Well, here we are, beginning a New Year and another year of writing The Kernels of Truth. When I began writing these newsletters (the year was 1999) I had no idea that all these years later I would still be writing them and people would
still be reading them. Much less, having the first 11 years (I’m currently working on Volume 12) being published in book form. And, yet here I go embarking on another adventure of writing 12 articles that are anointed by the Lord (I pray) and have applicability to you in your Christian life.

Some time ago, I was meditating on the fact that each one of us desires to live our lives enjoying the virtues of graciousness, mercy, and forgiveness. Maybe sometimes we wish our brothers and sisters in Christ would send more of these qualities our way. After all, we require these virtues and many more to be able to walk the talk of being a follower of Christ. While thinking on this, the thought occurred to me (probably the Holy Spirit dropped it in my spirit) that if I wanted more of these qualities, the way to gain them was to sow them in the lives of other people. The words of the apostle to the Galatians applies here, even though we seem to only understand it in the context of money.
“…whatever one sows , that will he also reap .” Galatians 6:7
Two verses later, he continues…
“…let us not grow weary of doing good , for in due season we will reap…”
And finally, in verse 10, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone , and especially to those who are of the household of faith .”

Therein lies the key to our being the recipient of these qualities (and many more). That is our focus being outward towards other people, and especially those who are a part of our spiritual family. When we observe the life and times of Jesus, one thing stands out. Every minute of His life (and death) was with the interests of others at heart. Everything He did, everything He said, every exercise of healing, deliverance, and restoration was for the benefit of others. Jesus did nothing to benefit Himself, but rather He “came not to be served, but rather to serve.” I suppose that is why Paul would write that we should look out for the interests of others and then commends us to have this mind within ourselves. Let’s take a look at these three qualities that we all desire to receive so that we can better understand how to give them to others, especially those with whom we live our lives together as followers of Jesus Christ. This is not an exhaustive study and neither are these virtues exhaustive, but the ones I happened to be meditating on at the time.

When God showed/proclaimed to Moses His glory and attributes in Exodus 34, one of the attributes He declared is He is a God who is gracious. So when we extend graciousness to one another, we are extending to them the very nature of God Himself. So what does it mean to be gracious to someone? This is a characteristic that extends itself in kindness to someone who might even be inferior. I don’t take this to mean someone inferior to me in their worth or station in life, but someone who at the current time is in a place where they need what I have. Next week, I may be the one who is inferior. Graciousness is to offer others favor and kindness, especially in the face of an environment that does not call for such. To be gracious is to be generous to another with our kindness and goods.

When God sent His Son to be the Redeemer of the world, this was the standard example of what that looks like. We were certainly inferior because of our condition of the sin nature and we were in need of something we could not provide for ourselves. Our gracious God interrupted time with the greatest act of graciousness known to man or angel and therefore we have been removed from the bad place and transferred to a good place; the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. In a similar way, this is what we do when we sow the virtue of graciousness to someone else. We offer them something (sometimes tangible, sometimes not) they could not provide for themselves and thus we have emulated the Creator and the Gracious One. So, instead of assisting someone based on their ability to return the grace to you, you become gracious to them, because it is the nature of God to do so you are one of His kids.

We all want others to be merciful to us because we at times stick our foot in our mouth or do something before giving it thorough consideration and we come to regret our actions. If we want to receive mercy, then we must purpose to sow that same mercy into the lives of others with whom we do life. We all make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are simply defined as “sin.” Somehow, without issuing a license to sin and without enabling someone to continue a bad lifestyle of life choice, we find a way to offer them mercy that just says we will not bring the judgment for this to its full fruition.

When the Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus who had been “caught” in adultery, Jesus could have found Himself in a predicament. Here was someone who had openly sinned and violated the laws of God, and here were her accusers, who were most likely the facilitators of this encounter. She was guilty and there was no way around it…or was there. As they began to quote the law to Jesus (isn’t that interesting; the One who made the world was being lectured on His own law), simply stooped down and began to write in the dirt. As they continued to test Him, He said, “Fine, whoever here has no sin in their life, you can throw the first rock at her.” When He stooped down a second time to write on the ground (no one really knows what He wrote), one by one her accusers slinked away without saying a word. When it was apparent she no longer had any accusers, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.” He was being merciful, because she had truly broken the law and was guilty, but mercy covered her sin. Note that He did in fact admonish her to “go and sin no more.” He did not ignore her sin, but chose to abate the judgment in this instance.

This is a great example of how we can be towards others, who maybe have done something wayward, and maybe even we were the beneficiaries of their wrongdoing. Do we hold to the letter of the law (which Paul tells us will kill), or do we forego asking for judgment and extend a merciful hand to them. One definition of “mercy” is “active compassion.”
Compassion then becomes something other than just feeling something for someone (it is that), but that feeling of compassion motivates us to some kind of action. In the case of the woman caught in adultery (I wish we knew her name), Jesus’ compassion resulted in His taking action.

Finally, we all want to receive forgiveness from those we may have wronged or slighted. I can tell you that according to Jesus, that is not going to happen unless we can first forgive others.
Matthew 6:15 – “…if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

To forgive is simply to release someone from their debt to you. That debt isn’t primarily a financial one, but if we have been slandered, mishandled, stolen from, etc., to forgive them is to release them from that debt they owe us.
Again, this does not mean consequences aren’t forthcoming nor does it mean we must put ourselves in a position to continue to be the recipient of this wrongdoing. It simply means that when some occurrence has left us hurt and Newsletter 2
emotionally injured, both parties benefit when forgiveness is issued.

There have been many times when I have said or done something to someone that was injurious to them that I have had to ask forgiveness and they have granted it. I can tell you, there is no relief like when someone sets you free from a wrong you might have perpetrated on someone. And there is also sweet peace and relief when we refuse to hold on to bitterness and unforgiveness when something has happened to us that caused us deep consternation and distress. Remember the axiom,
“Harboring unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”
As we go through life and the further we go in life, we will have more opportunities to offer forgiveness to others as well as need to be on the receiving end of that forgiveness.

I will finish with some practical guidelines regarding forgiveness, because of the three virtues we have taken a look at in this Kernels of Truth, forgiveness is probably the most needed in the body of Christ and in families.

First, don’t place people on pedestals, making them out to be super people. When we do that, they are sure to fall off that lofty
position, because first of all they never asked to be there, and secondly, they aren’t capable of staying there. Remember, you cannot be disillusioned unless you have created an illusion.

Forgive people, but don’t try to change them. It’s not our job to change people, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I think we need to leave something for the Spirit to do, because we are all too often trying to do His work. Having said that, don’t try to change them, in some cases, you don’t have to continue to be around them. Just release them from the debt and move on.

Next, forgive unconditionally. “I forgive you if…” is not true forgiveness. That is negotiating and we don’t need to negotiate, but
just let it go. Let there be no conditions attached.

A lot of problems can be avoided, especially in marriages, if we would simply overlook the small things. That is the beauty of being married for over 50 years; things that might have been sources of conflict and maybe even argument back then, now we just laugh them off and move on. Remember some things aren’t as huge as you might consider them to be.

Another thing is after forgiveness – don’t bind them to past mistakes. Corrie Ten Boom wrote about having letters in her possession that was evidence of being wronged by some friends or acquaintances. When confronted about why she maintained possession of the letters, she was convicted by the Spirit of God and put the letters in her furnace. In so doing, not only did the letters burn up, but she was released from her own unforgiveness and resentment she had held those many years.

Also, determine to not carry around what the late Don Basham described one time as a “bag of hurts, slights, and offenses.” We say we forgive, but we are carrying around on our proverbial belt a whole bag of times when we were wronged, while we wait on others to make it right. Destroy the bag, forgive others, and move on into a land of victory and joy.

As we navigate this journey side by side as soldiers of the cross and in the army of the Kingdom, there will surely be times when it will be necessary for graciousness, mercy, and forgiveness to be issued by one party or another or all parties involved. Let’s determine ourselves to sow these virtues in other people’s lives, looking forward to that day (not with anticipation) when we are the inferior one and need ministry from a brother or sister in some way. As Christian soldiers marching onward in the field white with harvest, let’s not allow pettiness or jealousies to stifle or hinder the move of God in people’s lives. Let’s live in
harmony as we participate in extending the kingdom of God into the earth, one person at a time.

This little chorus sort of tells the whole story.


Bind Us Together
Bind us together, Lord
Bind us together
With cords that cannot be broken
Bind us together, Lord
Bind us together
Bind us together in Love