Daily Devotional
I'll admit it. I'm a coffee snob. I love good coffee and despise poorly prepared coffee. One of the things I do to improve the taste of coffee is roast the beans myself. I buy them green, then roast them before brewing my coffee. This usually makes for good coffee, but I've found its not enough to have a good bean. How coffee is prepared, the amount of coffee and water, as well as the temperature of the water and how long the coffee brews are critical considerations. A perfect roast of coffee, brewed at the right temperature can become bitter, acidic and strong if it is left too long in contact with the water.
Sometimes we let things brew inside us for far too long. It is only natural that we get angry when people do things to us or disregard us. We have a right to feel hurt when people say things intended to put us down. When our rights are violated or when those we love are injured by others, it is hard to control our desire to get revenge. Sometimes the emotions stirred up by mistreatment stay inside us for a long, long time. Those feelings of anger, fear, hatred can turn our world dark, make life bitter. Maybe it is important that we take a little time right after someone has done damage to us to regain control of our emotions. But we need to deal with those hurts sooner rather than later. That may mean we simply talk to the person who has injured us and let them know how we feel. Sometimes that is all we need is a feeling that we have been heard. And sometimes the only way we can get our hurt emotions out of the hot water is by practicing the art of forgiveness. This involves acknowledging that a wrong has been done to us, but deciding to release the hurt from our heart and release any need to gain revenge on the offender.
When we allow things to build up inside us, angers and hurts, when we fail to work on forgiveness, those feelings often take control of other emotions and soon destroy things in our life that cherish. Pierre-Marie Delfieux wrote, "Never tire of forgiving, and so give the devil no hold. Be merciful and compassionate, spontaneously and wholeheartedly. The Lord forgives you all day long; in the silence of your heart, then, do the same, untiringly and sincerely."
"Then Peter came and said to him, 'Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times," (Matt. 18: 21-22).
Prayer: Too long these feelings have set unresolved in my life. Too long I've held to hurt and pain like a prize. Too long in self righteous indignation I've waiting for a chance to do injury. Tired of the bitterness, weary of the isolation, hungry for joy and laughter, I give the hurt to you, dear God. I lay it before you and with your spirit at work in me, I release the wrong that has been done and the one by whose hand the offense was made. As you have forgiven me, so now I forgive. Amen
