Forgiveness - Giving and Receiving
Soon after we moved to my folks' house in the Wenatchee area, I posted this about our sale and moving experience. In that post, I didn't paint a very pretty picture of our buyers. Granted, I did mention forgiving them, but, overall, it was, at best, a post complaining about the situation in general, even if I did imply the realization that it wasn't their fault. Soon after that post I received an email with more explanation, and a solid apology from them for how things went, which I thought was pretty generous, seeing as it not only wasn't their fault, but I had no plans of ever seeing them again, or dealing with them again. After all, our relationship with the buyer of our house in Moses Lake was strictly business, it went smoothly, and I wouldn't know the guy if he came and knocked on my door... or I went and knocked on his, for that matter. Still, that whole thing has bugged me ever since.
The primary reason it bugged me is a concern that I had somehow dirtied the name of Christ in the process. I had come across as unforgiving in that post, or they wouldn't have written. This caused me to wonder if I had also come across as untrusting, which isn't exactly a shining example of Christ's character (1 Cor. 6:7). Were there other ways I had been un-Christlike to them?
In addition, after assuring them that Shari and I had forgiven them, I failed to clear up the potential misunderstanding in any other posts since then. If I had come across as unforgiving to them, were there others who thought we were still angry, or who were angry with those buyers because of my words? Had I promoted distrust towards people? Had I discouraged people - those buyers or others - from pursuing Christ through a local church because of my words?
These things have been bugging me for the past several months. These past couple of days, as I've returned to blogging, I've especially been asking God if these things were true, and, if so, what to do. After some prayer, I've decided to start here, where it began, and see what God does with it. I'm not exactly sure what to do, so I'm going to feel my way here by simply writing from my heart, and seeing where it goes.
First of all, I want to apologize for my attitude. I was untrusting throughout that whole situation. I didn't trust God, and I didn't trust those buyers, and that wasn't the way it was supposed to be. If I offended anybody with that distrust, I apologize. Please forgive me.
Secondly, I want it to be known, in no uncertain terms, that the situation with how long the whole loan thing took was not the buyers' fault. It was the lending institution. I may disagree with how the institution ran the thing, but that's irrelevant, and I have let that go, too. However, the big thing is that I want to make sure I say that I know it wasn't there fault, and I hold no unforgiveness toward them.
Finally, I want to reiterate that we had an amazing real estate agent, and if anybody needs to buy property in the Missoula area, he not only did his job, but was patient with our baggage as we went through the process. Through it all, he showed some amazing, Godly character.
This may be all I say about this issue, depending on comments/replies, but I think I've done what God's wanted me to do in putting this down. Thanks to those reading this for allowing me to share my heart a bit more openly. I'm trying to learn to be more transparent and trust God with the outcome.
The primary reason it bugged me is a concern that I had somehow dirtied the name of Christ in the process. I had come across as unforgiving in that post, or they wouldn't have written. This caused me to wonder if I had also come across as untrusting, which isn't exactly a shining example of Christ's character (1 Cor. 6:7). Were there other ways I had been un-Christlike to them?
In addition, after assuring them that Shari and I had forgiven them, I failed to clear up the potential misunderstanding in any other posts since then. If I had come across as unforgiving to them, were there others who thought we were still angry, or who were angry with those buyers because of my words? Had I promoted distrust towards people? Had I discouraged people - those buyers or others - from pursuing Christ through a local church because of my words?
These things have been bugging me for the past several months. These past couple of days, as I've returned to blogging, I've especially been asking God if these things were true, and, if so, what to do. After some prayer, I've decided to start here, where it began, and see what God does with it. I'm not exactly sure what to do, so I'm going to feel my way here by simply writing from my heart, and seeing where it goes.
First of all, I want to apologize for my attitude. I was untrusting throughout that whole situation. I didn't trust God, and I didn't trust those buyers, and that wasn't the way it was supposed to be. If I offended anybody with that distrust, I apologize. Please forgive me.
Secondly, I want it to be known, in no uncertain terms, that the situation with how long the whole loan thing took was not the buyers' fault. It was the lending institution. I may disagree with how the institution ran the thing, but that's irrelevant, and I have let that go, too. However, the big thing is that I want to make sure I say that I know it wasn't there fault, and I hold no unforgiveness toward them.
Finally, I want to reiterate that we had an amazing real estate agent, and if anybody needs to buy property in the Missoula area, he not only did his job, but was patient with our baggage as we went through the process. Through it all, he showed some amazing, Godly character.
This may be all I say about this issue, depending on comments/replies, but I think I've done what God's wanted me to do in putting this down. Thanks to those reading this for allowing me to share my heart a bit more openly. I'm trying to learn to be more transparent and trust God with the outcome.
Labels: Personal
posted by Pastor Paul at
6:59 AM
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