No Record of Wrongs

My son was wailing, and it was my fault.

He was over-tired, since I had passed him around to people eager to hold a sweet baby instead of getting him to sleep. I had pushed back his nursing time, then on top of that, I accidentally dropped something on his foot, which made him burst into painful tears all over again.

What an awful feeling as a mom.

But then, a few minutes later after some cuddles to calm him down, I laid him on his change table and apologized (even though he's only 2 months old). And suddenly he looked up at me with his bright blue eyes and gave me the BIGGEST smile ever, as if to reassure me, 'It's okay, mom. I love you anyways.'

My heart absolutely melted.  

 Image Credit: Laird Salkeld

Laird SalkeldL

Laird Salkeld

And in that moment the Lord reminded me of the true definition of love: being slow to anger, quick to forgive, and keeping no record of wrongs.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, The Message

 

 

Another lesson learned from my son.  

 

 

Rejection

Came across this hilarious and awesome video clip today from Jia Jiang, a man who decided to face his fear of rejection by asking for 100 different outrageous things, expecting to be told "no."

His "rejection therapy" included things like asking a police officer if he could drive his car, and asking a stranger if he could play soccer in his back yard. The ironic thing? Every. single. person. said. yes.

You can view his 25 minute speech on this website: Jia Jiang Teaches Us How to Love Rejection

Photo from Max Bingham

There's 3 things I know about rejection:

1) Everybody faces rejection at some point in their lives.

2) The answer to being rejected is not to try to prove yourself. I read again this morning these 4 short verses from Matthew 11, where Jesus speaks against the cities that rejected Him. He - the Mightiest Man Who ever walked the face of the earth - performed most of His miracles in the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, yet they did not believe Him, did not repent, and He was rejected as man and God. He warns them that they will suffer the consequences of their choice, but He lets them have a choice. He doesn't manipulate, doesn't overpower, doesn't force them to believe. 

And I realized the same should be true for you and me. The answer to rejection is forgiveness. We think we know better; we think we could have decided better; we think we deserved better; we think, we think. And maybe we're even right! But was Jesus' mission over because of those cities that rejected Him? Had he failed His own destiny because not every single soul received salvation? Not at all. 

When we learn to forgive, move on, and not take responsibility for other people's decisions, we find hope. And we're even willing to face rejection again because we know it can't shake our foundation, our identity. 

3) The third thing I know is that hurt people hurt people. If we have not learned to forgive and move on, we are more than likely to take out our hurt and anger on others, causing them to also feel hurt by us. But if hurt people hurt people, the opposite is also true - healed people heal people! And imagine what a difference we could make in the lives of others if WE became those people that say "yes"! Yes to the downcast, yes to the one with low self-esteem, yes to our spouse, yes to the needy, yes to our kids, yes to God. Of course setting boundaries in the midst of everything so we don't get burnt out, but defaulting to saying yes instead of rejecting others.

And in case you're looking for an opportunity to say "yes" to today, I have an idea for you. I'm participating in Compassion Blogger's Month, and our goal is to get 3,160 kids sponsored...children who have faced rejection their whole lives, sometimes even by those closest to them. They've experienced rejection from educational systems, rejection from their parents and own family members, and many feel rejected by God. And they're waiting for someone to say yes to them.

If this is something you're interested in, feel free to leave a comment, or else check out Compassion's website here for Canada or here for Germany. My husband and I sponsor a little girl from the Philippines and I'd be happy to answer your questions about our experiences with this organization! One thing I can say is that through this program both our little Anne's life, and our lives have been changed, through one word - yes.