Day 3
Love
keeps no record of wrong
This verse read in a Greek transliteration
comes out, “does not reckon the evil.”
Investigating further, we find that “keeps record of (logizomai) means
to reckon, impute, or number. It has the
idea of occupying oneself with calculations; putting something to a person’s
account, either in his favor or against him.
The word “wrong” (kakos) carries with it the idea of bad, intrinsically
lacking in value, useless. It is likened
to a torn garment or a doctor who lacks adequate skill. God is love and He empowers us to love as He does. “As far as the east is from the west, so far
has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12)). God enters NO calculations in His book of
records for all the wrongs and evils we have committed. They are infinitely removed by the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. We are told in
Colossians 3:13, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may
have against one another. Forgive as the
Lord forgave you.” Because of the power
of God’s love in us, we can keep records of all the wrongs done to us at a BIG
FAT ZERO. Above all, love each other
deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)
How do you let go of wrongs
done to you? Do not repeatedly bring up
to your mind offenses committed against you.
Dismiss them! Amy Carmichael made
a conscious choice to forget, stating, “I distinctly remember forgetting
that.” Hurts and consequences of the
wrongs may linger, but you can cease and desist from parading them through your
mind, chewing on and mulling them over and over again.
A recent example of this comes
through our son. Last fall his
motorcycle was t-boned by a pick-up and truck.
His left ankle was shattered and dislocated. He underwent excruciating pain in the
resetting of his ankle, and putting all the bones back in place was
problematic. For months our son lived
with the uncertainty of whether his foot would ever heal and that it might even
have to be amputated. Sometimes he
struggled with anger toward the driver of the pick-up truck. After all, that man got off almost
scot-free. His truck suffered very
little damage and his insurance company paid out all the money to settle with
our son. In the meantime, our son’s life
was extremely disrupted by pain, worry, multiple doctor visits, mobility
issues, etc. He felt justified in his
anger toward that truck driver and sometimes entertained thoughts of finding
where the man lived so he could break that driver’s ankle. Our son was tormented by these feelings and
thoughts for weeks. But he also could
not get away from these verses, Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything by prayer and petition, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Those verses dwelt in his mind and heart for
over a week. Then God’s peace flooded
him as he was reminded to be thankful: thankful that he did not die, thankful
he was not paralyzed, thankful he was not injured more severely, thankful for
his three little boys and his wife. He
continued to focus on all the blessings of God through this very long, trying
ordeal and as a result, thoughts of anger and revenge were shoved out of his
mind and heart.
Jesus’ parable of the king and
the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35 is our prime example and gives no
excuse for keeping records of wrongs.
One servant owed the king several million dollars. The servant pleaded for mercy and the king
cancelled his debt. Then this same
servant met up with a fellow servant who owed him a small amount of money
and likewise pleaded for mercy. But the first servant refused and had the
other servant thrown into prison. How
dare he! How dare we! God is the king and has cancelled our debt
that was bazillions of dollars! How can
we keep accounts of the wrong done to us, for they are mere pittances by
comparison. Love indeed keeps no record
of wrongs. Hallelujah!
Questions for Reflection
Let’s take the time to read and reflect
upon Matthew 18:21-35.
How do you
respond to this? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this
devotional, write out a prayer to God.
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