when we quickly forgive. Serious diseases can develop as a result of the stress and pressure that result from bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness.

Our fellowship with God flows freely when we’re willing to forgive, but unforgiveness serves as a major block to communion with God. I also believe it is difficult to love people while harboring anger. When we have bitterness in our hearts it seeps out in all of our attitudes and relationships.

It is good to remember that even people we want to love may suffer when we hold bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. For example, I was very angry and bitter toward my father for abusing me, and I ended up mistreating my husband who had nothing at all to do with the pain I had encountered. I felt that someone needed to repay me for the injustice in my life, but I was trying to collect from someone who could not pay and had no responsibility to do so.

God promises to pay us back for our former trouble if we turn the situation over to Him. And if we don’t, then we allow Satan to perpetuate our pain and take it from relationship to relationship. Ephesians 4:26–27 tells us not to let the sun go down on our anger or give the devil any such foothold or opportunity. Remember that the devil must have a
foothold
before he can get a
stronghold
. Do not help Satan torture you. Be quick to forgive when you are offended.

T
he Roman philosopher Seneca made a statement we all need to remember:
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.”
I would add to that,
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity to express love.”
Everyone on earth needs love and kindness. Even when we have nothing to offer others in terms of money or possessions, we can give them love and show them kindness.

It seems like God tells me every day,
“Get your mind off of yourself and your problems and spend today doing something to love someone else.”
From start to finish, in all kinds of ways, God’s Word encourages and challenges us to love other people. To love others is the “new commandment” Jesus gave us in John 13:34, and it is the example He set for us throughout His life and ministry on earth. If we want to be like Jesus, we need to love others with the same kind of gracious, forgiving, generous, unconditional love He extends to us.

Nothing has changed my life more dramatically than learning how to love people and treat them well. Incorporate this thought into your life:
I love people and I enjoy helping them.

S
ome people think of love as a wonderful feeling—a sensation of excitement or gushy emotions that make us feel warm and fuzzy all over. While love certainly has its wonderful feelings and powerful emotions, it’s so much more than that. Real love has little to do with gooey emotions and goose bumps; it has everything to do with the choices we make about the way we treat people. Real love is not theory or talk; it is action. It is a decision concerning the way we behave in our relationships with other people. Real love meets needs even when sacrifice is required in order to do so.

I am amazed when I think about how often we know the right thing to do, but never get around to doing it. The apostle James said if we hear the Word of God and don’t do it, we deceive ourselves with reasoning that does not agree with the truth (see James 1:21–22). In other words, we know what is right but we make an excuse for ourselves. We find reason to exempt ourselves from doing what we tell others they ought to do. If we really want to walk in love, we will
do
what is right.

Would you make a commitment before God and sincerely in your heart to do at least one thing for somebody else every day? It may sound simple, but to do it, you will have to think about it and choose to do it
on purpose. You may even have to move beyond the normal group of people in your life and do things for people you would not normally reach out to, or even strangers.

There are so many people in the world who have never ever had anyone do anything nice for them, and they are desperate for some words or actions of love. Let love be the main theme of your life and you will have a life worth living. The Bible says we know that we have passed over from death to life if we love one another (see 1 John 3:14).

I
spent many years of my life as a very unhappy, dissatisfied person, and I wasted a lot of time thinking my unhappiness was someone or something else’s fault. Thoughts such as,
If I just had more money, I would be happy
, or
If people did more for me, I would be happy
, or
If I did not have to work so hard, I would be happy
, or
If I felt better physically, I would be happy
filled my mind. The list of reasons that I thought caused my unhappiness seemed endless, and no matter what I did to entertain myself, nothing worked for long.

As I grew in my personal relationship with God, I literally became desperate for peace, stability, true happiness, and joy. That kind of hunger for change usually requires facing some truth—maybe some unpleasant truth or things we don’t like to admit—about ourselves,
and I have learned that if we really want truth, God will give it to us. As I began seeking God for the root cause of my unhappiness, He showed me that I was very selfish and self-centered. My focus was on what others could and should do for me, rather than what I could and should do for them. That was not easy for me to accept, but doing so was the beginning of a life-changing journey with God.

God helped me begin to see myself as a person who could give and help. I had to change my thinking from,
What about me
?, to
What can I do for you?
I would like to say this was an easy change to make, but the truth is that it was very difficult and took a lot longer than I like to admit.

Everything God does is for our good; all of His commands are intended to help us have the best lives we can possibly have. He commands us to love and be kind to others, which means taking the focus off of ourselves, silencing the voice that asks,
“What about me?”
and learning to follow Jesus’ example of being kind, generous, and loving toward others.

O
ne day I remember praying,
“God, I can’t go on fighting my thoughts all day, every day. As soon as I capture these wrong thoughts, they come back. What am I supposed to do?”
As you fight the battle in your mind, you may find yourself praying the same prayer, so I want to share with you the simple answer God gave me. He said all I needed to do was to think about something else!