Holy Spirit, Gift of God

Judgement

Every morning when I wake up, I take my phone out from under my pillow...put my slippers on...put my big hoodie on...then crawl under my bed looking for my Yp's magazine (Young People's christian magazine)...then I walk downstairs...grab a bowl FULL of shreddies and sit at the table reading my magazine.

Today the reading was about The Prodical Son (or his brother)...
For those who don't know the story, ill cut it short...
Two brothers, one dad...the brothers got half each of the inheritence from their dad. One of the brothers, Sam, worked hard, looking after his family, and the land...



while the other Son, Pete, went and spent his half on materialistic things. Basically...in the end the son who went away, came crawling back to his dad saying 'Ive pigged out on selfishness. I've disobeyed God and let you down, please forgive me.'



His father replied with love and compassion and accepted his son back into his life and home.






Sam was a top-of-the-form son, hard working, loyal and obedient. Unlike younger Pete, who was a dead loss, you could rely on him. And he didn't cause any of the aggravation or grief that Pete brought to his parents.
When Pete hit the party trail, Sam stayed at home working hard to keep the farm going and to look after his folks. That was admirable - but Sam resented the wild way Pete behaved and couldn't forgive the way he had treated them.
So when Pete turned up and got a fabulous welcome, Sam flipped his lid. He thought it was time to throw Pete out, not throw a party...lay into him, not lay out the red carpet. So he sulked outside, haranguing his Dad about favouritism and how unfairly he had been treated...
An important part of forgiveness is learning to forgive. In the Lord's Prayer we ask God to 'forgive us our sins as we forgive others.' Do you mean that?
We often ask God to forget out failings while reminding others of theirs. What right have we got to do that? Are we better then them? Deep down Sam thought he was better than Pete which made it hard for him to forgive his brother.
It's so easy to see the speck of sawdust in someone's eye while there's a 8 x 4 block of chipboard in ours. Those who appreciate how much God has forgievn them hesitate to point the finger at others.



To Sam, Pete was a dead loss who deserved punishment. To God, Pete was alive and found. The father saw things God's way and celebrated. Forgiving others is a priorty - It needs to be done before we ask God to forgive us.

posted by MissHarwood @ 21:19