The challenge of growing up through humiliation

I forgive you, but I will not forget the offense! That's how it is. What a greater mystery about this human behavior! We forgive (apparently), but that unhealthy thorn of resentment and bitterness remains stuck and we voluntarily decide not to forget, to leave the insult, the supposed outrage that moved the esteem, the honor , shame ... Christian witness. No, I won't be able to forget it. And so time passes and arrogance and pride dominate the soul and give way to pride, anger, in short, sin.-No, I cannot even hear that name, nor bear its presence, it exasperates me to hear His voice, I forgave him, but I find it very difficult to bear it - Situations like these and similar expressions within God's people are not very strange, oddly enough.

The question is, is that sorry? The Bible says no. "My heavenly Father will treat you like this, unless each one forgives his brother from his heart" (Mt 18:35). As long as you continue to build an “altar of saints that are not of your devotion”, in your church or outside of it, the shadow of discontent will steal your joy and persecute you until you submit under the authority of God and humble yourself before Him. , allowing your will to rule the circumstances. Only then will true forgiveness spring forth from the heart and His peace will reign again.

All the causes of our problems with our brothers of faith and with the people around us are the result of our internal struggles, personal frustrations, our rebellions, carnal passions and the deepest human feelings that are allied to sin. . When the Christian begins to play with the world seeking to justify his human reasoning and rejects the wisdom of God, he evades the always rational and loving opinion of our own creator. We are reluctant to humble ourselves because we have not understood that the only authority and sovereignty comes from God, that his plan is much better than ours, and that he is always in control of what happens in all of his creation.

When we do not submit to the authority of God the first sin that is brought against is pride, self-reliance. This will never allow us to give space to his will, but to ours. As a consequence, dissatisfactions, discontent will come; greed, envy, discomfort and work "my way" will appear on his face. The world is at war with God. If believing that from the Christian perspective we can dance to the beat of the music dictated by the tastes and preferences of the world, we are wrong, and the saddest thing, we are at enmity with God, the apostle James clearly remarks: “Oh adulterous people! Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? If someone wants to be a friend of the world, he becomes an enemy of God ”(James 4.4). Adulterer is synonymous with infidelity, corruption.

The good news is that Christ helps us grow despite these blunders; We just have to humble ourselves. To humble ourselves is to let Him take control, abandon the mood of contention in sincere prayer and allow His grace to flood all the twists and turns that the enemy has tried to take because of our human weakness. If Christ humbled Himself. and became obedient (Phil 2.8), He will give us strength and power to humble ourselves before Him when the sin of pride tries to bring us down. Better news from God: "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you" (James 4:10).

When we humble ourselves before Christ we get closer to Him, it is the most appropriate and spiritual way to abide by his authority and lordship over our lives. It is natural, since the Christian who tries to live on his own will always crash in front of the truth of the Word that exhorts us to be obedient. Letting God control our lives is hands down the best. Allowing Him to intervene in the solution of daily conflicts and problems will free us from many more obstacles than we think. And if it comes to lawsuits and fights with brothers, - assuming beforehand that none of this makes sense in the Christian life - even if you are right in the matter, the Lord's advice is unbeatable: “Do not do anything out of selfishness or vanity; rather, humbly consider others as superior to yourself ”(Phil 2: 3).

Humility is a virtue and the Lord longs for us to imitate him in this also, whatever the circumstance. He… gives grace to the humble (Pr 3: 34b) and is the example of humility that all his children should follow. “… Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul” (Mt 11 : 29).

God bless you!