“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding] and slander be put away from you, along with every kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, malevolence]. Be kind and helpful to one another, tender-hearted [compassionate, understanding], forgiving one another [readily and freely], just as God in Christ also forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32 AMP)
REFLECTION
Our Forgiving Father is so perfectly patient with us. So let’s resist the urge to hide our pride and bring it (with all its peripheral parasitic sins) into the light. I’ve found that the more I pray (really honest prayers) and ponder the truth spelled out in the sacred scriptures, the more aware I am of my need for Jesus Christ. He is the only Perfect One who can atone our sin and help us truly yield to the process of transformation (and preparation for Heaven), which includes a great deal of patience and forgiveness. It’s not a linear process, but more like the ongoing weaving of many mysterious, meaningful, messy, marvellous moments and loose ends of lament into a timeless tapestry of trust.
PRAYER POEM: Trust
LORD, please forgive my self-righteous striving ~ help me abide in You and trust Your timing.
Help my heart rest in Your righteousness, every beat a reminder of Your faithfulness.
Free me from my selfish frail flesh, focus my faith and fill me afresh, for I can do nothing without You.
I say: Yahweh, Your way, every day, come what may.
