My mom, now in heaven, was a good cook. She was a good forgiver too--and the combination of these two qualities resulted one day in an incident I love to recall. Let me recount it to you as I have heard it from a young child.
Dad was a preacher, and that made Mom the preacher's wife--an adventurous position to be sure. One day, a wife, insanely jealous of her handsome, elderly husband, accused my innocent, young Mom of trying to "steal" him! The lady refused to attend church. My mom felt badly for the poor man, who, in tears, pled with her to talk to his wife. It resulted in a hilarious scene, so I am told, of my mom, the dramatist of all time, visiting this lady, kneeling in front of her. With wide-eyed emotion, she "confessed" to the non-crime, "Dear Sister, if you think I am guilty of wanting your husband--and before God, I do not--then please forgive me; please come back to church."
The lady accepted the "apology," returned to church, and continued to be the usual disgruntled church member. She criticized the pastor's wife for wearing the same dress every Sunday (Mom and Dad were POOR preachers!). Then when Mom finally could afford a few new clothes, she criticized her for wearing a different dress every Sunday! You could not please this woman!
One day this unhappy, insecure woman became ill. Mom's reaction? Why, prepare some delicious homemade chicken soup for the dear lady, and take it to the hospital. The lady saw her preacher's wife enter the room, with the delectable soup--and that did it. She broke down, cried, apologized, and was the sweetest, saintliest friend of the pastor's wife the rest of her days!!
And that's the kind of forgiveness that was modeled in this preacher kid's home! I saw it, fleshed out in real-life incidents, time after time, in the lives of both parents--but none hardly as comical as the story of the chicken soup!
So what's the point? Climb out of your well today, smell the chicken soup cooking on Mom's old-fashioned stove of forgiveness, and come with me. For you see, forgiveness is JUST like my mom's chicken soup!
A Helping Word...or Two!
Forgiveness is homemade! Who wants store-bought soup when you can have the REAL thing? And the REAL thing begins in the home. Instant, microwaved soup may now replace homemade soup, but nothing can replace forgiveness in the home. It's not a fast food. It takes time--and effort. The home becomes life's laboratory--a failure here, a success there, but in the end, forgiveness is the primary ingredient in every successful test-tube experience. Trouble with your husband? wife? kids? in-laws? No home is perfect, but if forgiveness lives there, it will survive every hot, steamy argument and event! The secret? Make Christ, the Great Forgiver, the Lord of your home.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve,...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15 KJV)."
Forgiveness is healthy!...As mom's chicken soup was vitamin-plus and health-enhanced, so is forgiveness to the body. Have you ever said, "I'm sick of that person!" Well, stress--bitterness--LIFE can make you sick--if you don't handle it with care, prayer--and forgiveness! Any physician or counselor will tell you negative feelings can be the root cause of illness--simple as a headache, serious as a fatal disease. Harboring unforgiveness can be an expensive, painful experience, creating havoc of the body God gave you. The cure for "stressful illness?" Your doctor will tell you to exercise. Your Lord will tell you to forgive! Check out the internal temperature. If it's hot and steamy, you may be on the road to physical problems--unless you get some help. The secret? Let His forgiveness live within you; keep an appointment with "The Great Healer" daily, in prayer and in His Word. Try it, and let His healing forgiveness touch your body today!
"...My son, attend to my words;...For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:20-22 KJV)."
Forgiveness is healing!...As mom's chicken soup is the known "healer of all ills," Christ's forgiveness on Calvary is the proven "healer of all ills," for body and soul as well. Can a "saved soul" still need healing? Of course--we need it continually to bind up the daily hurts of our lives. Relational lives are full of happiness--AND hurt. For you cannot love without facing conflict, and conflict can cause deep hurts. If the hurts are allowed to fester, if we "nurse" them, the bitterness of soul begins. And where it ends, only God knows. You may desperately need the healing touch of the Master's hand on some hurt in YOUR soul today. The secret? Recognize the unforgiveness in your heart as sin. Receive His forgiveness. Then let Him pour healing ointment on the wounds of your soul; He will restore you to fellowship with Him, and with that person who needs your forgiveness today!
"I said, Lord be merciful unto me, heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee (Psalm 41:4 KJV)."
Forgiveness is heavenly!...Remember the delectable taste of mom's soup? Heavenly--so to speak! And that's what God's forgiveness is! Christ came from Heaven's glory to bring forgiveness of sin into the depths of our spirit. He has been gracious to us. And, if He indeed lives within us, can we withhold His forgiveness from another human being? Your personal story may be tragic--many are--but there is no forgiveness for us, until we choose to forgive. The secret? Ask the Lord to make you "willing" to forgive. Begin to pray blessing daily on that person--even if you don't feel like it--and you probably won't! Ask God for a fresh revelation of Calvary and Christ's forgiveness for you. For you really cannot do it yourself. Human forgiveness will not last. Divine forgiveness will! Let the Spirit of Christ fill your spirit with His forgiveness today!
"...forgiving one another...;even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye (Colossians 3:13 KJV)."
Thanks, Mom, for modeling forgiveness for me. I want to always remember it and practice it--even when it is hard. For I have learned that forgiveness is like your chicken soup--it's healthy for the body, healing for the soul, and heavenly for all eternity! He has graciously forgiven me. Can I do less?
And that's just a word...or two, from my heart to yours!
His Healing Word
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32 KJV)."
