Inspirational Article From Joanne Lowe Index of Writings by Joanne Lowe on Gospel Web

TIME TO GROW UP

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.”

Hebrews 5: 12, 13 King James Version

Last week someone said something that really hurt my feelings and instead of going to the person and discussing the situation, I asked the person not to email me again. I write about giving unconditional love and forgiveness to people that hurt us yet there are times that I do not give unconditional love and forgiveness.

I have asked God to forgive me and I contacted this person this morning to ask for forgiveness. I pray that this person will forgive me but it won’t take the pain and hurt away that I caused this person. Once we say unkind words to someone, we can’t erase them.

I love this person dearly but when I feel like someone has attacked me verbally, I tend to not have anything more to do with the person. A lot of times when people hurt me, I misinterpret what they are telling me. This is exactly why it so important that we tell people how we feel about what they said and ask them if that is what they meant or if we misunderstood what they said.

Withdrawing from people who hurt me is not the way that Jesus wants me to act but it is an old defense mechanism that I used in the past to keep from getting hurt again. It is time that I grow up and stop feeling sorry for myself and it is time that I eat the meat of the Word of God instead of having to drink milk from the bottle when someone hurts me.

Before you start judging me, search your own heart and see if there is something that you need to repent of and grow up in that area of your life. I think if we are honest with ourselves, all of us at times act like babies in Christ and have to drink milk from the bottle instead of eating meat. It is time for all of us to grow up. We will never be able to serve Jesus effectively; the way He wants us to serve Him if He has to constantly give us bottles of milk to drink instead of giving us meat to chew.

We can’t do anything in our own strength and if we would realize this once and for all and stop trying to change ourselves, we would be able to serve Jesus a lot more effectively. Only Jesus can take the pain and hurt from our hearts. Only Jesus can help us forgive the people who have hurt us and only Jesus can melt our hardened hearts so that we will love people unconditionally. We need the help of our precious Saviour in every area of our lives.

Yes, it is time for us to grow up. Instead of taking offense when someone hurts us, we need to search our own hearts and see if we have said or done something that offended the one who just hurt us. We are not to be doormats and let people walk all over us but we need to be certain that we are not as guilty as they are. None of us are perfect, and that includes me. All of us are human and we will make mistakes and we will fail Jesus but when we do fail Him, we need to go to Him immediately and ask Him to forgive us and to please help us not to do the same thing again.

Father, we ask that You would please forgive us for acting like babies and drinking milk instead of acting like mature Christians and eating meat. We can’t do it on our own, dear Father. We need You to please help us not to say or do anything that would offend and hurt somebody. May we be the children that You desire us to be; children who bring honor and glory to You. Thank You for forgiving us when we act like babies. Amen.

Joanne Lowe

December 5, 2007

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