Broken Records

Broken Records

May 8, 2017

1 Corinthians 13:5 "It does not dishonor other, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

Imagine how different your relationships would be if no one that you loved or cared about ever hurt you. I would venture to guess your love and appreciation for them would be so much more deep and wide. It hurts getting hurt. People are insensitive, uncaring, and even mean spirited at times. They deliberately hurt us on occasion, sometimes the ones who say they love us the most. Those closest to us have caused us pain. But imagine if they've never caused us pain, never ever in the history of time. The Lord tell us that if we truly loved THEM, then we'd have no record of them hurting us; we wouldn't remember it even if they did. 

When the Lord removes our sin, the Bible says he removes it from us as far as the east is from the west. This is akin to Him forgetting it. Once it has been forgiven, its gone, never to be held against us again. The Lord is perfect, able to realize those things happened in the past but never factoring them against us. You and me, we aren't so perfect, not factoring in the pain someone has caused us. It takes a lot to get over the hurt of someone you love, even more time and effort if they've not asked forgiveness for the wrongdoing. But the Bible says we shouldn't hold it against them, if we say we truly love them. Forgiven offenses or not, we are not supposed to factor our pain into our relationship with them, with those we love, if they've wronged us. The Lord is asking you to break the record.

In the Bible there were two ways to record something, either you wrote it on a scroll or you had to chisel it in stone. Stone is permanent, but what about a scroll? If it was written on a scroll, it would often have to be re-written, again and again, as the inks they had back then were seldom permanent. If you wanted to keep a record on a scroll, you'd check the scroll often, and then re-write it if the ink was beginning to fade. That is how you would have kept a record. The Bible says we are not suppose to keep the record of the wrong. We are not to etch it in stone and we are not to write it on a scroll, checking it often for fading ink or ever re-writing it. But you and me, we don't follow those instructions. We like to keep the ink fresh. Even the best of Christians have at least a small list of offenses recalled into memory when it is convenient. If you have those offenses etched on a stone tablet, the Lord is asking you to break that record. If you've written it on a scroll, checking it often for fading ink, He is asking you to burn the papyrus. You are not to keep that record.

Think of those you love and care about the most, now recall the seven times they have offended you. Recall the terse words, unkind acts, and selfish behavior. Now, imagine yourself etching it into stone, then smashing the stone. Imagine yourself inking it on paper and then burning the paper. You are not to keep that record. Get rid of it. It needs to be gone forever, if you truly are to love them. You cannot love, the way the Lord says you are to love, if you have a record of any offense against you.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ps 103, Matt 18:21-22, Cor 13