I have several coffee cups at work. The other day, I was looking at one of my favorites and noticed how stained and dingy it looks. Wendy was there and it kind of embarrassed me, so I said, “I really need to give this cup a good washing!” (or something like that), to which she laughingly replied, “It doesn’t seem so bad when it’s our own stains, does it?”
I’ve thought about her words several times because there’s some real profundity there! Throughout my life, I’ve done things I’ve later regretted; things that added “stains” to my life. I’m not talking only about when I was young and inexperienced either; I’ve done things, like last week, that I wish I could change!! I’ve also said things I wish I could take back, after I’ve thought about them. More “stains” added. However, if/when I say something that hurts someone’s feelings, I know in my heart it would be purely accidental because I’d never intentionally hurt someone. But if someone says something to me that is hurtful, it’s often easier to take offense than to think about what was intended. In other words, their stains seem uglier than mine!
Proverbs 19:11 says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” This seems like God’s way of saying, “…when you see the stains of another, look past them and see the person.” I love this theme of “Going Forward” because it seems to imply just that; when we look ahead, instead of dwelling on the past, we can get past any hurts and offenses, self-inflicted or otherwise, and move on to experience a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.
There’s an old hymn called, “Jesus Paid It All”, and here are the words to the first verse:
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.
When we’re able to look beyond the stains of ourselves and others, we’re freed to be joyfully obedient. When we look ahead, we can dream and create new things. What are you passionate about? How can God use your gifts and talents to pursue your passions? “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11.
It’s exciting to see what God has planned for us “Going Forward”!
Susan Meharg
Executive Assistant to the Senior Pastor and Senior Executive Pastor
