A Lesson from my Wickedness
“These things I command you, that ye love one another.” John 15:17
Oh, how despicable is my sin! The more I love the Lord, the more I detest my sin! How horrified I was for the umpteenth time at how I have treated the beloved dogs God has placed in my hands at times through the years when one day I found myself losing my temper with sweet little Glory who has no eyes. There I was, raising my voice at her, dragging her by her collar over and over into the yard trying to get her to go to the bathroom so she wouldn’t go in her diaper again instead. Each time I let go of her collar, instead of going to the bathroom, she would walk in one direction, then another, then stop, try to get her bearings, then walk a little one way, then the other, stop to try to get her bearings again, all the while listening to me yell and get ready to drag her again back to a place she would pee. She refused to pee, and I refused to repent immediately as I should have. Only later did I realize the pure wickedness of my sin against God in what I had done and how I had hurt her. I repented. Only later still, I saw what God wanted to show me through this.
How often do we treat others the same way? God calls us to love one another, but how often do we place expectations on them; become impatient with them; judge them instead of show them mercy; try to rush them instead of show them patience; try to get them to do something rather than lovingly help them to do something; take them by their collars, so to speak, and try to make them understand something or figure something out or accept something that they cannot see; demand they do something so WE won’t have more work to do in having to “change their diapers;” expect them to see when they are blind; raise our voices at them instead of increase our love toward them; continue in our sin when we need to repent of it; justify our wickedness when we need to mourn over it and plead for God’s forgiveness; hold resentment and bitterness toward others instead of forgiving them and showing them kindness; be rough and abrasive with them when we don’t get our way instead of lovingly leading them, gently guiding them, humbly blessing them; look the other way when we see people walking in darkness instead of helping them find God’s light; refuse to show compassion toward those in extreme need instead of at most tossing them coins and rushing off to our appointments; and refuse to repent and turn to God when His Spirit convicts us we are drenched in sin?
I thank God for His forgiveness, that He hasn’t given up on me, and that in His mercy He is ever changing me to conform me to His most precious Son. If your eyes have been opened in reading this, please seek the Lord!