This is going to be one of my most passionate blogs in a long time. Not sure why but for some reason tonight I became very passionate about this subject with some friends of mine. It showed me that I needed to write about it and maybe others can hopefully be able to relate and maybe be able to fix the problem. So what is this problem I write about? The problem is about second chances. We would all agree that Christ is the best about giving second and third and fourth chances for people but for some reason we as people do not do the same. We clearly see that the bible in Matthew 18:21-22 says to forgive people 70 times 7, which if you want to do math equals 490 times. But for some reason we cannot even do it once. This is very disheartening to me.
I was sitting with some friends and talking about how I would never truly be taken serious by some people where I am because of bits and pieces of my past. As much as I would try to show that Christ has changed me and that I have come a long way from the arrogant, self centered person I use to be, people would never accept it. This is a HUGE problem and we all deal with this in our lives. God begins to change our hearts and change some of our sinful nature but when he does a wonderful thing in us people do not believe it to be true. This can be because we have wronged them in the past or something and have even asked forgiveness but people are not willing to give second chances. The sad thing is everyone probably feels this in one way or another with people.
So often in life people refuse to take people seriously even if they have changed drastically. They still figure that they will fall and be the same old person that they were before. This is such a bad attitude and wrong biblically. I mean I can understand that if someone murdered a loved one or something like that it would be hard to give them a second chance but I am not talking about that. I am talking about the minor things that to be truthful are meaningless. And to be honest I believe these things hold us back from doing amazing things for God.
I feel like most of us feel this same way about things. We have at one time screwed up badly with some friends or something and because of this we are not able to really even be friends with these people any more. Even if we have apologized it stills feel like it did not work. We feel as though the only way for things to change is to just get away and start over with new people. I have to admit that in the midst of the fear of moving to Texas this is one thing I am excited about. I am glad to be able to start new and not feel like things I screwed up in 3 years ago or more are still hung over my head.
Maybe because I consider myself a pretty forgiving person, maybe because I have always had to be forgiven, this is why this subject has become passionate to me. I am not sure but I can guarantee one thing most of the people feel the same way. So often we have people leave churches or ministries because they have screwed up and people do not offer a second chance. I mean I can understand after a screw up you have to prove your self again but how long does it take for people to truly see the change. I mean look at Peter in the New Testament, he denied Christ 3 times and his friends knew about it but they forgave him and Christ said that the church would be built on him.
I admit that this blog may be very scrambled but I am very passionate about this right now. We need to stop being these people that do not follow what Christ says. We need to own up to our mistakes and first accept the fact that we are not better than others. We are sinful wretched people who are in need of just as many second chances as anyone else. Also we need to remember that the church will not be able to rise if we keep pushing people away even after they seek forgiveness. Christ wants to do a work with this generation and we need to do it together and accept the people that have screwed up, which is of course you and me. There will probably be another blog about this tomorrow so stay tuned.
Much Love,
Brent
1 Corinthians 9:19
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