8-26-2023

Good Morning All,

       Luke 6:37; “Stop judging, and you will never be judged. Stop condemning, and you will never be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

   I was fortunate to coach baseball for a number of years.  I loved it because it kept me young.  I spent time playing a game: baseball.  I got to meet a whole host of people; many of whom I would have never met otherwise.  It was simply an enjoyable time.

    I got a chance to visit with a young man who was coaching a different team.  He was a good-hearted kid but wasn’t having a lot of success.  So, we sat down, and we talked baseball and coaching.  He asked me how I handled “suspensions.”  I looked at him somewhat confused.  He told me that if his players didn’t hustle enough or get to practice or the game on time or showed disrespect; he would suspend them for two games.  He only had 11 players, so he had to keep track of the suspensions in a small notebook.  So, before each game he had to decide who would play and who would serve their suspension.  It got really complicated when some of his players were getting up to 6 to 8 games of suspensions. When you have a season of less than 20 games, this becomes problematic.

    He asked me, “How do you handle this?”  I told him, “I don’t”; I don’t keep track of suspensions.  It sounded like a lot of work, no fun at all, and it sounded like the players really bristled under this plan.  It sounded like baseball there was a pain and not worth doing.  I told him to toss the notebook and play his best players and reward kids who worked hard then forget the rest and enjoy the game; it is supposed to be fun for everyone, coaches included.

    In a lot of ways this is how we should view sin.  Think of others who sin against you as those players who were getting suspensions.  Now you have to keep track of all those sins.  You get to keep them in your heart and then look at them as they remind you of the pain you felt.  You keep them nice and categorized, deciding which ones are to be punished at this time and which ones will be punished later.  You keep the pain, and you keep the guilt of trying to keep some form of balance.  Sounds like a great life doesn’t it.

    We need to remember that forgiveness is something that God gives to us.  He not only forgives our sins, but he gives us the ability to forgive others.  We can throw that notebook away and have some fun.  We can try and enjoy the life that God gives us.  We can love the people that God puts into our lives.  Forgiveness of others is just as much a beneficial gift for you as it is those who you forgive.  You don’t have to keep the pain and the guilt; all that does is give the devil something to play with and this will make you miserable. 

    Forgive others, forgive yourself; these two actions will give you some peace and contentment.  Receive God’s forgiveness of your sins and you will receive salvation.

Dearest Father, lead us to forgive others as you forgive us so that the whole body may be healed.  Give us the power to let go.  Give us the courage to let go of our neighbor’s sin.  Give us the peace that we need to live content in your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret