“Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” (Ezekiel 18:31)
Twenty-five years ago, I completed an instrument as part of a class to help me understand how I make decisions in my working life. The instructions directed me to select the answer to each question that most resembled how I might respond in the workplace. One of the dimensions of the test distinguished between my preferences as a cold, methodical thinker against that of a warm, compassionate person. My score was 58 for thinking and 0 for compassion. I was ashamed. But the more I thought about it, I knew that in work and in life, I tended to go about making decisions in a methodical manner, giving very little priority to how it might impact someone’s life. In this case, I thought whatever was best for the organization was the right thing to do.
I look at some of the decisions that I made twenty-five years ago in previous jobs I have held and know that my response would be differently today. For example, several years ago, an employee sent me a Thanksgiving bouquet of flowers and wrote on the card, “I will never forget what you did for me. I am eternally grateful.” Needless to say, I never received notes like that twenty-five years ago, which begs the question, “why”? I think you know the answer. I have had a change of heart.
Around this time each year, I try to take a spiritual look at myself. One of the questions I ask myself is what are some of the ways in which I can see that I’ve changed? Let me share a humorous story with you that speaks to why I think I get notes from employees like the one I just shared with you.
My wife joked with me the other day by saying “I can’t take you to the new Kroger opening because you would cry”. Can you believe it? The same man, who twenty-five years ago in the workplace and personally felt very little in the way of sympathy for others, now cries during episodes of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
The truth is that I cannot take any credit for this change in me. As that test clearly indicated, the change I now see in me is not of my own will. The Bible teaches us that salvation is a free gift from God. But God gives us so much more than an assurance of heaven. We receive spiritual gifts that we can use to serve him in this world. And over time, he miraculously changes our heart – the way we look at and respond to life situations.
The Apostle Paul talked about these changes when he wrote to the church at Corinth: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation”. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Isn’t the last sentence in that verse interesting? God “has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” Thanksgiving marks the beginning of a long holiday season. Unfortunately, however, many Christian families do not enjoy the holidays as God would intend for us to enjoy them. What a shame.
Friends, if God has truly changed your heart, then use the ministry of reconciliation he has given you to free yourselves from the stress that comes with unforgiveness, conflict, or whatever the excuse may be as to why you can’t enjoy and share his forgiveness with others. Allow him to partner with you so that you can enjoy the holidays in ways that you never imagined you could. Remember what Jesus told his disciples, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
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