Don’t you just love “ambulance chasing” commercials; bloodthirsty law firms preying on other’s miseries and making it extraordinarily expensive for doctors to treat us? Yesterday, I think I heard the most amazing one yet. “If you or a loved one has taken “A….” and died, dial 1-800 … immediately.” Really! I replayed it three times to make sure I heard correctly. I think we better start putting cell phones in coffins.
What is it about human nature that wants to blame others for our misfortunes? It is true bad things do happen to good people. But can we, in this world of sin, really expect everything to go our way? I guess that’s why people buy lottery tickets or smoke when scientific evidence of its detrimental effect on our health is overwhelming. We are optimistic and can’t imagine something bad happened because we made a bad choice or random mayhem occurred.
We have been blaming others ever since Adam said, “The woman you gave me made me do it.” Freud capitalized on it when he developed psychotherapy; it must have been my mother’s fault or my father’s. It is true that sometimes people do bad things to us and it is their fault, but that is where forgiveness comes in. If I don’t forgive you and dwell on your bad deed then I enable you to keep on hurting me every time I run the video tape in my head. But if I am wise enough to forgive you then you only hurt me once and now it is erased.
Jesus was so wise when He told us to forgive if we desire forgiveness for our bad deeds. But why should that surprise us? He made us. He knows how we tick.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 7, 2011
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org