I was reading about a man who was wealthy, but lived his adult life in a house that was just five feet wide. The story goes that this wealthy New Yorker had tried unsuccessfully to sell his five foot strip of land to his neighbor. However it seems the neighbor didn't want to buy the land. Since the neighbor would not buy his land he built a five foot wide "spite house" on the property and spent the rest of his life living there in misery. Imagine, money to buy most anything he wanted but out of spite he lived miserably and punished himself. That sound familiar to any of us?
Many times we think we're going to hurt someone else by doing something that only hurts ourselves. We find ourselves living in a house filled with spite, jealousy or envy thinking we're hurting others when the only person we're hurting is our self. Probably all of us could tell stories of how someone else has hurt us, how someone else did something to harm us, said something that hurt, or betrayed us in some way. Yet instead of living in the freedom of forgiveness, grace and mercy we do things to get back at them.
I would remind you of something Jesus said, "They will know we are Christians by our love". Here's the tough part, love means forgiving and moving on with our lives no matter what someone else does or doesn't do to us. Remember, God loved you in spite of your faults, and continues to love you even when you don't love Him. Today take inventory and let go of the hurt inflicted on you by others. Today, live in the freedom Christ died to give you. I can assure you, it's going to be so much more enjoyable living in a house that's not five feet wide.
Have you made an appointment to have your picture made for the new directory? Debby and I had ours done yesterday and the photographer was great to work with. Let me encourage you to make your appointment today by going to our web page and looking for the Life Touch tab. This new directory will help us connect with each other and will help us minister to you as you share your updated contact information.
Remember, smile for the camera,
Pastor Carl