08 January 2011
New Year
Kid Rock? Really?? I am not a Kid Rock fan by any means. However, I do love this song. I especially love the scenery (if only I could take him out of the scenes...blech!).My reaction when I hear this song is to want to jump in my vehicle, turn up the volume and just drive. Specifically, to a very warm place. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to escape the daily grind of life and really be free?We are standing on the threshold of a brand new year. A chance to start fresh. Let go of things that shackle us and be free. That is what I intend to do this year. Last year, life was tough. It still is at this season in my life. Maybe it is like that for you as well. But one thing we can do is begin afresh. Consequences and situations may not change, but our outlook certainly can! Life is so short. We just cannot afford time to be spent in misery! We were made to live in freedom!It would be nice to think that we were born free. The truth is, we were not born free. We were born to sin. The sweetness to the story, though, is that we don't have to be bound to a life of slavery. We can truly be free. If we put our faith in Christ, we will have the ultimate freedom! We were not "born free" but we were born to "be free".2010 is done. It is over. Nothing can be undone. 2011 is a new opportunity to begin again. So, Happy New Year. Be thankful it is new and plan on it being happy! Love you all!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Angie Shockley, I love you! You always, always bless me. Your spunky, outgoing personality is always contagious. No wonder people flock to you!
I'm with you. I am tired of just settling in life. You are right. It is way too short. I plan on getting rid of stuff that doesn't make me happy (even if that includes people!).
Keep going beautiful!
Michelle
Well written, It is nice to know we have a God who gives us the gift of freedom through his son Jesus. So this year I am staring out by being free to forgive sincie I have been forgiven of so much. I too have had a tough past year but I have given it all to God. I choose to be free!
Michelle- You are the sweetest girl ever! And, hopefully by getting rid of people you aren't planning on knocking anybody off! haha. Seriously though, just make sure if you let go of certain people that you truly have thought about it. Don't act hastily. Yes, there does come a time when sometimes you truly do have to do the hard thing and let go of someone, but then there are some people that are "first time offenders" and deserve second chances. Just something to think about. You know I will love ya no matter what you do! :)
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for the compliment. I always try to write from the heart (sometimes to a fault!). I am truly thankful that God chooses to look at me from His perspective and not that of man. I would be in so much trouble if that were the case! He truly is the only one capable of perfect forgiveness. He can choose to forget sins but we in our earthly flesh can forgive but never really forget. That is the hardest. I know all about this firsthand. Sorry you have had a bad past year as well. Giving it to God is the only way to cope. We can try on our own, but we will fail. I am happy you are able to choose freedom for 2011. Wish I could truly say the same for myself. It's a day to day journey for me. But this is about you, not me! :) Keep pressing on!
Hey Angie, throwing out a thought for you. Don't you think sometimes that christians kind of fall back on the whole "forgiveness" idea? I mean, yes, we should forgive those who ask for it, but not do it blindly. If trust is broken, that has to be re-established first. How can you just flippantly forgive someone?? We are NOT God. If it were that easy to forgive people, we would be putting ourselves in His category! Even God, who forgives, still deals with His children. They don't just get a little pat on the back and a sweet smile. He is also a "just" God. Consequences will arise. It is part of the learning process. If we just "let it all go", what learning is in that? Honestly, I think some christians are just dumb and blind and so they just go around in this giddy little bubble saying "I forgive you, I forgive you". I wonder how many of those people actually CHOOSE who they are willing to forgive? If they are going with that whole "be like Jesus and forgive" then that means they HAVE to forgive across the board to anyone and everyone,no matter what the person did to them. If they don't, they are hypocrites themselves. Ok, I am venting. Sorry. I want to know your thoughts. Anyone's thoughts are appreciated.
R.
Dear R.,
Oh, my.
Forgive me for taking so long to respond to you. I am having a hard time responding to you because it is hard to reply to a person when you don't know where their pain is coming from. It is obvious in your comment that you have or are experiencing issues associated with trust and forgiveness. I can sense your pain.
Truthfully, I just don't know all the answers. You know, life is just hard. With life comes trials that are brought on by others or ourselves and sometimes just because we live in a sin-sick world.
I can say with absolute certainty that I do understand your pain. I can truly let you know that I have (and am) walking in your shoes (concerning the forgiveness issue- I don't know what your exact situation is).
I will agree that you made a very good point and made me think! You are right, if we say that we forgive "because we have been forgiven" and if we extend forgiveness based on that, we must extend that across the board and not be able to pick and choose who we want and who we will forgive.
I have found that to be true in my own personal life, I have felt the brunt of this by well intentional christians. They want to forgive one person with no strings attached but yet will not offer me that same forgiveness (with no strings attached)even though we both caused the same pain. That is "picking and choosing". While we want to say we forgive because Jesus forgave us, if we are to compare ourselves to the example of Christ, then we do not get to decide who we choose to forgive.
By no means do I say that I do that! I myself am HUMAN. You are right! I am NOT Christ. He was perfect and He is the only one capable of perfect forgiveness! I am a flawed woman. I can try my best to imitate Jesus (and I am trying!), but I simply will fall short (until glory!).
I don't know if you are the one needing forgiveness or you are the one needing to OFFER forgiveness, but know that either way, the only freedom you can ever truly have is in trying to release your pain. You may not ever be able to forget what has happened (or even forgive?) but don't let the pain hold you captive.
If you want, please-please, feel free to continue this through email (angshockley3@gmail.com). I would love to talk to you some more. It would be so helpful if I could know what your heartache is so I can know better how to respond.
Let me leave you with one last thought on here. You are not the only one who struggles with forgiveness. I have shared with you that I am struggling with the very issue right now. I would be willing to bet that many, many others are going through very similar experiences as you are, right this very moment.
Grace and peace to you,
Angie
Thank you Angie for being honest. I find it so refreshing that you aren't giving me some holier than thou answer. I get sick of people try8ing to be so i-love-jesus-and-i-am-so-happy just-praise-god give-it-all-to-him and blah-blah-blah. i want someone who can be REAL to me. I don't know if I can share any more with you, but i am thankful for what you are sharing with me. you are really one super lady and anyone that is fortunate to have you in their circle of friendship is really lucky.
Just because you forgive someone does NOT mean that you have to continue letting them treat you that way. Au Contraire. This is where it is perfectly acceptable to distance yourself from a person or situation. Forgiving doesn't always mean resuming a relationship with whoever has hurt you. It's hard to forgive when you're still in the middle of it. Forgiveness can be as simple as just deciding not to be mad anymore. It doesn't mean that you understand the events that occured, it doesn't mean that you agree with anything or would have done anything differently. Forgivness is a release from the burden of anger and pain. When you choose to forgive, you choose to live in the present and the future instead of the past. It does not mean to forget but it does mean to release and go on. Forgiveness doesn't happen on it's own, you must choose to forgive.
Angie, can I get into this conversation? I'm a preacher of many years. Anonymous is, as you say, carrying a lot of pain and anger too. In his/her last comment, it's obvious he knows how forgiveness works.
I like to put it like this: you owe a debt of say, forty dollars. You owe it to me. So, unwilling to press you to pay it, I wipe it off the books. It's gone from my ledger and I do not think of it any more. However, I do not give you any more credit until you come to me for a reconciliation. I do not ask you to repay me since the debt is gone. I do not gullibly trust you in the future for additional credit until you have shown me your trustworthiness.
Say one of the church's children's workers is convicted for molestation. He/she serves the time in the penitentiary and is released. We forgive them, but we do not hire them back in the church nursery. We might even wipe the crime off the books but we recognize that forgiving him/her does not rob us of our good sense.
God is not stupid either. He forgives and then works with us to change our hearts. To the extent that He trusts us, He begins allowing us to serve Him more.
For what it's worth.
Thanks, Big Brother Joe! You gave us all good, sound wisdom. I can't think of a better way to "sum it all up".
And, friends, I think we will let Joe's words be the last on this post.
Certainly, if you want to continue in private, you may see a previous comment for my email address. Feel free to email me, I would love to chat with you. However, you will not be able to be anonymous at that point. :)
Much love to you all!
Post a Comment