Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
-Hebrews 4
What about failure?
What about regret?
What about loss?
We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.
What about when I sin...
Jesus, my example of how to live and love never failed. God has never failed. Never sinned. To whom do I look to when I fail? Who do I turn to, who can empathize with me? My high priest, in his perfection?
I don't have an example where Jesus said something He shouldn't have or hurt someone He loved. I don't have an example where Jesus was faced with failure and needed to reconcile a relationship. All the parables and stories are about humans coming to the Father and the Father welcoming with love. But what about my situation?
So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
-Matthew 5
What if the person I have hurt refuses to talk? How can there be reconciliation? What do I do with my sacrifice at the altar?
If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive. The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!
-Luke 17
What if I have been rebuked and there is repentance and I will never treat her that way again but there is still no communication? Show me how to increase my faith.
My last post talked about love towards God but what would it look like applied to ἔρως?
In addition, full love means we must turn toward over and against other things. If our choice is to be made with integrity, we must first have felt other attractions and chosen, painfully, not to make them. True love, then, is not only born of freedom; it is also born of difficult choice. A mature and meaningful love must say something like, "I have experienced other goodnesses, and they are beautiful, but it is you, my true heart's desire, whom I choose above all." We have to turn away before we can come back with dignity.
I have seen the ways I hurt her. I have worked with Toni to fix them. I have been healed of wounds I'd never knew where there. I reached out to her. I've prayed. I've prayed. I've prayed. But True love isn't just born of freedom; it is also born of difficult choice. One sided love is a very depressing unhealthy thing. If I go on loving her but she refuses to talk what a painful and agonizing prison I put myself in. Love takes two. Yes I hurt her and she has every right to never speak to me again. But if love is to work. If this is to be love, to be reconciled. Then difficult choice, risk, trust, pain, and forgiveness must come from her end as well. There must be a choosing towards and a choosing against other things.
If I hurt her too badly for her to choose me above others then what can I do? I am a new creation. I am no longer that caterpillar but You have made me into the butterfly You always saw in me. Never again will I treat anyone the way I use to. Now I am at the end of myself. It is a painfully humbling place to be. At the mercy of a loved one. Standing again by the road. But the difference between the Father in the parable and me is that I am the very reason she left. When the prodigal son thought of coming home he didn't think of the pain his Father caused him. The laziness, the fear, the anger. It is a very different roadside waiting that I do than that of the Father.
Jesus I trust You.
Soften her heart.
Take my brokenness aside and make it beautiful.
All Sons & Daughters - Brokenness Aside
I am a sinner
If its not one thing its another
Caught up in words
Tangled in lies
You are the Savior
And you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful
Beautiful
-Hebrews 4
What about failure?
What about regret?
What about loss?
We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.
What about when I sin...
Jesus, my example of how to live and love never failed. God has never failed. Never sinned. To whom do I look to when I fail? Who do I turn to, who can empathize with me? My high priest, in his perfection?
I don't have an example where Jesus said something He shouldn't have or hurt someone He loved. I don't have an example where Jesus was faced with failure and needed to reconcile a relationship. All the parables and stories are about humans coming to the Father and the Father welcoming with love. But what about my situation?
So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.
-Matthew 5
What if the person I have hurt refuses to talk? How can there be reconciliation? What do I do with my sacrifice at the altar?
If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive. The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!
-Luke 17
What if I have been rebuked and there is repentance and I will never treat her that way again but there is still no communication? Show me how to increase my faith.
My last post talked about love towards God but what would it look like applied to ἔρως?
In addition, full love means we must turn toward over and against other things. If our choice is to be made with integrity, we must first have felt other attractions and chosen, painfully, not to make them. True love, then, is not only born of freedom; it is also born of difficult choice. A mature and meaningful love must say something like, "I have experienced other goodnesses, and they are beautiful, but it is you, my true heart's desire, whom I choose above all." We have to turn away before we can come back with dignity.
I have seen the ways I hurt her. I have worked with Toni to fix them. I have been healed of wounds I'd never knew where there. I reached out to her. I've prayed. I've prayed. I've prayed. But True love isn't just born of freedom; it is also born of difficult choice. One sided love is a very depressing unhealthy thing. If I go on loving her but she refuses to talk what a painful and agonizing prison I put myself in. Love takes two. Yes I hurt her and she has every right to never speak to me again. But if love is to work. If this is to be love, to be reconciled. Then difficult choice, risk, trust, pain, and forgiveness must come from her end as well. There must be a choosing towards and a choosing against other things.
If I hurt her too badly for her to choose me above others then what can I do? I am a new creation. I am no longer that caterpillar but You have made me into the butterfly You always saw in me. Never again will I treat anyone the way I use to. Now I am at the end of myself. It is a painfully humbling place to be. At the mercy of a loved one. Standing again by the road. But the difference between the Father in the parable and me is that I am the very reason she left. When the prodigal son thought of coming home he didn't think of the pain his Father caused him. The laziness, the fear, the anger. It is a very different roadside waiting that I do than that of the Father.
Jesus I trust You.
Soften her heart.
Take my brokenness aside and make it beautiful.
All Sons & Daughters - Brokenness Aside
I am a sinner
If its not one thing its another
Caught up in words
Tangled in lies
You are the Savior
And you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful
Beautiful