“God specializes in giving people a fresh start.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 37). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

It starts with forgiveness. We ask Him for forgiveness for living our life by our self and messing it up and He forgives us and gives us a fresh start. That is also what He wants us to do.

He wants us to give those people around us who have messed up with us and maybe hurt us a fresh start when they ask us to forgive them. He will give us strength to forgive them. Now I know we don’t always want to do that. We don’t think that is fair. I mean they hurt me. They don’t deserve a fresh start, they deserve justice but that is also true of us. But God forgives us even though justice says He shouldn’t.

Our problem is we want a fresh start but we don’t want them to have one. We think we deserve it and they don’t but it doesn’t work that way. The truth is justice says it must go both ways.

Now the key is asking. We ask and He forgives. If we don’t humble ourselves and say we blew it and ask for forgiveness and a fresh start them He can’t forgive us. And the same is true of them. We can’t give them a fresh start if they don’t humble themselves and truly ask us for forgiveness in what they did to us. But if they do then it is up to us to forgive. That is the way it works.

How many marriages need a fresh start? How many relationships need a fresh start? How many lives need a fresh start? It starts with asking for and getting or giving forgiveness.

So do you need a fresh start?

Comments

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life. It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed. Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life. Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you. You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good. Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident. In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose. In other words you are not an accident. I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth. In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man. And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ” Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like? Like that characteristic is a curse or something. Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God. Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog