Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be
prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. –Deuteronomy 5:16
My wife and I were talking during dinner the other
night, and the conversation turned to the complexities of families.
This will sound familiar, because I wrote about families in my last
blog. I was reminded of three people I know personally who attend
our church and have for many years. These people are siblings
and are very close. When they were children their mother passed
away. Their father apparently decided he was unable to raise his
children by himself. He then sent them to live with various relatives
who subsequently raised them in loving and nurturing homes.
This all took place many years ago in a time where
social services and the court system simply did not always get involved
in such situations. Today, if someone tried to do this, social
services would be involved as well as child protection services and
the courts would decide where the children would live. In today’s
world this is for the best. However, this was many years ago and
in those days the legal system did not always get involved.
As the years passed by the sibling grew older and
kept in touch with one another. Later, when they became adults,
they remained close and stayed connected. Now, here is the part
of the story which further intrigues me. At one point the siblings, now
grown with families of their own, discovered their father, who had abandoned
them as children, was dying and had no one to care for him. Many
people would have taken an attitude of, “I want nothing to do with
him. He abandoned us, so let him die alone.” However,
these people refused such an attitude and chose instead to practice
grace. They went to their father, and in a wonderful display of
compassion and forgiveness, lovingly cared for him until he died.
Every time I think of this, I am amazed at the power
of grace functioning in peoples’ lives. Harboring grudges,
refusing to forgive, and carrying hatred in our hearts burdens us and
weighs us down. Hatred and an unforgiving spirit will always hinder
the joy and peace meant to be ours in Jesus Christ. On the other
hand, practicing the grace of God which Christ brings, releases us from the burden of hatred and empowers us to walk in the fullness of Christ. The aforementioned people honored their father
whether he deserved it or not, which is a living testimony of faith
– the kind of faith Jesus taught us. They also lived out a faith
principle of practicing grace as opposed to being chained in hatred.
Cast off the burden of hatred and an unforgiving
spirit, and with God’s help discover the joy of walking in the power of
grace.
God bless you today.
