{"id":145,"date":"2015-10-07T10:17:49","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T14:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/?p=145"},"modified":"2018-03-06T21:30:23","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T02:30:23","slug":"you-dont-smell-like-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/?p=145","title":{"rendered":"You Don’t Smell Like Smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"

They must have thought He was crazy.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0Peter came to Jesus and asked, \u201cLord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cI tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Seventy times seven. \u00a0Four hundred and ninety. \u00a0490!<\/p>\n

We know any long term relationship, whether it is with \u00a0friends, family, spouses, or children, will be filled with both joy and miscommunications, \u00a0comfort and challenges. \u00a0 To forge any lasting bond, forgiveness must be part of the love lan<\/span>guage of <\/span>any relationship<\/span>. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The point Jesus was making when he said we should forgive “seventy times seven” was that we should always forgive. \u00a0But are there any situations where we would need to forgive one person so many times? 490?<\/p>\n

Sometimes it’s not individual offenses that add up. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes it’s the repercussions. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because some sins have an echo that lasts a lifetime.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When commitments are broken, when trust is shattered, or when we are victims of abuse or negligence, there is more to an offense than the initial wound.<\/p>\n

– Infidelity in a marriage may lead to a divorce where there is loss of \u00a0financial security.\u00a0 We may have to give up a house or even file for bankruptcy.\u00a0 We may need to go back to work and put the kids in daycare. \u00a0Now the children are shuffled back and forth on holidays and weekends. \u00a0We may suffer from depression. All because of infidelity.<\/p>\n

– A friend betrays us at work and now we are out of job. \u00a0Our reputation may have been tarnished unjustly. \u00a0We may have financial hardships that affect our family. \u00a0And we question our judgement in people and whether we should trust again. \u00a0All because of a betrayal.<\/p>\n

– \u00a0 A drunk driver crashes into our car. \u00a0There are medical bills that will not be covered by insurance. \u00a0The physical wounds can take months to heal and during that time the emotional toll can be severe as we can’t live our life. \u00a0All because of an act of negligence.<\/p>\n

Every time there is another consequence to the original offense we have two choices \u2013 we can forgive or we can choose bitterness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We don’t think we’re choosing bitterness. \u00a0We think we’re holding the people who harmed us accountable for the pain they’ve caused. \u00a0It seems reasonable. \u00a0And we should all be accountable for our actions.<\/p>\n

The problem comes when we hold others accountable for our happiness<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When we hold them responsible for our wholeness, our pain, and our future and we decide we can’t be happy until we get what we deserve from them we are living in unforgiveness.\u00a0 But we’re the ones that hurt.<\/p>\n

But holding anger or pain in our heart towards anyone, \u00a0means\u00a0<\/strong>we<\/em> live<\/em> in anger and pain. \u00a0<\/em>And that creates a \u00a0bitter heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bitterness keeps us living \u00a0in the past as we focus on the one who wronged us<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Bitterness keeps us living as a victim as\u00a0we wait, in vain, for the one who hurt us to heal us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Jesus said we must forgive even \u201cseventy times seven\u201d.\u00a0Forgiveness doesn’t release the person from accountability. \u00a0Forgiveness doesn’t erase the past.<\/p>\n

Forgiveness is surrendering what has been lost to God knowing He is the source of our joy, our wholeness, and our future.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Forgiveness releases us from living a life of bitterness. \u00a0It means we stop spending our time counting offenses and start spending our life counting blessings. \u00a0Forgiveness means we stop looking \u00a0to the one who betrayed us to fix us, and turn the One who Loves us to free us!<\/p>\n

Forgiveness allows us to stop clinging to the idea of a resurrected past as the only way to happiness, and start living the life in front of us! \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because it’s the only life that matters. \u00a0It’s the only life \u00a0we have.<\/p>\n

\u00a0And it can be enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of my favorite promises is \u201cI will restore the years the locust have eaten.\u201d\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t change the past, but\u00a0He can create a future where you are whole.\u00a0 Fixed.\u00a0 Like you were never broken<\/strong>. Or as a friend of mine says- even though you\u2019ve come through the fire, you don\u2019t smell like smoke<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So we must forgive.\u00a0 Every time.\u00a0 Every time the phone rings and it\u2019s a bill collector for a responsibility that shouldn\u2019t be ours.\u00a0 Every time we kiss the kids good-bye on a holiday that used to be a family affair.\u00a0 Every time we think about the fact that our pain is a result of someone else\u2019s actions \u2013 we forgive. \u00a0Even 490 times.<\/p>\n

Because when we forgive, we turn our attention from the imperfect person who hurt us, \u00a0to a perfect God who is for us! \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We change our focus from weakness to Strength. \u00a0From pain to Love. \u00a0And as we look for the gifts from the Giver of all good and perfect gifts, we see that we have more than we imagined. \u00a0That He is working in our life and we are not alone.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You don’t have to carry those offenses any longer. \u00a0You don’t have to focus on the pain. You can give your pain to the only One who can heal it<\/span>. \u00a0And start living a new life.<\/p>\n

One where you don’t smell like smoke.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” \u00a0John 10:10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scripture References: \u00a0Matthew 18:21-22; Joel 2:25<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They must have thought He was crazy.\u00a0 \u00a0Peter came to Jesus and asked, \u201cLord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus answered,\u00a0\u201cI tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven!\u201d Seventy times seven. \u00a0Four hundred and ninety. \u00a0490! We know any long … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Smoke1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sCJ7-2l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions\/353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gingerwarner.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}