How To Get Along With Everyone All The Time

Here we are again, shortly after 5:00 AM on a Saturday morning. Lord why do we always have to do this so early on a Saturday or Sunday morning? Oh, that's the only time I really listen? There may be something to that. It seems like life is very busy lately and little of it has to do with the holidays. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit is compelling me to quickly follow up on the previous post. Apparently it sounded a little harsh, cold, or even cruel to some, although I have not received any feedback at all at this point. Perhaps this will bring a little balance.

This title is taken from a teaching done by Pastor Larry Lea in the late '70s. We heard the brief teaching live, and viewed it on video tape at least twice. Larry was teaching on The Lord's Prayer and this was the title of the section on the phrase, "And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors." (Matthew 6:12) As you might know from your study or a teaching on this phrase, it is in the Greek imperative mood. That means we are not begging God to forgive us. Rather we are telling Him we want to be forgiven for our debts incurred toward Him through our sins because we also forgive anyone who owes anything to us. Those things would include such things as common courtesy, assistance with the affairs of life, or real, tangible needs. I would apologize if your theology does not allow you to "tell" God anything, but you will have to deal with that on your own.

Whenever we offend another person with any action, whether intentionally or unintentionally, there is shared responsibility for the offense. Whether our actions should have offended them or not, we bear some of the responsibility for the fact they feel offended. Likewise, and again, whether we were intentional or accidental, they have the responsibility to forgive us. That is indeed a very tall order, on both ends. Nonetheless, it falls into the category of the second greatest commandment, "...love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39)

Back to Larry Lea for a moment, he says that if we forgive everyone who will offend us first thing every morning, we will not have problem forgiving them when they do. That gets the old, mental wheels spinning. Forgive someone before they do us wrong? Whoa!

The Holy Spirit just gave me a little test we can all take. Call it a quiz. It is only one question. It will betray our ability to hear Him. Reread the previous paragraph slowly. Let it sink in. How does that concept strike you? The correct answer is something like, "That certainly would work. I would not be offended if I did that." Incorrect answers include, but are not limited to, "That's ridiculous." "How do you expect me to forgive someone before they do something to me?" and even, "I will have to think on that." or "I am not sure how I feel about that." You may have realized that all the wrong answers involve human reasoning or emotions, or both. You can read that as "soul". According to Proverbs 14:12, which you should know by heart by now, that is always the wrong way to look at something. We have not even suggested responses like, "But they hurt me, I have a right to be offended, at least for a little while." We left that one out on purpose. It is a lie of the enemy of our souls.

We do not have the right to hold an offense against anyone, any offense, any time. On the contrary, we have the responsibility to forgive them just as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. (Ephesians 4:32) When we fail to forgive another person for a wrong done to us, we block the flow of God's blessings toward us. Remember, we are asking forgiveness on the basis of being forgiving people ourselves. It is not that God will not forgive us when we do not forgive, it is that our unforgiveness inhibits the flow of His grace toward us. In any area in which we do not forgive, God's grace is limited because His justice and mercy are always balanced. He would like to be merciful with our failings, and He is, but His justice requires we be just and merciful to receive justice and mercy from Him.

Let us go back to the idea of forgiving people before they do us wrong. Borrowing a phrase from Bill Winston, we learn that, "God did not start until He had finished." There is no time with God. He is eternal. We entered into the eternal, timeless, life of God when we were born again. When we understand the concept of timelessness, miracles, healings, provision, and even forgiveness become possible right here and now (in time). Think about that. We often think (There is that pesky "way that seems right to a man" again.) that because we do not see (and the body) the answer to our prayers manifest in time, God did not answer them.

I recently had a Baptist friend question me on the erroneous concept of "name it and claim it." That is, of course a disparaging way of referring to anyone who thinks God will answer all our prayers. (So much to explain, so little space.) Gave myself away on that one. Anyway, as faithful as Baptists are to Biblical inerrancy, for some reason they almost universally reject the idea that we can ask God for anything and He will answer. Oh, and the answer will be yes. I could launch into a teaching on that concept, but if you study the subject through with your spirit open I am certain you will come to the same conclusion I have. No fewer than four times does the New Testament say we will receive what we ask for. Nowhere in the Bible that I have seen is there even an allusion to God saying "No" to our prayer". That idea is an invention of man to explain unanswered prayer. And do not even bore me with the whole, "If it is in His will" thing. Study 1 John 5:14-15. I will give you a hint. His will is not "what" we ask. His will is "that" we ask. If we need a full teaching on that please let me know. We will be happy to provide it, complete with a Greek grammar lesson, free of charge, as always.

There are conditions to having all our prayers answered. We must ask. (Duh?) (1 John 5 :14) We must ask in Jesus' name. (John 14:14, 15:16). That latter verse also talks about abiding in the vine. Our prayer is strengthened by agreement. (Matthew 18:19)

I do this all the time in class too, start on one subject and finish on another. We were talking about getting along with everyone all the time and we ended with how to have our prayers answered. Yes, I do mean we ended with that. We hope you got something out of this post anyway. God bless.