day 1119: Forgetfulness

"No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead..."

Okay, in the spirit of full transparency, I have become more forgetful. Call it age, call it too much on my plate, or just call it too much data/information coming at me, but whatever it is, I'm more inclined to be forgetful today than in the past.  I've always been a note taker and today I am more so than ever.  What is cool about today is that with so many different pieces of technology that can help us store, organize and recover what we have gathered.  There is Evernote, which I love.  Our phones give us apps like Catcha and built in applications for note taking both written and spoken. There is also Dropbox, Google Drive and Box for storage.  I guess the problem could someday be that we become forgetful about what is stored where, but I suspect there will be a solution for that as well.  What is for certain is that with all of the technology solutions that there shouldn't be any excuse for forgetfulness. Within the coming years, those who are forgetful will become more obvious for being unorganized, lazy, or symptomatic of a greater problem. Will this make us more efficient and productive within our companies, we will see!

So, there is one area of our lives that we are to be forgetful and that is our forgiveness of others. Nope, we are not to write down all of the transgressions that others have committed against us and keep them for after we forgive.  Imagine if God was to do that with us?  If He managed our sins like a credit score, we’d all be in big trouble.  But, that is not God’s way. His way is to model for us the ultimate in forgetfulness.  Once we ask for forgiveness, He doesn’t keep track, He just forgives and forgets, like we should.  Being truly forgiving and forgetful towards others is one of the most powerful examples of Christ that we can take to work with us today. Imagine if our reputations were to be the person that everyone could count on to be truly forgiving and to never dredge up the past?

Reference: Philippians 3:13 (New Living Translation)

day 1025: Season Of Forgiving

 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

This is the season for giving. We are gearing up at the office for the Holiday party, looking forward to time off from work to spend with family and friends, and we have to get that shopping done in the midst of everyone trying to get all of the work done before the end of the year. It becomes a very busy time and while it shouldn't be, it becomes a time of stress both at work and home. When the stress sets in, the worst comes out. In these times when everything is focused on getting everything done before the big day or the end of the year, we undoubtedly will be let down by others, not get everything we need from others, and them not get all from us that they need. There will be criticism for not working fast enough and challenges that will test our patience. The question is whether or not we will rise above the stress and the pressure or allow the stress to get to us?

 Remember, this is the season for giving and with the play on the words, the season for forgiving. If we can enter the time with both of these attitudes at the forefront of our minds and hearts then we can come through this year with our heads held high and our example and role modeling that we desire held intact. As we think about this through the season and if we need any example how to give and forgive in this time we need only look at the greatest verse of all in the Bible. In John 3:16 we read; "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." In that one verse we receive the greatest gift of all, and only to be forgiven when we receive Him. Yes, this is the season of giving and the season of forgiving. Can we embrace this season with our hearts and minds set firmly both in giving ourselves to others and forgiving those around us? To get the most from this time of year and to truly begin the celebration of the coming our King, we must be able to give and forgive.

Reference: John 3:16 (New Living Testament)

day 790: Season For Giving (redux)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

This is the season for giving. We are gearing up at the office for the Holiday party, looking forward to time off from work to spend with family and friends, and we have to get that shopping done in the midst of everyone trying to get all of the work done before the end of the year. It becomes a very busy time and while it shouldn't be, it becomes a time of stress both at work and home. When the stress sets in, the worst comes out. In these times when everything is focused on getting everything done before the big day or the end of the year, we undoubtedly will be let down by others, not get everything we need from others, and them not get all from us that they need. There will be criticism for not working fast enough and challenges that will test our patience. The question is whether or not we will rise above the stress and the pressure or allow the stress to get to us?

Remember, this is the season for giving and with the play on the words, the season for forgiving. If we can enter the time with both of these attitudes at the forefront of our minds and hearts then we can come through this year with our heads held high and our example and role modeling that we desire held intact. As we think about this through the season and if we need any example how to give and forgive in this time we need only look at the greatest verse of all in the Bible. In John 3:16 we read; "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." In that one verse we receive the greatest gift of all, and only to be forgiven when we receive Him. Yes, this is the season of giving and the season of forgiving. Can we embrace this season with our hearts and minds set firmly both in giving ourselves to others and forgiving those around us? To get the most from this time of year and to truly celebrate the coming our King, we must be able to give and forgive.

Reference: John 3:16 (New Living Testament)

day 612: Forgetting and Forgiving

"...forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you."

We are seldom rewarded at work for forgetting something. It's usually the opposite in that we receive accolades for remembering and being able to pull out a fact or a detail from our memories when no one else can. There is a new book out on how to improve our memory, it's called "Moonwalking with Einstein". I plan to read it as once every ten years or so there will be memory strengthening book that comes out that becomes the one that the business community adopts and starts passing around, etc. Increasing memory skills is a good thing except in one place and that place being the memories that we harbor and can't let go of that block us from being able to forgive well. Forgiving is a big part of being whole in our life with Christ and also an important marker for others who are watching us to see what kind of life this being a believer thing is supposed to be all about. It is hard for others to see God in us if we are not forgiving for to be unforgiving in our nature is to snub our noses at what Jesus did for us and what God gave us in sacrificing His Son for our sins. But to forgive we must first forget.

A fellow teacher in the Sunday School class I teach said that he knows someone who says, "I forgive but I will never forget". That is not true forgiveness. True forgiveness is letting go of the past and moving towards the future. Much of what Paul writes about in Ephesians Chapter 4 is about this and the importance of being future focused and letting the past go. Today, on your job, there is something that needs to be forgotten for good. It's been hung onto for too long and it's time to settle it and move on. From there, there is a person who needs to be forgiven and they need to see that you can do it. Find that person and that topic and see if today, you can't put them both to bed once and for all and move on into a new day and time of better spirit and attitude. It will be worth it!

Reference: Ephesians 4:32 (New Living Testament)

day 303: The Season For Giving

This is the season for giving. We are gearing up at the office for the Holiday party, looking forward to time off from work to spend with family and friends, and we have to get that shopping done in the midst of everyone trying to get all of the work done before the end of the year. It becomes a very busy time and while it shouldn't be, it becomes a time of stress both at work and home. When the stress sets in, the worst comes out. In these times when everything is focused on getting everything done before the big day or the end of the year, we undoubtedly will be let down by others, not get everything we need from others, and them not get all from us that they need. There will be criticism for not working fast enough and challenges that will test our patience. The question is whether or not we will rise above the stress and the pressure or allow the stress to get to us? Remember, this is the season for giving and with the play on the words, the season for forgiving. If we can enter the time with both of these attitudes at the forefront of our minds and hearts then we can come through this year with our heads held high and our example and role modeling that we desire held intact. As we think about this through the season and if we need any example how to give and forgive in this time we need only look at the greatest verse of all in the Bible. In John 3:16 we read; "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." In that one verse we receive the greatest gift of all, and only to be forgiven when we receive Him. Yes, this is the season of giving and the season of forgiving. Can we embrace this season with our hearts and minds set firmly both in giving ourselves to others and forgiving those around us? To get the most from this time of year and to truly celebrate the coming our King, we must be able to give and forgive.

Reference: John 3:16 (New Living Testament)