Faith Love Forgiveness

Scripture: Psalms 37:3

Cultivating Faith

Have you ever felt like God literally stopped you dead in your tracks while reading Scripture, and then you heard Him whisper in your ear something like “I want you to chew on what you just read”? A gentle yet clear assignment you knew you either must surrender to or miss out on something God was wanting to teach you. That happened to me one morning when I was reading in Psalms and got to Psalm 37:3 (nasb1995): “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” And just like that, I felt God turn my complete attention to one phrase: cultivate faithfulness. 

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word “cultivate”? Is it a garden? Or digging in the soil? Or maybe planting seeds under the watchful eye of a patient gardener who meticulously cultivates his harvest? Whatever “cultivate” means to you, we can all agree that it is a laborious process. In fact, Merriam Webster defines it as (1) to foster the growth of; (2) further, encourage; and (3) refine: to improve by labor, care, or study. 

Are you a plant lover? Those who genuinely love to garden are usually extremely patient, very watchful, and particularly detailed. They feel protective over their seedlings, feeding and watching and fostering their growth. 

In the context of Psalm 37:3, those surrounding David were complaining that others who did not love God were prospering, while they, who did love God, were suffering. This was not fair, and they were letting David know about it! David replied, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness (Nasb1995).” 

What I know therapeutically is that unless you are buying something and need to compare prices, comparison breeds discontentment almost 100 percent of the time. And in this case, those surrounding David were cultivating discontentment by comparing themselves to others. I can’t help but think that’s what David was trying to teach his companions—and what God was trying to teach me that morning. 

We are cultivating something literally all the time. Have you ever thought about it that way? At times, we can even cultivate negative things like bitterness—and just like a seed that is watered, bitterness also grows. Likewise, kindness and joy can be cultivated and can grow exponentially when nurtured and cared for. And just like a master gardener cultivating plants, we can cultivate faithfulness by digging into God’s Word, and we can water it by spending time with the Lord. Our roots then become planted deep in the soil of our faith so that when storms come—and they do come—we will not be washed away. It can be a laborious process but one that God desires to walk with us every step, hand in hand. 

Whatever we cultivate can draw us closer to God or can become a distraction from Him.

SUSAN GOSS

Scriptures: 1 John 3:18, Romans 12:15, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love Shows Up

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

I John 3:18 NIV

What I have come to know as a therapist (and human) is that one of the best ways, if not the best way, to connect with someone is to let them know you care by creating a “safe zone” for them. You do this by sitting and listening (without reprimand or judgment), not trying to correct, fix, or change them—just listening and letting them know they have been heard, understood, and seen. What this really involves is learning how to meet people where they are. Meet them in their greatest joy or deepest pain.

At times when words are elusive and you don’t know what to say, just acknowledge, “I don’t know what to say to you right now, but what I do know is that I want to be here for you.” When you are able to say that to another person, they immediately feel connected to you, understood by you, and safe; they don’t feel alone anymore. This fosters a sense of belonging . . . like family.

God has His own version of “meeting people where they are,” and it’s found in Romans 12:15 (NASB): “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” This extraordinary passage of Scripture implies that if there is reason to celebrate, then celebrate joyfully. And if there is reason for weeping, then weep and do so deeply. God is the Creator and Author of all emotions, which are meant to be felt and expressed both as individuals and together in community.

First John 3:18 reinforces this call to love one another fully. John writes, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (NIV). In modern-day language another way of saying this verse might be: Love shows up! I experienced this on a very personal level not long ago, when my mother passed away. God’s own people were in fact the hands and feet of Jesus to me and my family in very practical ways. They met me where I was in my grief and supplied my needs, some of which I didn’t even know I had. And if they didn’t know what to say or do, they prayed or sent a gift card or brought my favorite coffee to me or delivered food or sent a text of encouragement. The list goes on and on because love shows up—in many ways and in different forms. It sacrifices for those it serves.

The more we look beyond ourselves, the closer we connect to others and to God. So the gift of serving is really a reflection of our love for God spilled out to others so they can see Him more clearly.

Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.

I CORINTHIANS 13:4–7 TPT

Scripture: Colossians 3:13

A Supernatural Forgiveness

Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

Colossians 3:13 TLB

Louis “Louie” Zamperini lived out an incredible story of forgiveness. In high school, Louie was a phenomenal runner, earning a spot on the 1936 US Olympic Team in Berlin running in the 5,000 meter race. He finished eighth in the race, but because of his performance during the final lap, he was awarded a new lap record. He was set to run again in the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo, but when World War II started, Louie began training to be a bombardier in the United States Army Air Corps.

Louie served as a bombardier on B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. On one of his search-and-rescue missions, his plane crashed into the ocean. Louie and a few of his surviving comrades began fighting for their lives, drifting on a life raft at sea. Most died of starvation and injuries from the crash. After forty-seven days on the open water, Louie, barely alive, was captured by the Japanese navy.

Louie became a prisoner of war (POW) in the Japanese war camps where he was tortured and deprived of food, water, and medical care. He was brutally beaten, interrogated, and routinely humiliated. And because Louie was an Olympian, he was transferred, to be under the watch of The Bird—the nickname of Sergeant Mutsuhiro Watanabe. The Bird became Louie’s personal torturer until the war ended, two years after his plane crashed into the sea.

When Louie returned home, his healing journey was slow and hard. During that journey he met and married Cynthia Applewhite. Although in love, he fell into alcoholism while fighting the deep wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder, which had never been treated. His marriage was failing, yet Cynthia convinced Louie to attend a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles. While listening to Billy Graham preach, he accepted Jesus into his life.

Everything changed that night for Louie. He stopped drinking and restored his marriage. Then he did something even more remarkable—something not natural but supernatural. He began the process of forgiving those who had captured and brutally tortured him every single day for two years . . . including the one called The Bird.

Louie’s life was forever changed when Jesus entered his heart—broken as it was—and made him new.

We are never more like Christ than when we choose to forgive someone who has wronged us. Forgiveness isn’t a natural thing for us to do—it is a supernatural process that we do with God’s help. And the good news is, He designed us to need Him. As we see in Louie’s story, forgiveness is not dependent on a certain response from the offender. It is dependent on Jesus freeing us to be who He created us to be, fully and completely—free from the bonds of anger, resentfulness, bitterness, judgment, retaliation, and revenge. With Jesus as his Savior, Louie could be at peace.

When we don’t know how to begin to forgive, we can trust that Jesus does. We have a Savior who is gentle and kind, and He knows every detail of our past and every thought in our mind. Jesus will guide us in every step through forgiveness. God changes the heart. He alone brings peace that we cannot understand.

We are never more like Christ than when we choose to forgive someone who has wronged us.

SUSAN GOSS

Scriptures: Proverbs 17:9, Psalms 139:4, Psalms 139:7-10, John 3:16

Honest Feelings

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9 NLT

Forgiveness researcher Robert Enright says, “Forgiving begins with acknowledging that we are people who have a right to be treated with respect. Forgiving does not require denying that we have been hurt. On the contrary, to forgive we have to admit that we have been hurt and that we have a right to feel hurt, angry, or resentful. Forgiving does not require denying our feelings.” This is such a powerful quote because it validates our right to feel what we are feeling. When we acknowledge our wounds, we can better understand the emotions that are attached to our pain. In doing this, we are able to identify, with true honesty, what or who we need to forgive.

My grandmother used to say, “I wouldn’t sweep that under the rug . . . it might come back to bite you.” And I would now add, “If you sweep stuff under the rug long enough, eventually you’ll start tripping over it.” In my therapy sessions I might use different terminology, but I definitely affirm the intent of my grandmother’s wisdom. If we deny our hurt and push our feelings away where we don’t have to immediately deal with them, over time the hurt will accumulate.

God always wants us to be honest about our feelings. After all, He created us with a full spectrum of emotions. David reminds us in Psalm 139:4 that God already knows what is on our tongue before we speak it, which implies we are to be totally transparent with God. You can’t shock God, He knows everything. When we are able to admit our true feelings and process them with God—whether beginning a journey of forgiving ourselves or someone who has wronged us—that is when we are able to genuinely begin the healing process. Although God doesn’t always swoop in and rescue us when we are in the middle of our hurt and pain, He never leaves our side as we walk through it. We are never alone. The psalmist reminds us in Psalm 139:7–10 that there is nowhere we can go that God is not already there. God meets us where we are and will never leave us or forsake us.

My granddaughter was given an award at school with very poignant words written on the certificate: “Forgiveness: deciding that someone who has wronged you doesn’t have to pay.” Wow! What a fabulous award and one that took me by surprise, in the best of ways. Learning the value of forgiving someone who has wronged you at an early age helps grow a heart full of compassion and grace. Through Christ we can receive such an award. It is found in John 3:16 (NIV): “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Forgiveness is a day-by-day, sometimes a moment-by-moment, process with God.

SUSAN GOSS

Scriptures: Matthew 22:34-39, 1 John 4:19, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Faith, Love, and Forgiveness

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Matthew 22:34–39 NIV

What a beautiful gift to have God’s will for our lives boiled down to these two invitations: to love God first and then love our neighbors as ourselves.

What does it look like to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind? In part, it looks like faith. It takes faith to trust that God will do what He says He will do. Faith enables us to believe that God will help us forgive someone who as wronged us. Faith empowers us to release control to God and trust Him with the outcome.

We also fulfill these two greatest commandments by remembering that we love because God first loved us! (I John 4:19). And what is God’s love like? His love is unconditional, steady, steadfast, and permanent. God’s love never fails because God never fails and God is Love. In I Corinthians 13 we are told three things last forever: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest . . . is love!

We cannot fully receive God’s love nor love others without forgiveness. Forgiveness allows the heart to feel free once again and brings healing to the soul. Forgiveness brings inner joy and peace where unforgiveness harbored bitterness, anger, and pain. Forgiving yourself or another is a faith journey we go through with a loving God holding our hand every step of the way.

Faith, love, and forgiveness are foundational in loving God supremely with all our heart, soul, and mind, which in turn strengthens us to love our neighbor. Being in relationship with others means we inevitably find ourselves in situations that require forgiveness—sometimes for the other person, sometimes for ourselves. When we recognize the incredible gift of God’s forgiveness in our lives, we can live from a posture of grace.

There is a scene in the Bible that paints a vivid picture of the power of faith, love, and forgiveness. The story is about Jesus walking up to a woman who is drawing water out of a well at a most inconspicuous time of day, hoping to not be seen by anyone. Jesus, a Jew, is sitting at the well and kindly asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. At that time, this would have been culturally unacceptable on many levels. Jesus not only lovingly spoke with the Samaritan woman but also began telling her of things only she could have known about her current situation and her struggling past. Jesus offered unconditional love and forgiveness, and the woman had the faith to receive it. Instantly, a feeling of relief, acceptance, and joy drove the Samaritan woman to leave her jar of water and run back to town to tell others about everything that had happened to her. Because of her faith and because Jesus met her exactly where she was, loving her unconditionally and offering a forgiveness that brought freedom where shame had lived for so long, her powerful testimony brought many others to the same saving faith in Jesus.

We can entrust our entire lives to God!

So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call. May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with Him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.

II THESSALONIANS 1:11–12 NLT