Forgiveness and Peace
Have you ever lost something small? You look for it everywhere—under furniture, in pockets, in drawers—but it's nowhere to be found. Finally you get desperate enough to search one last place—the garbage can. Maybe, just maybe, it ended up there.
You go out to the garbage can and start rummaging through it. It's hard to avoid touching the slimy old leftovers and rotting chicken bones with sauce on them from a few days earlier. And oh—the smell! If it's summer and hot outside, the smell practically drives you away before you even get started.
That's what it's like when we constantly think about someone's sins or offenses. We dive into the emotional/spiritual garbage can and pick through the things that were disposed of, that were supposed to stay disposed of, and we experience them in all their glorious noxiousness.
Yuk!
Self-control and Spirit-control must rule together in our lives if we're going to live peacefully. And peace and forgiveness go hand in hand. When we refuse to forgive, we trade the sweet smell of peace that is rightfully ours because Christ lives within us, for a fitful romp in the garbage.
* * *
Remembering the grievances you have against others and rehearsing them in your mind is like rummaging through the garbage. Have you been doing this? Is there someone you need to forgive…again?
马太福音18: 21-22
18:21 那 时 彼 得 进 前 来 ， 对 耶 稣 说 ， 主 阿 ， 我 弟 兄 得 罪 我 ， 我 当 饶 恕 他 几 次 呢 。 七 次 可 以 麽 。
18:22 耶 稣 说 ， 我 对 你 说 ， 不 是 到 七 次 ， 乃 是 到 七 十 个 七 次 。
你曾经遗失过一些小东西吗？你到处寻找---在沙发下，在口袋里，在抽屉里--- 但是一无所获。失望至极的时候，你决定去最后一个地方---垃圾桶里找找，或许，只是或许，你将在那里找到它。
你出门，在垃圾桶里仔细寻找，不可避免地将会碰到一些早先吃剩的食物甚至鸡骨头--上面还有残留的沙司，哦，太难闻了！现在是炎热的夏天，这样的味道最终让你放弃了自己的计划。
这种情形正如我们我们不断地去思考某个人的罪过和冒犯，我们总是钻进情感的/心灵的垃圾桶，试图去解决它--我们总是假设自己能够解决， 结果，我们一次又一次地经历心灵的苦毒。
多么有趣的事情！
如果我们期望有平安的生活，自我的控制及心灵的净化很重要，平安和宽恕是一对孪生兄弟，如果拒绝宽恕，我们就会像那个垃圾桶边的人，缺失了本来属于自己的平安和美好-- 因为神始终和我们在一起。
想想看你是否有一些和他人的纠葛让自己仍处于愤愤不平之中，就像在垃圾桶中的苦苦寻找的情形？你是这样做的吗？是否有人需要你的宽恕？有吗？
谢谢blueleaf2姊妹的翻译
http://ww123.net/baby/viewthread ... id%3D256&page=2.
