Guest Post: Forgiveness (Part 1)

Remember last week's guest post? As promised, here is the next part of Mandy's journey...

Forgiveness Part 1 - I Am the Wicked Servant
If you missed my introduction post, you can go here to read about my long-running struggle with forgiveness.

Our first week here in VA, a situation occured which brought my bitterness freshly to the surface. For the countless time, I struggled in vain to release my right to be angry over old wounds.

In His infinite wisdom, God directed us to visit a certain church that week... where the sermon happened to be was ordained to be on forgiveness.

Though the preacher spoke very well and made some amazing points, I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit was the one teaching me that morning. For starters, when the pastor first read through the Bible passage [below], the Holy Spirit prompted me to exchange the words of the text to make it more personal. Like so:

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one Mandy was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents 6 billion dollars. And since he she could not pay, his her master ordered him her to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he she had, and payment to be made. So the servant Mandy fell on his her knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him her, the master of that servant Mandy released him her and forgave him her the debt. But when that same servant Mandy went out, he she found one of his fellow servants David who owed him her a hundred denarii $12,000, and seizing him, he she began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant David fell down and pleaded with him her, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He Mandy refused and went and put him David in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants everyone else saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his Mandy's master summoned him her and said to him her, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant David, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his Mandy's master delivered him her to the jailers, until he she should pay all his her debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
[Matthew 18:21-35 ESV]

When I exchanged "the servant" with my own name, I saw my life reflected in this passage, and I got chills at the end when Jesus says "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Yikes.

Seeing myself as the "wicked servant" was the first step that God had me take on the path to freedom. It's so easy to judge the first man in this story... why on earth would he care about the other man's debt when he had just been pardoned so much?

But I knew... I knew because that first man was such a clear reflection of myself. I knew all to well that the first man felt justified in doing what he did because he didn't understand the gravity of his own debt... of what he had been pardoned. I began to pray earnestly that God would reveal just how great a debt I owed Him... just how much I had been forgiven by my Heavenly Father.

God answered my prayer, and I will share His reply with you next week.

- Mandy

I know...good stuff that keeps getting better. Until next week friends!

You're Invited...

to refer a friend! Here's what we mean...

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Not sure if you've noticed, but it has taken us quite awhile to get back on our feet concerning accepting applications for new blogs! Firstly, we were overwhelmed with the constant influx of new submissions, and secondly, we were beginning to have a difficult time turning them away.

We feel as though we have come up with a really good solution, and it involves your help! We would like to empower you to help grow Faithblogs, if you choose, by referring your favorite Christian blogs! We will no longer be accepting submissions from bloggers for their own blogs and will only be accepting referrals from current Faithbloggers, like you! After we prayerfully consider adding the blog you have referred, we will then contact the blogger as it pertains to permission, agreement and terms. We ask that you not indicate to them that you have submitted their blog for consideration until you notice that they have been added to our site, and then you are more then welcome to let them know that you helped them to get there! :)

Please note that while we greatly value your referrals, we will not be notifying you one way or another of our decision pertaining to the blog(s) that you submit. This is in-part due to my desire to keep this process as simple as possible for the Faithblogs Team. We are considering announcing the new blogs on our blog weekly/monthly.

Things to keep in mind when seeking out blogs to refer:

1) Blog content should not be in conflict with our Statement of Faith in any way, as best you can tell
2) We love to see personal statements of faith, glimpses into the blogger's faith-life and a clear indicator that the blogger is a Christian somewhere on their blog
3) We prefer the blogs to have a creative look that expresses the personality of the blogger in a way that is attractive and welcoming (read: We are not expecting perfection!)

You can begin sending referrals for your favorite blogs to:

referafaithblog@gmail.com

Can't wait to hear from you!
Blessings,
Katie Troup and the Faithblogs team

Be Still

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Guest Post: Forgiveness

You guys are in for a treat. Seriously. For the next three weeks Mandy from Mandipidy will be sharing her posts on Forgiveness. You know, that big ginormous hairball that can grow roots of bitterness into the depths of our souls? Uggh, it's even uglier than the hairball resting at the bottom of my shower.  I'm so delighted that Mandy has blessed us with these guest posts and I can't wait to hear the blessings that pour out of this series. Enjoy and be transformed!

Forgiveness: Introduction to a 3 Part Series
I have always struggled with forgiveness.
And no matter what anyone has ever told me, or what sermon I could listen to on the subject, or even how much I longed to "just let it go," I could not find the freedom to release my bitterness.

Because this has been such a long and frustrating battle for me, I want to be as candid as I can in hopes that someone else might be blessed from what God has finally allowed me to learn.

My bitterness has affected so many aspects of my life... from my relationships with others, to my relationship with God, and even to struggling with my own self-image [there is nothing attractive about a bitter woman].

The "issues" that I have fought to turn over ranged anywhere from petty elementary squabbles to more recent and painful wounds for which I both longed for and yet refused to allow healing.

To explain how frustrating this battle has been:
I was not blind to my sin.
I KNEW that I needed to forgive, and I tried my hardest to let the offenses go. I prayed over and over for a forgiving heart, crying out to God for the grace to follow His example. I would often go through the actions of forgiveness, but it was never honestly dealt with in my heart, so the problem would always resurface.

The funny thing is that I already knew what I needed to know to forgive. I knew that I was a sinner... I knew that God is holy [perfect, pure]... I knew that "while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." [Rom. 5:8], and that Jesus's sacrifice is why we can obtain forgiveness from Holy God- "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness" [Heb. 9:22].

People told me, "Look at how much God has forgiven you. How can you not forgive someone's offense against you?"

It's embarrassing to admit, but it just didn't seem like that big of a deal in my head. I felt that my sin against God didn't amount to much compared to some of the offenses that I was refusing to forgive. I knew I was a sinner, but I didn't see the gravity of my sin from a godly perspective. For the record, I was aware of this disconnect, and I've been begging God to allow me to see my sinful self from His eyes for over a year. I've felt hopeless to overcome this stronghold for a long time, and I can't even begin to fathom God's timing, but I am so thankful that He finally removed the veil from my eyes last week.

[Image Source Unknown]

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." [Ezekiel 36:26-27]

While I know first hand that sometimes it just doesn't matter what people say since only God can change hearts, I want to share my testimony of what God taught me about forgiveness this week with the hopes that God will use it to bless someone else. God had a lot to teach me that morning, so I'm breaking my testimony into three parts that I will post over the next 3 weeks:

Forgiveness Part 1: I Am the Wicked Servant
Forgiveness Part 2: The Whiteboard Challenge
Forgiveness Part 3: The Debt Is Incalculable

-Mandy

Amazing right?  And that's just the first part. Stay tuned. If you've never read Mandipidy, go now. Mandy's like Neopalitan ice cream. A trifecta of goodness - faith, crafts, and limitless fun. Thanks so much for sharing with us Mandy. Forgiveness is a topic that is near and dear to me, as I have seen the roots of bitterness completely wreck many of my loved ones. Thank you for your honesty and vulnerability. And above all else, your faithfulness to the Lord, allowing Him to change you.

Grace

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Guest Post... from me.

Sometimes life gets the better of us (me). It's been a busy summer and things have fallen to the way-side at times. When I took on the role of writing for this blog as a part of the Faith Blogs team, I knew immediately that it was something God called me to and I never wanted to use it to promote myself in any way. So, as I share a guest post from my own blog today, I hope you will see the heart behind it and a desire to promote Him and never self.

Every Friday I share with my readers what I have challenged myself with each week. Several months ago I challenged myself to... Woo My Husband.

love letters

"Let love be your highest goal..." 1Corinthians 14:1

When I saw the picture above, I knew what this week's challenge needed to be: Love my husband well. Date him. Woo him. Make him feel special. This isn't something I do every week, unfortunately. Life gets in the way; the busyness of two kiddos, being self-employed, etc. Each week this is highlighted through the ministry we serve in together on Wednesdays - ReEngage. It reminds me that I have to work at marriage everyday. When we first married, our marriage was at a 3 out of 10. I am happy to report that with much effort, love, mercy, grace and forgiveness... our marriage is at a pretty solid 8-9 most days. It was high time I made this known to my wonderful hubs. Here's how this week:

Say sweet things - building him up and encouraging him.

Compliment him on his role as a Dad.

Say "yes" even when I'm tired and start a love tin (thanks for the inspiration Em) - "So do not deprive each other of sexual relations..."1Corinthians 7:5

Give him time for himself - runs, quiet time in the morning, etc.

Bring him a bowl of M&Ms while he's watching a show.

Take him his morning coffee with a smile and deliver with a kiss.

Leave him a jar of his favorite candy with a sweet note on his desk.

Ask him out on a date.

Prepare his favorite Italian dish and have a bottle of wine, game and love nest ready for said date.

How are you doing showing your loved ones how much they mean to you? Do you take the time to build them up and do little things for them? If you take just 5 minutes a day to do something special, I'm convinced that it will make all the difference in the world. Everyone wants to feel loved. Don't you? Have a delightful and loving weekend. xo

Comfort

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I find so much comfort in this simple statement. I have no idea if the one who penned this had Him in mind when doing so, but He is all I can think of when I read it. Humbled and grateful.

Guest Post: Testing the Water

I don't know about you, but for me, summer comes with a bit of laziness. The housework gets put on the back-burner, the kids stay up later and my time in the word and with God is sparse. (Mostly left to bedtime reading and arrow prayers. Sad, but true.) Today's guest post from Jennifer of The Blair Affairs got my attention and has motivated me to tune back into God and His desires for me. I'm pretty sure He doesn't care that it's summer. I pray this post speaks to your heart as much as it did mine.

Testing the Water
There are two kinds of people in the world: those who do cannon balls and those who test the water.

I don't know about you guys, but I always test the water before I get in the pool...or any water for that matter. I've never been a cannon ball type person. Come to think about it, I'm not sure I've ever done a cannon ball. Some people love it though. I can just see it. Everyone is in their swim suits, putting on sunscreen when out of nowhere comes this guy (because it's normally that guy) who suddenly blazes past everyone. Running like stallion out of the gate, he heads for the dock and catapults into the water without hesitation. Yeah, he's totally cool for doing that. All the girls are impressed dude. Psych! Not really. The smart people cautiously find their way to the edge and stick their toe in the water before venturing in for a dip.

I like to test things before taking the plunge. You never know if the water is going to be colder than the Arctic, right? Sure, being cautious is a good thing. We test drive cars, test our coffee to make sure it's not too hot, test products in labs before putting them on the shelves, just to name a few things. No one wants to come out of the shower with blue hair because Suave didn't test their product before shipping! Testing is beneficial in a lot of ways, but it's not so good in our spiritual life most of the time.

I might be the only one, but I test God way too much. I feel like Gideon in the Old Testament quite frequently. God called him do something REALLY big, and he was a nobody from an insignificant tribe of Israel. Gideon tested God again and again before he followed through with what God had called him to do. (The account can be found in Judges 6.)

When God calls I still act like I'm at the pool or lake - I want to test the water.

God says, "I'm calling you to do ____ (fill in the blank)."

I say, "God are you sure? You know I'm not really good at that. I might mess up. I might not be good enough. Can you give me a sign?"

"Don't worry child. I am your strength. I will provide you with everything you need to accomplish it."

"God, I'm just not sure. I guess I can try though."

As soon as I put my little toe out into the water, I find it colder than I thought and doubt if God's calling encompasses me. I get scared and back away like the kid too chicken to go swimming because he might drown.

I need a "cannon ball" kind of faith not a"testing the water" kind, which really isn't faith at all. God is calling me lately to do something that is so much bigger than what I can accomplish on my own. And I'm like Gideon - a nobody from an insignificant place, ordinary and nothing special. Does that effect what He can do through me though? Not at all. Nor does it with you. I pray that I will have "cannon ball" faith and jump into God's will for my life. Yes, it will probably be cold and uncomfortable, but He never said that following Him wouldn't be hard sometimes...a lot of times. Actually, we are suppose to expect it to be difficult. But the fact remains that we cannot stay where we are and go with God.

So what is God calling you to do? Are you "testing the water" with Him or are you jumping, trusting Him in faith?

He who promised to be with us is faithful, so let's cannon ball together.

-Jennifer

Such a great summer post, no? For more amazing and inspiring posts, go check out The Blair Affairs; it will bless you. Thank you for encouraging me Jennifer. I needed a little summer push! Say it with me everyone... "CANNON BALL!"

As for me...

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