One day my wife decided that she would make some truly homemade biscuits as a special treat for the family. We loved biscuits and gravy with dried beef, and we were all waiting in eager anticipation of this breakfast feast. When she served the biscuits I noticed a clinking sound when I dropped one on my plate. Further investigation revealed that her homemade biscuit was as hard as concrete. I picked one up and “clinked” my knife on it a couple of times and my young boys picked up on it and did likewise. We started banging on them like a percussion group with a nice rhythm going that would have made the Blue Man Group proud. Everyone was smiling and having a good old time with it except my wife who was glaring at us.
To make matters worse I owned a little bulldog puppy and had appropriately named him “Bully”. Bully was a tough little rascal and like most bulldogs expended tremendous energy and consequently had an enormous appetite. He also had a bulldog grip and could literally crush bone with his tremendous jaw strength. I walked outside and called Bully over and gave him one of the biscuits. He tried to pick it up and then immediately set it back down. He sniffed it suspiciously and then turned and stalked away with a disgusted look on his face. My boys and I roared with laughter; even bully would not eat one of my wife’s truly homemade biscuits. Through many years our family has looked back and reflected upon this incident and laughed about it.
I had a long conversation with a friend recently and in fact he is receiving therapy twice a week and is quite unhappy. He did something very wrong for which he is deeply ashamed, and he cannot seem to get over it. My advice was to live each day to its fullest and look towards tomorrow and not try to relive and dwell in the past. I told him that Jesus Christ forgave “all” of our sins when we became followers, and we need to forgive ourselves too.
We cannot change the past; however, we can shape the future. I would need to see a therapist every day of the week and twice on Sunday if I dwelled on my sordid past. We just need to let it go because we cannot change it one whit. Think of how poor Paul who had martyred Christians must have felt. I’m sure God convinced him to look to the future and what a future he had writing more of the New Testament than anyone. Great things can be accomplished if we are willing to forgive ourselves our sins and walk with God.
This is not to say that we should ignore the past entirely. Lessons learned the hard way are the best lessons and we should use them to help us to avoid those past mistakes ever again, (providing we reflect upon them when necessary). My advice to my good friend was to occasionally look back on past mistakes, but only when faced with a similar situation or temptation to help remind him that there are severe consequences to such poor behavior.
If someone we love and respect is headed toward a cliff and seems oblivious to the consequences, I think as a friend we should gently remind them of past problems and consequences incurred in the past for similar behavior. I must warn you, however, make sure your intentions are pure and that your friend is indeed oblivious to their past mistakes and that they are not already working toward not repeating them.
A few weeks after the Bully incident I saw my wife once again preparing to make biscuits and gravy. Hmmm… I decided to have some fun and jovially strolled over to her and reminded her of the incident with Bully and the concrete biscuits. If looks could kill I would be dead as a goose in a hailstorm and I hastily exited the kitchen with my tail tucked between my legs.
She didn’t need my smart aleck reminders and on her own had found a new biscuit recipe (and let me tell you brothers and sisters, they are good!) So be forewarned that it does not always work out to remind folks of past mistakes especially if they are already acutely aware of them and working on a solution. I would also recommend not trying to be funny at someone else’s expense, especially if they are cooking your breakfast. One could go hungry for such actions…
By the way, she has forgiven me for this incident and in fact has seen the humor in this incident herself.
Timothy 1:13
Although I was formerly a blasphemer,
a persecutor, and an
insolent man; but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in
unbelief.
And the grace of our Lord was
exceedingly abundant with faith
and love which are in Christ Jesus.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!