03/04/2010

Last night at a small prayer service we talked a little about quirks and hurts. Everyone has something that is or appears to be (to someone else) a quirk. For this writing, quirk is being defined as being something we do or believe that is seen as being little different. The hurts are emotional wounds that have not healed and are sensitive to touch. Both hurts and quirks can be deep rooted or they can be superficial. Quirks and hurts can be used to cause us to “write someone off.” We may even have conflicting quirks with someone and cause or receive a hurt.

Sometimes a person’s way of dealing with a hurt may appear to us as a quirk. In communications and relationship management classes, I was taught that people see the world and understand words filtered by their personal experiences. The results of the experiences can be looked at as programs within the person that generates a response to actions or words. In other words, our experiences create learned responses (and emotions) to actions and words. Some learned responses are socially acceptable and some are not (that might make them a quirk).

To have a relationship we have to learn to deal with other people’s hurts and quirks. God has given us a way to do just that. The way is the Way! Jesus bought for us a neat little thing we call grace. Grace has a neat feature built in called forgiveness; grace given to be received and passed on. Forgive means to give before the giving is needed (or as soon as we know about the need). What is given before it is needed is love. Within the love is grace, and within the grace is forgiveness.

What if someone’s quirk was to walk up and slap your face? How many times would you forgive them? Giving in advance doesn’t have a limit or quota. Jesus said to forgive a brother seventy times seven. Not an easy thing to do; that is why I believe love is required to forgive (have grace towards in advance). That is why I believe we are told to love our enemy; have grace towards our enemy – forgive our enemy. Within the love is the grace to forgive. Give grace and do not expect grace to be returned – agape grace.

Here is the really neat part. God has already given us love with grace with forgiveness. So the love and grace has already been given to us in advance. Our part is to pass it on. Wouldn’t that be a great quirk to have – passing on God’s love to everyone? God has given us (poured out on the whole earth) His Holy Spirit to grow love and grace and forgiveness up in us. God has given us His Son to assure us of our forgiveness – planted a seed of giving in advance. There are some hurts we cannot touch because we increase the pain, but we can give love in advance of the reaction we get when we do increase the pain. We can give love with grace in advance, and continue to give love with grace for as long as it takes; even if the person with the hurt cannot yet forgive us.

There was a fig tree Jesus wanted fruit from before the season for figs to be ready. Jesus wanted the tree to give to Him before it was time to give. Think about that; Jesus wanted to be feed in advance of the harvest season. We don’t have to wait until we are finished (perfected) to have the fruit of love. We can have what is required to be forgiving before it is time to harvest the fruit of the Spirit. Talk about a first fruit offering – how about a pre-first offering. That is the love of God sent to us 2000 years ago, but prepared before the creation; love that was given before the fist sin of mankind. Forgiveness was always God’s plan. There was always grace in His love. It will last for an eternity.

© 2010, Tim D. Coulter Sr.