The Prodigal Son

Today in New Testament we also talked about the story of the Prodigal Son, which is of course very famous. Today however we added some details that really deepened my understanding of the story.

One was that the Prodigal Son basically said "I wish you were dead" to his father when he asked for his inheritance immediately. When he gathered all his things together, he was saying that he wasn't coming back. And when he took his journey to a far country, he was trying to get as far away from his father as possible. Ouch.

One of the best lines of the parable is, "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran." His father had been watching for him, waiting for him. He knew his child would return. The image of a father running at breakneck speed toward his child makes me choke up a bit. He had compassion. He ran to his child, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

The father gives his wayward son three gifts: a robe, a ring, and shoes. All of those have to be fitted. You can't just give someone a random ring or a random pair of shoes and hope that they fit. This shows that the father knew his child would return and was waiting for him. He had forgiven his son long before the son ever returned home and thought to ask forgiveness.

This shows me how my Father in Heaven feels about me, and how He forgives me and loves me even before I repent and return to Him. It also shows me how I ought to forgive others. I don't need them to come to me and ask forgiveness; I can freely forgive them as my Father has forgiven me.

forgiveness.... again :)

I hope with all these posts about forgiveness I'm not making it seem like I have a lot to forgive someone for, cause that's not the case. It's just been on my mind lately :)

Today in New Testament (I know, I know....) Brother Smith pointed out the difference between Matthew 7:3 and Luke 6:41. One reads:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

and the other:

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Then we talked about the difference, and which is scarier. To me, I'm much more concerned that I have faults that everyone else can see clearly that I'm just not perceiving. I know I do, because sometimes they are made quickly and painfully apparent to me.

I've never thought about these verses in this way before... I'd always thought it was just to remind us that we have our own big sins to worry about, so don't judge your brother. Now it's a reminder to me that I have huge faults that I'm not even aware of that people are forgiving me for every day.  If I can't perceive a beam, how can I blame them for not perceiving a mote?

If I remember have my own beams that I need to just work on perceiving and removing, forgiving my brother for his little motes becomes a lot easier.  They might not be aware, or they might be. Mostly, I need to work on relying on the Spirit, fixing myself, and remembering that I am so, so, so far from perfect.

Thanks, God, for this amazing lesson today :) Perfect!

forgiving

This I know: God is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful.

Because He is all-loving, He wants us to be happy.

Because He is all-knowing, He knows what will make us happy.

Because He is all-powerful, He can make us happy if we only use our will to choose His will.

One of of His commandments designed to bring us ultimate happiness is forgiveness:

"I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt 5:44-45, 48

Of course, this all sounds like a great idea until you're faced with actually having to forgive someone who doesn't deserve it, or love someone who persecutes you. C.S. Lewis wrote,

"I admit that this means loving people who have nothing loveable about them. But then, has oneself anything loveable about it? You love it simply because it is yourself... We have then to go on and apply the rule to all the other selves. Perhaps it makes it easier if we remember that that is how He loves us. Not for any nice, attractive qualities we think we have, but just because we are the things called selves." 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf teaches us more about how God loves us:

just fyi

God gives us calm

and forgiveness

and love

and peace

and i'm incredibly thankful.

what an awesome God we have

how loving, how kind,

how present

♥

Jesus takes care of us. 

Forgiveness is in His hands, and He's all I need to make me happy. :)

‎"It is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world’s healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself."
~Corrie ten Boom

forgiveness

again with the inspirational new testament class......... but seriously.

today we talked about the Parable of the Unjust Servant and forgiving others. In connection with this, we read the story of Abigail and Nabal from 1 Samuel 25. Basically, Nabal offends David and refuses to help him even after David has been helpful to Nabal. So David takes his men and his swords and goes to punish Nabal. Abigail hears what is happening and runs out to meet David with gifts. She kneels down and puts her face in the dust at David's feet and says, "Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be...forgive the trespass of thine handmaid." She is literally taking Nabal's sins upon herself, and asking David to forgive her even though she did nothing wrong.

Then we talked about Abigail as a type of Christ. Through his infinite Atonement, Jesus Christ literally took upon Himself all the sins of the world. When I stand before God to be judged, Christ will say, "Father, she wasn't perfect. But I was perfect. I suffered and died for her, so that she wouldn't have to pay the price for her mistakes. For my sake, let her into the Kingdom of Heaven. For my sake, offer her forgiveness."


I believe that when Jesus Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, He took upon Himself their sins too. Everyone's sins - not just mine. When I withhold forgiveness for something someone did to offend me, I'm not really withholding it from them - I'm withholding it from Him. From my Savior. From Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for me. How could I ever do that? When I imagine my Savior saying to me, "For my sake, won't you forgive them?" there is nothing to think about. Of course I will. There's nothing to forgive, nothing I wouldn't do for Him. It's just automatic. I love Him.

to forgive

Growing up, I had forgiveness explained to me a lot of different ways.

One was simply that God asked us to forgive, so we should. This is a good reason. Sometimes we do things just because God said so; we don't need a reason, we just trust Him. But it's not very convincing to me.

So another reason offered is, how can we expect forgiveness if we do not extend it ourselves? Jesus said,

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." {Matt. 6:14-15, NKJV}

In the Parable of the Unjust Servant, Jesus teaches me that I can't expect God to forgive me if I withhold forgiveness from others, and reminds me that I have been forgiven a much greater debt than I can ever imagine. I owe Jesus Christ such a huge debt, and He frankly forgave me. How then can I withhold forgiveness from my fellowman, for such a pitiful debt in comparison? "Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" {Matt. 18:33, NIV} C.S. Lewis wrote,

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgive the inexcusable in you." {“On Forgiveness” from The Weight of Glory}

I have done so many incredibly stupid things in my life, yet still I hope that I will be forgiven. Can I expect that God will forgive me, and not them? If I believe that I can change and be forgiven, then I have to believe that everyone can do the same; that nothing is outside the scope of Christ's infinite Atonement.