by Steven Skelley

As I came into my house, my wife handed me two envelopes and said, "Happy Birthday! These came in the mail for you." I looked at these two envelopes and could immediately tell that one was a store-bought birthday-card. The other was in a longer envelope with the address written in the uneven lettering of someone just learning to write.

The store-bought envelope contained a store-bought card wishing me a happy birthday and signed "With love, so and so" from an organization I had some contact with. I opened the other envelope to find an unevenly folded piece of purple construction paper. It had "Happy Birt day" misspelled on the front and a stick drawing of a man playing a guitar on the inside with the words, "This is you!" underneath the man. Under this, it said "I love you," and was signed "Brittany." Brittany was a good friend of my daughter.

Looking at these two cards taught me something I will remember forever. Both people sent cards. Both people made some effort. The difference was...that one card came without any thought or imagination, just a quickly scrawled ending. I was just another name on the long list of birthday names that came up on their calendar. The card was sent out of a sense obligation. The second card, though less professional, touched me so much more because it was sent, not out of obligation but rather as an offering...an offering of love from someone who truly cared.

Our offerings to God work in much the same way, I think. We give offerings of worship, and finances, and service. We can give out of obligation, because we feel it is the right thing to do...or we can give in an offering of love that truly comes from our hearts. Which do you think God desires more? Offerings of love or obligation?

II Corinthians 9:7 tells us that each one of us should give as he or she has decided in their own heart, not with regret or out of a sense of duty. For, it says, God loves the one who gives gladly.

Choose to give to God. Give Him yourself first by accepting His offer of salvation and right-standing through Jesus. Then choose to give your gifts of worship, finances, and service as an offering of love and forethought rather than just because you feel you have to.

I just read a newspaper story of a man who had been driving while drunk and had killed a pedestrian. The man’s foolish choice cost someone else their life and cost some family a loved one.

This week, I was sitting at an intersection with four way stop signs. I was sitting at the north-south intersection. The cars at the east-west intersection proceeded  through. It was now my turn. Suddenly a man who had been sitting behind the eastbound car ran the stop sign and nearly crashed right into my driver’s side door. On top of the fact that he had run a stop sign, he began to curse at me and shake his fist at me.

I was not happy. I’d almost been crushed by a man who paid no attention to the traffic flow or the stop sign. As I slammed my brakes to keep from being smashed, he blew his horn, glared at me and drove around me and through the intersection.

Instantly, my anger swelled up inside me and I thought of chasing him down. I wanted to follow him and tell him what a fool he’d been. I wanted to tell him how idiotic it was for him to risk the lives of everyone at that intersection so that he could save 5 seconds on his drive to wherever he was going. To be honest, I wanted to take the law into my own hands and punch him for risking my life by his stupidity. I even started to turn my car to follow him.

Being a minister has it’s disadvantages. For one, you know so much of the Bible that applicable passages seem to come to mind whenever situations like this arise.  The Bible’s book of Ephesians, chapter 4 and verse 32 says this, “Be kindhearted to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

God has forgiven me a lot of stupidity in my time here on planet earth. Ephesians says that I need to be like God and forgive others just as he has forgiven me. It’s not an easy thing to do, but it is the right thing.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

As Jesus was being beaten, tortured, mocked, humiliated and executed, he had every right to be angry at the injustice. Instead, he prayed that God would forgive those who were killing him. As murderers were heaving rocks at Saint Stephen and killing him, he prayed that God would not lay this sin to their account. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

I chose not to follow that foolish driver that day. I chose to forgive him his stupidity. I want to be strong. I want my faith to be real. I want it to make a difference in my actions and reactions.

My prayer for you this week is that you come to a better understanding of the strength of forgiveness. In whatever situation tests you. Choose to be like God. Forgive even those who don’t deserve it. Don’t let someone else’s foolishness or sin draw you in.