March 22
Once a man has received Jesus as Savior and Lord, he is expected to march to the beat of a different drummer. His values change. His desires change. His actions change. His words change. Because his heart changes. ‘Self’ is no longer on the seat of authority within him. Christ is.
The transition is remarkable and unfathomable to the unregenerate. That is why a thief can restore what he has stolen (see Luke 19:8). That is why a former Moslem terrorist can become a proponent of Israel and an eloquent spokesman for the Kingdom of Christ (read the biography of Walid Shobat).
When a man gives himself to the Prince of Peace, the war within himself stops raging. When he is at peace with himself and at peace with his Maker, he no longer harbors any animus toward his fellow man—no matter how his fellow man may have wronged him. Beyond letting go of personal hurts, the wronged one truly forgives. Corrie ten Boom tells the story of encountering a former Nazi guard from a prison camp where she and her sister had been mistreated severely. When he attended one of her speaking engagements and asked her to forgive him, she did so—with the Lord’s help (read her autobiography THE HIDING PLACE)
This is not something anyone can do in his own strength. It requires total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in order to forgive as He forgave those who crucified Him (see Luke 23:34). When we have done that, we will have complied with Jesus’ admonition in Luke 6:35, “Love your enemies. Do good to them who despitefully use you. Then will your reward be great in Heaven and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” We are never more like the Christ we profess to love and serve than when we forgive others as He forgives us.
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