{"id":12652,"date":"2023-04-07T14:15:11","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T19:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jfbelievers.com\/?p=12652"},"modified":"2023-04-07T14:15:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T19:15:11","slug":"its-all-in-your-imagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/07\/its-all-in-your-imagination\/","title":{"rendered":"IT’S ALL IN YOUR IMAGINATION"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Imagine being stabbed in the arm with a penknife. Not so much as to kill you, but enough to make you bleed. It was unexpected, unprovoked, and whether it was intentional or not, you aren\u2019t certain, but one thing is clear: It hurts. Really bad<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine then going to the doctor. You tell him everything: How deep it the wound is, how awful it makes you feel, and how you did nothing to deserve it<\/em>. Yet the doctor isn\u2019t half as concerned as you are. He tells you that he\u2019s seen far worse. But, like a good physician, he does his job. He stops the bleeding, sews you up, and councils you on how to dress the wound for yourself. You leave the clinic feeling no better than when you arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now imagine coming home. With plenty of time to think, you recall every last detail of the incident to make sure that you\u2019re not the guilty party. You play the episode over and over in your mind like a bad re-run. You even go so far as to remove the gauze so you can see once more, just how much of a victim you really are. They say \u201cbitterness has such a sharp memory, because bitterness has good study habits:<\/em> Review, review, <\/em>rev<\/i>iew\u201d<\/em> [i]<\/a>, and you\u2019ve become quite the scholar. It\u2019s a trauma you can\u2019t let yourself soon forget, so you pick at the stitches. It hurts and bleeds all over again, but it\u2019s the only way to keep the memory fresh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insult to Injury   <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This goes on for days, weeks, even months, until it finally gets infected. The care-sheet from your unsympathetic doctor went out with the trash long ago. And there\u2019s no way you\u2019re going back to the clinic now. Not in a million years. They\u2019ll just minimize the pain again. You don\u2019t want their help anyway, because once the wound heals, there\u2019ll be no more proof of how guilty your enemy is! So you pick, pull, rip, and tear. The infection keeps spreading, and you don\u2019t really care anymore. It\u2019s destroying you, but you tell yourself, \u201cThat\u2019s what they get!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“In this life, you’re bound to get poked, pricked, and even stabbed”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After a year or more, your arm finally falls off. You weren’t responsible for the wound, but it was yours to keep clean, and you failed. You refused to dress it, you rejected the doctor\u2019s advice, and you wouldn\u2019t let it rest. Now it\u2019s gone, and all you can think is \u201cI still can\u2019t believe they stabbed me!<\/em>\u201d Sure, they may have stabbed you, but they aren\u2019t the reason you lost your arm. You are<\/em>. And now you’ll spend the rest of your life blaming somebody else for the loss of a limb, even though it\u2019s all in your imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time Doesn\u2019t Heal All Wounds<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The scenario above is a graphic illustration of unforgiveness. It\u2019s the resultant injury we inflict upon ourselves<\/em> by refusing to forgive the one who initially injured us. But it\u2019s not beyond your imagination. It\u2019s a painful reality for countless Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“Picking at the stitches…is the only way to keep the memory fresh”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Unforgiveness is the wound that time doesn\u2019t automatically heal. It\u2019ll never go away on its own. The longer you wait, the worse it\u2019ll get, and the more responsible you’ll be for the losses you suffer because of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skin is Thin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Apostle Peter had been \u201cstabbed\u201d once or twice, and wanted to know how many times he was required to forgive (Mt.18:21). In his mind, seven times would be more than enough. But Jesus informed him that the bandage might need to be changed hundreds<\/em> of times. Whether \u201cSeventy times seven<\/em>\u201d means we forgive 490 individual sins, or just one single sin 490 times, we aren’t sure. But Christ\u2019s point is clear: Keep the wound clean, Peter<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human skin is between 1 and 4 mm thin. In this life, you\u2019re bound to get poked, pricked, and even stabbed. Words can be sharp (Pr.12:18), and the sinful behavior of a brother can hurt (Gen.4:8). Some of those wounds will be intentional (Pr.27:17), while others will be inadvertent (Pr.27:6). But the real threat to your future isn\u2019t always from the original injury…it\u2019s in your response to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you<\/em>\u201d Colossians 3:13<\/strong>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[i]<\/a> Doug Wilson, “How to be free from Bitterness<\/a>“. Wilson is also to be credited for the illustration of unforgiveness as an unkempt stab wound. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine being stabbed in the arm with a penknife. Not so much as to kill you, but enough to make you bleed. It was unexpected, unprovoked, and whether it was intentional or not, you aren\u2019t certain, but one thing is clear: It hurts. Really bad. Imagine then going to the doctor. You tell him everything: … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}