09 Oct 2012
by pastorswifelife
in October 2012
Tags: appreciation, bible, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Clergy, Clergy Appreciation, counselor, faith, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, ministry, Pastor, Pastor Appreciation, Pastors Wife, salvation, Spirit, spiritual journey, spirituality
“Earl, I need to talk to my pastor.”
Whereas my husband is a counselor to many when it comes to spiritual, life and relational issues, does anyone wonder who the pastor’s wife goes to for such help? Most people would probably recommend some independent, Christian counselor. Is it possible for a spouse to be your pastor and counselor?
October is Pastor Appreciation Month, a.k.a Clergy Appreciation Month. With a few clicks of the mouse and very little research, I found that Pastors have been “unofficially” recognized the second Sunday each October since around 1992. Funny thing, we have been officially celebrating Groundhog Day since February 2, 1887! Is it possible that we are more apt to put our focus upon a rodent who supposedly predicts the future over our Pastors who help us to find a personal relationship with our Creator and encourage us and help us to grow in our faith in Jesus Christ? I’m just saying…
I see very few churches that even recognize the month let alone a day for Pastor appreciation. Ever since I have known Earl, whenever someone mentions Pastor Appreciation Month, he quickly tries to refocus it into an employee appreciation month. But my husband, without fail, will be there for everyone else with just the ring of the phone or a knock on the door. His ministry is to preach the Word of Christ to all who will listen and to witness to those who cross his path. He will hear your joy; celebrating with you, and he will comfort you in pain; crying with you in grief. He will preach the Bible to the very foundation of what it stands for, and he will not be ashamed of it.
There are many times I have looked at my pastor husband and said “I need my pastor”. It is astounding how quickly, as I watch his face, he transforms into my pastor. That’s right! As a member of the congregation for which he serves, I too claim Earl as my pastor and sometimes, even my counselor. And Earl knows enough to understand that his wife needs a pastor too. Not many people think about that fact. But I do.
I love Earl – My husband. I appreciate and respect Earl – My pastor.
I want to reach out and let my pastor know how much I appreciate him. He has counseled me, he has strengthened me in my spiritual journey, and he has educated me in spiritual discernment and theology. He has pointed out to me God’s Holy Word during times of trials, and he has prayed for me and prayed for me and prayed for me.
Hebrews 13:7 (NASB)
“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.”
What has your pastor done for you? More than a groundhog, I feel sure. I’m just saying…
Blessings and peace…..Laura
Like this:
Like Loading...
02 Oct 2012
by pastorswifelife
in October 2012
Tags: blessed, chapel, chaplain, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Clinical Pastoral Education, compassion, continuing education, depressed, dispirited, distressed, God, Jesus, Matthew, Matthew 9:36, Pastor, Pastors Wife, PW, shepherd, St. Francis Hospital
It was Friday night and as many know, Friday is date night for Earl and me each week. But last week it was a little different.
Earl began CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) classes at the end of August, and they last until December 18th. This past weekend was his first of eight, overnight, on-call volunteer times.
So we decided that we would have a date night on Thursday night. We tried a restaurant in downtown, Charleston. We love sampling the food at different restaurants, and I almost always prefer Italian. Unfortunately, we left the restaurant $60 poorer and still hungry. Whoever heard of leaving an Italian restaurant hungry?
Friday is also Earl’s day off (on call 24/7 always, but we say it’s his day off), so he got up early, worked on his computer, went into the office (he feels guilty now that he takes a day or two for the chaplaincy program, so he goes in on Friday)….then he came home and worked on one of his many auto projects before dressing to the nine’s and heading to the hospital.
Before leaving he asked me, “Would you come to the hospital and have dinner with me?” OK, I’ll be honest here, as the pastor’s wife, my first thought was not positive. It was more like “What? You’ve got to be kidding!” But even as he was asking, and I was rejecting, I knew without a doubt, I would be going with him.
It’s not often that I deny Earl his heartfelt requests, and anybody who knows me, knows this is true. But why would I deny myself an opportunity to spend a little time with Earl, even if it is in a hospital cafeteria? As many people know, a pastor’s family life is very difficult. Check out the blog-post here that I wrote concerning statistics on a pastor’s life and family. So with this knowledge, I know not to make our life any more difficult than it already is. If I’m given an opportunity to be with him, and I can do it, I’m there!
When I met him at the St. Francis Hospital cafeteria, I must say that we enjoyed a fabulous fish dinner with rice and greens along with drinks and bread – all for less than $10. The meal was fabulous! My date continued on with a tour of the chapel, the CPE offices, and then I was brought upstairs to see where he would be spending the night. It was in a small room on a tiny little single bed. Earl is 6’2”, and this was not going to be comfortable for him to say the least. Not only that, but the bed wasn’t even made up. Ghee-gads! Earl and I spent a few minutes locating the linens and then without a second thought, I was making up his bed for him.
I figure it this way, I feel so blessed that God has given me a few things in this life to oversee, whereas Earl has been given much to oversee. I certainly want to make sure that I do all I can for such a caring, compassionate and humble pastor, so that he can touch the souls of those in distress and those that are depressed and dispirited, by the Spirit of God that works through him.
Matthew 9:36 NASB
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Like this:
Like Loading...
18 Sep 2012
by pastorswifelife
in September 2012
Tags: bag of regrets, choices, Christ, Christian, Christianity, decisions, Epistle to the Philippians, Forgiveness, future decisions, God, I have no regrets, Jesus, Jesus Christ, looking forward, Philippians 3:13, regrets, Religion and Spirituality, the goal, the prize
How many of us can look back on our lives and say that we don’t have any regrets? I most certainly cannot.
I had a friend that wrote a letter to me about 10-12 years ago, and one of the statements that she made was, “I have no regrets in my life.” Wow. This is a woman that I went all the way through school with. She married, had children, owned a business, and was an elder of her church. How can someone go through life and look back and say that all the choices he or she made were the correct ones – no regrets? 
I regret things all the time. I seem to have a whole bag of them.
1) the tone of my voice when I’m irritated and take it out on someone else;
2) not making more friends;
3) having too much pride – causing me to hold back an apology that is due someone;
4) not giving enough of myself to the needy;
5) denying God when He’s asked me to do something that was out of my comfort zone;
6) not getting involved in a particular mission that God has laid on my heart for 13 plus years.
I believe there are different kinds of regret. Some are regrets concerning decisions we’ve made in our lives that didn’t help us out personally. Other regrets concern decisions we’ve made that didn’t better someone else.
My regrets revolve around the decisions I’ve made that didn’t make someone else’s life a little better or a little easier. I’ve been somewhat selfish in that regard, and I’ve regretted that tremendously. But that is a regret that can be eased from the burden that I drag around with me. It doesn’t need to be over my shoulder, weighing me down. I can move forward in life and work on helping the next person that comes along that is in need of Christian grace and love. I have His love because God has blessed me with it abundantly. So why not share it with those who need it most?
I have no regrets for me personally. I don’t regret poor decisions that I made that hurt or hindered me. I don’t regret decisions that I made that didn’t prosper me. I give thanks to God that He used my decisions to grant me experiences in order that I can help someone else who needs the same grace that I received from God.
I can move forward, making my future decisions better, based on the experience from my past. God doesn’t want us to have regrets after we have been forgiven. He wants us to live from this day onward for the better – looking forward to the goal – of being like Jesus Christ and looking forward to the prize– of being with Jesus Christ, not looking back and holding onto regrets. I’ve dropped my bag of regrets……with no regret!
13… But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, Philippians 3:13
- No regrets! (simplelifeheartenings.com)
- 5 Ways to Battle Regrets (michaelkingbooks.wordpress.com)
Like this:
Like Loading...
20 Aug 2012
by pastorswifelife
in August 2012
Tags: ATL, Atlanta, Audit, books, Christ, Christian, church leaders, Commit your works to the Lord, Controllre, elders, examination, financial statements, Georgia, God, God's people, life audit, ministering, ministers, Pastor, prayer, Proverbs 16:3, records, SDI, service, serving
As the Financial Controller for a small security business in Atlanta for the past 13 years, I have endured multiple audits annually. An audit is an extensive and methodical examination of all of the books, records and accounts that support the financial statements. In most circumstances, they are costly and time consuming. Audits I’ve dealt with have been done by outside accountants with insurance companies, Department of Labor, commercial finance and our own accountant. All these audits are done in order to determine basically whether I am doing my job correctly and that there is no cooking of the books.
Two months ago, two days prior to leaving on a two week vacation, I received a call from the State of Georgia – Department of Revenue – Sales Tax Division. They would be coming August 13 for two days to two weeks to audit every aspect of our company books, to determine that as an agent for the State of Georgia that we were paying the state all that was due to them. The audit was for a three year period, May 2009 – July 2012. Let the panic set it!!
Proverbs 16:3 “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” This verse has played a very important part of my life for decades. I believe God Himself provided me with this wonderful opportunity of work and because He wanted me here, doing this work, I would commit the work that He gave me, to His service. All that I do, I mentally determine that it is for God. Just as pastors, elders, church leaders take the position that God gave them, knowing that the work is in His name and for His service. We should understand that the work God has given us is actually for Him!
Therefore I went into this audit for the state with prayer and I asked fellow Christians for their prayers also. Though I was told it could take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks, I anticipated 2 weeks and I PRAYED for 2 days. I spent the last two months preparing for this audit. It disrupted my normal routine of working remotely from Charleston, and I had to travel to Atlanta more often and stay longer. I was commuting to Atlanta on Sundays after the worship service and returning on Friday or Saturday in order to be home for next Sunday’s services. And I was still trying to minister to Earl and to God’s people as He also directed me. And through it all, God kept me safe in my additional travels.
On Monday, August 13, my auditor appeared at 9 AM, but by Wednesday, August 15, my auditor was finished with the on-site field audit! Do I hear an Amen? My prayer was definitely answered that in two days the on-site audit was completed. After all was said and done, I had done my job to the best of my abilities and with careful preparation and the help of my staff; we were able to provide all the information in an organized and detailed presentation.
After prayer and praise to God, He gave me a thought to ponder. Shouldn’t each of His children review the life they are living and after careful consideration, preparation and detailed determination be able to present themselves to God for audit? God is the only judge Who can determine whether they are doing the job He gave them to do, and whether they do their job to the best of their abilities. Aren’t we all really living a life that is to be fully audited by God? Thank the Lord, our books will be found clean through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Like this:
Like Loading...
10 Aug 2012
by pastorswifelife
in August 2012, Beatitudes - A Study In, Pastor's Wives
Tags: affliction, Christ, church members, compromise, discouraged, distress, enemies, evil, God, HolySpirit, insults, Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:10-12, ministry, oppression, Pastor, pastoring, Persecution, prayer, righteousness, trials
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.” Matthew 5:10-11.
When I met Earl, he had already been in the ministry 12 years, he had 3 children (10, 12 & 14 years old), and was pastoring as an abandoned single parent in a church that had about 10% of the city residents, (600 of 6,000). I was in my mid 30’s he was in his early 40’s. I had 2 children of my own (10 & 16 years old). But I didn’t think twice about dating and eventually marrying a pastor. I had been a Roman Catholic growing up, became a Baptist at 28 and didn’t see any issues with becoming a Presbyterian when I married Earl at the age of 36.
After 13 years of marriage bliss – 🙂 – I have since discovered how life in the ministry can be. My husband has had all of the 8th beatitude negatives hurled at him at one time or another in his ministries, from insults to persecution to loss of larger church calls because he wouldn’t compromise his beliefs, and to having all kinds of evil said against him falsely on account of his belief in the Jesus as presented in the Bible.
I remember a church that would have called him, but told him that he would have to leave all his controversial sermons in his filing cabinet. Needless to say, he didn’t take the call. Over the years, I too, have had derogatory and untrue comments said about me. Those have really hurt especially since I have been very actively involved at many levels in every church that we have served.
I would highly recommend to all church sessions, leaders, staff and church members, the book, “What Pastors Wish Church Members Knew” by Denise George. This book says it all and then some.
If you take the time to read the book mentioned above, you will actually see the real world of a pastor’s life and the far-reaching effects upon his family. Jesus warned that all those who made the decision to follow Him would be persecuted, they would be afflicted, and they would be oppressed. In 1 Thessalonians 3:4-7, Paul writes that he advised the church that he was going to suffer affliction and then by verse 7 he states, “In all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith.”
A pastor and his family know that according to the Scriptures, ministry is going to be difficult. Jesus promised that it would be. That is part of God’s call, and I am not really complaining. But Christians need to recognize that sometimes they can be used, usually without their awareness of it, to damage a good ministry and to discourage someone who has been graced by God to shepherd and benefit the church. With this knowledge and with a lot of prayer, forgiveness, and the strength of God, a church family and a pastor’s family can be victorious through all kinds of trials. We can all bear much more fruit for Jesus Christ when we stop insulting and discouraging pastors and start praying for them and supporting them and respect the fact that God may be working through them.
When I read God’s Word, I am in awe of the prophets who have stood in time past and had been persecuted. I never compare my life with theirs, but I can understand just a little better some of the dynamics and trials of their lives. To be persecuted because of your belief in Jesus Christ is like a badge of honor because when this happens to us, Jesus reminds us of His promise, “Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) At least when we are persecuted on account of Jesus, we know that we are on the right side!
One of the most important and holy acts of kindness a church family and shepherds can do is to be in continuous prayer about their shared ministry together. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Churches that have done exactly that have seen the positive results of the Holy Spirit working in the lives of those who have had a God-change of heart. Blessings abound for all involved when we do as Jesus directs rather than taking matters into our own hands and reacting cruelly, hurtfully or in an un-Christ like manner.
Unlike many minister families who may be experiencing more severe issues, Earl and I are doing relatively well. I did not write this blog to imply that we are always experiencing persecution. But some pastors and churches are going through such trials that we should not only be praying for them, but also teach and proclaim that it shouldn’t be the church that persecutes its own – even if the world does. Many times churches and shepherds can experience great love, prayers and support for each other. And this is how our witness should be to our culture. But in this ministry as a pastor’s wife, I have learned what God’s call upon my life is. As Earl ministers to our church family, I am to minister to him. For his days are long and hard out in the ministry field. The very least that I can do is to minister to him and attempt to make his divine call as easy to bear as possible. We are in this ministry of Jesus Christ together – for better or for worse.
- August 7, 2012 (proactive.typepad.com)
- August 8, 2012 (proactive.typepad.com)
- Creeping Vines of Persecution (plowingthefields.wordpress.com)
Like this:
Like Loading...
31 Jul 2012
by pastorswifelife
in Beatitudes - A Study In, July 2012
Tags: avoidance, Beatitudes, blessed, Christ, Christian, conflict, Conflict resolution, discord, forgivenees, Forgiveness, God, Jesus, Matthew 5, Mount The Sermon, offering, peacekeepers, peacmakers, reconcile, reconciled, reconcilliation, repent, The Spirit, worship
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” Matthew 5:9
So here I am, wondering, do I have what it takes to be a “PEACEMAKER”?
There could be a difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper. It might be helpful to distinguish between them. Personally, I believe a peacekeeper is one who tries to a great extent to avoid conflict. This is someone who will not cause waves in a situation. They just want to keep the peace. I believe that I might be basically just a peacekeeper.
On the contrary, I believe a peacemaker may even have to bring conflict to the surface between individuals to help reconcile any differences. These are people who are not afraid to iron things out.
The key difference is; a peacekeeper knows that conflict exists but tries to avoid any flare-ups between parties. A peacemaker takes the potentially hazardous conflict and attempts to reconcile the parties by putting an end to the controversy.
I believe peacemaking requires more Christian attributes and gifts than does peacekeeping. Peacemaking requires forgiveness whereas peacekeeping may avoid the discussion of forgiveness altogether. Does someone have to ask for forgiveness before reconciliation takes place? I believe so. I have discussed this with Earl. I have determined that he is correct when he says forgiveness has to be asked for before one can forgive or be truly reconciled. Doesn’t God call people to repent and ask forgiveness from Him? I’ve argued that I can forgive people regardless of whether they’ve asked for it or not. This really is wrong. What I’ve actually done is made peace within myself in order to avoid conflict from without. This is a peacekeeper’s way of dealing with situations. It may even be an insult to tell an individual, “I’ve forgiven you,” when he or she may actually believe that I need to ask for forgiveness from them! People are not truly reconciled by just making peace within ourselves.
This is where a peacemaker makes all the difference. Instead of burying my head in the sand and pretending discord doesn’t exist, I need to vocalize how I’m feeling and get the feelings of the other person involved. Then, with a Christ-like attitude, begin to understand and work on improving the situation that has caused such a struggle in the relationship.
Jesus was very clear about this during the Sermon on the Mount verses, again Matthew 5. Look at verses 23-24 “If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”
This is a very serious directive that Jesus has given us. It could quite possibly be put like this way. If you are in church and The Spirit reminds you that you and your brother or sister are at odds, leave church before offering yourself to God and be reconciled with your sister or brother and then come back and be reconciled with God. Our relationship with our fellow brothers and sisters is so important to God that He doesn’t accept our worship until we have truly reconciled with our sisters and brothers – provided, of course that it is possible to reconcile with them! Paul said it this way, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” God’s ministry and goal for all individuals is reconciliation. That is not just reconciliation with Him, but between all of us. How do we expect God to reconcile with us in our sins, when we can’t even reconcile with each other for wrong doings?
Peacemaking is a never ending requirement during this lifetime in order to be like sons of God. This is the ministry of Christ that He has given to us. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Let us look to His ministry of reconciliation whenever and wherever it is possible – as far as it depends on us – through Christ our Lord.
Like this:
Like Loading...
18 Jul 2012
by pastorswifelife
in Beatitudes - A Study In, July 2012
Tags: advice, Beatitudes, blessed, Christ, cleanse our souls, Colonoscopy, fellowhip, God, Great Physician, Holy Spirit, inspecting for sin, Jesus, Lord, Matthew 5:8, Psalm 139, Pure in heart, seeing God
Jesus said the pure in heart are blessed because they will see God. Matthew 5:8
Our fellowship with God and knowledge of His ways depends on our purity of heart. Jesus is saying that to receive the blessing of seeing God, we must become like God. But how does that happen?
It’s possible to be passionate about God, spend time with Him regularly and still sin. To become more pure in heart requires a thorough inspection of all of our faults and sinful ways and then asking God to do what is necessary in our lives to cleanse our souls. No, we cannot cleanse ourselves of our sinful nature, but we can take steps by identifying the problem(s) by His Holy Spirit and then asking God to remove them.
This may be a stretch as an analogy, but when I think about cleansing my soul in order to see God, I keep thinking of what it takes in order to prepare for and endure a colonoscopy. YUCK!! Ok, let me tell you how my mind works! We first acknowledge that we may have a sin problem, we seek the advice of a Doctor (The Great Physician, God), Who then recommends that we go through a procedure of cleansing by His Holy Spirit. It involves filling us up with His Spiritual presence and allowing Him to purge us.
1) Sometimes we have trouble acknowledging that we have any problem at all and we continue to feel the results of the imperfections of sins that are affecting our life – not seeking any advice from the Great Physician at all.
2) Other times we acknowledge that there may be a problem, we seek advice but we don’t like what we hear has to happen in order to cleanse the imperfections from our life, so we leave the doctor’s office and don’t do anything with the advice because it may cause some discomfort in our comfortable lives.
3) Then there are those that acknowledge the problem, seek advice and regardless of the disruption it causes to cleanse the imperfections out of our lives, we prepare ourselves and do all we can possibly do to remove all the bad behavior from our life. And when we are finished, we ask the Doctor to do His part to look and see if there is anything left that needs to be removed in order for us to go forward and live a life full of His presence.
So how do we become pure in heart? Psalm 139:23-24 states: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”. Because “…the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9).
You must do some serious soul searching and ask God to help you discern what it is in your life that is literally offensive to God. He knows and understands your motives. If your motives are not God centered, you are offending Him and hence, unclean – impure!
Once you’ve reflected and identified the offense(s), you need to repent (confess to God and turn away or repent from the sin in your life with His strength). When you are tempted by Satan, do what Jesus did when He was tempted by Satan, reflect on God’s Word. Filling your mind with the Scriptures helps ensure that you stay strong. Knowing Scripture, makes you know God and knowing God, makes you become more like Him.
Seeing God – Be Blessed.
Like this:
Like Loading...
29 May 2012
by pastorswifelife
in May 2012
Tags: bible, child, children, Christ, compassion, Compassion International, God, heart, India, Jesus Christ, Matthew 18:6, Psalm 127:3, Soul, sponsorship, Word
Reach out and touch another human being with your heart and soul….how hard could it be?
Earl and I have sponsored a Compassion International child named Birru Maran from India for the past 6 years, he is 9 years old now and his birthday is July 4th, 2002. I carry a picture of Birru in my Bible as a bookmark and pray for this dear, sweet boy.
Each year we exchange with him several letters and birthday and Christmas cards. We send him pictures of us and little stickers that kids like and anything else we can find that lay flat in an envelope.
Recently we received the following letter, and I want to share it the way he expressed himself.
“Dear loving Parents, Yours son Birru Maran is writing with thanks. I am safe here, and I hope that you are also safe there. I received letter from you. I read the letter and felt so happy. Sometimes I look into sky and says Hello. We also celebrate Thanks giving festival here every year. I am learning verses daily in the Project, and growing in the way of God. Now we are in March month. It is summer season. Now I am preparing for my annual examinations. I praying daily for you. Yours loving son, Birru Maran”
This young boy brought me to tears. One small act of compassion has brought new life in Christ to this young one in India. We have brought him love, and he in return, gives us his love.
I have seen pictures of our son Birru when he was but a skinny malnourished child to now a child with a young boy face and a healthy and vaccinated body – from a son who drew pictures of his favorite animals to a young lad who writes that he loves us and is growing in the way of God.
Jesus Christ is the very picture of compassion. He always reacted to the children with compassion and love. And He defended them strongly by warning, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.” Matthew 18:6
All the little children of the world are God’s children, and each child should be loved and held and taught about Jesus. We are but their caretakers while here on earth and that responsibility that God has given us is to be taken with all seriousness. The gift of children is a gift to treasure.
“Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psalm 127:3
Our children are all grown up, happy and healthy, and they all believe in Jesus Christ. We have grandchildren that we pray will someday know our Savior too. But being able to do so now, we touch another child with our hearts in a depressed area of India with his parents and siblings who also are hearing the Word through our son, Birru.
Like this:
Like Loading...
21 May 2012
by pastorswifelife
in Beatitudes - A Study In, May 2012
Tags: Beatitudes, compassion, condemn, critical, critics, distress, empathy, God, HolySpirit, judged, judgmental, Life, Lord, Matthew 5:7, mercy, Pharisees, Sin, struggle, suffering
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
Life is a struggle. We fear. Life hurts. Now we’ve been judged by others. When life throws us into a pit, and we can’t find a way to climb out, who has shown us mercy and offered us a hand to get out? Sometimes we only catch a glimpse of judgment on the faces of those who see us suffering – as if they’ve never worn anyone else’s shoes and have never been down-trodden.
But perhaps judgmental reactions are what they received while down in their own pit, and it’s the only reaction they understand. Perhaps their behavior is due to their unbroken spirits in the Lord. They do not acknowledge that God has shown them mercy, and that they have more power to show mercy once they experience it themselves. But to experience mercy, we all must acknowledge that we owe God a great debt and that we are unable to repay it and that God has offered to forgive us, undeservedly. Mercy is a form of grace, which is undeserved favor. Mercy is undeserved compassion and forgiveness.
So let’s back up for one moment. What is mercy? Mercy is an active empathy extended to relieve someone in misery, pain and/or distress, regardless of who it is. This includes our enemies. 
We should be on the lookout for those in distress and not pass by on the other side of the road. We should have a heart of pity and our deepest desire should be to help no matter who the sufferer is.
Jesus lived a life of mercy. He spent His time surrounded by those less fortunate; he suffered with the suffering, the addicted, the homeless and the prostitutes. With whom do we surround ourselves? What judgmental attitudes block our ability to extend mercy? God’s desire is to be seen through us. The Holy Spirit desires to penetrate that which hinders us from being God’s light to a suffering world.
Have we become an indifferent people? Are we now a people who lack concern for others? If we have suffered, we should be the first to show compassion and mercy upon those that are suffering. For we know that God pulled us up out of our pits when God showed mercy on us. We should never condemn others. Yet if someone stumbles, we are not to accept their sin as good, but we are to lend a helping hand and offer them God’s forgiveness. Even Jesus said to the adulterous woman, who was condemned by the Pharisee’s, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” When she indicated that nobody had, Jesus then mercifully said, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now, and leave your life of sin.”
Suffering is not always for no reason. Suffering allows us to become better Christians – having compassion for those who are suffering perhaps something we’ve suffered ourselves. What have we suffered and how can we use that experience to help a fellow brother/sister through the trials or sins in which they find themselves?
For one of the greatest blessings of receiving mercy is to be merciful ourselves.
Like this:
Like Loading...
08 May 2012
by pastorswifelife
in May 2012
Tags: 2 Timothy 4:1-2, Care, care less, Christ, Christ Jesus, cleansed, cruel, discuss, Divine presence, don't care, exhort, God, I care, Pharisee, rebuke, reprove, revealing sin, Second Epistle to Timothy, sentiment
I don’t care; I couldn’t care less; I really don’t care; Ask me if I care; Do I look like I care?……….how very awful to say or worse yet, to hear this sentiment.
Truthfully, I am ashamed of myself, for I too have vocalized at least one of these very ugly statements. I not only have said it to friends and family, but also to co-workers and worse yet, my very best friend – Earl, my husband.
Recently Earl and I were discussing something (my memory at this point is such that I tend to forget unpleasant discussions or events and I merrily go on my way as if everything is just fine), therefore, I can’t tell you what that something was. But I can tell you that in the conversation I said, “I could care less.” Earl looked at me kind of oddly and corrected me saying that the correct expression is, I couldn’t care less. Of course this stopped me in my tracks because once I thought about it, I realized how right he was.
Researching, I found out that the original statement of, “I couldn’t care less” came from the British and in the 1950’s came to the USA. We are the only ones that actually say, “I could care less.” In other words, we do care, at least a little. But it is a contradictory statement if our intention is to indicate that we don’t care at all.
It seems statements like these have just become part of our everyday vernacular. We say them when someone tells us something of which we don’t agree. Or when we want a derisive verbal come back to imply that what someone has to say to us, has no effect on us at all. How about at work, when someone gives their opinion and we tell them that we really don’t care? What we are saying is that their opinion doesn’t matter, only ours does.
I have asked God to help me think a little more before I speak and before I react with a cruel word. I never once thought about what I was actually saying. How awful is that? For in prayer and mulling over this one little statement, I have found and I believe that Jesus never spoke such an uncaring statement to anyone, even including the Pharisees.
I do care. I care about a lot of things. And I care about everyone. I truly care about their thoughts and opinions. I am grateful that God has revealed to me another sin of my old self that still needs to be cleansed and removed. It’s peculiar how we sometimes don’t even recognize the sin that we are still living in even after professing Christ and serving Him for years. 
We are instructed to reprove our brother/sister in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 (in part) “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,…reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction….” I welcome the reproof, knowing it’s for my own good.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries
There are many times I have looked at my pastor husband and said “I need my pastor”. It is astounding how quickly, as I watch his face, he transforms into my pastor. That’s right! As a member of the congregation for which he serves, I too claim Earl as my pastor and sometimes, even my counselor. And Earl knows enough to understand that his wife needs a pastor too. Not many people think about that fact. But I do.
pastorswifelife 