““Be concerned about yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times he returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him”
I don’t like toxic people. They make me feel bad. They frustrate me. They disrupt my emotional well-being.
Afterall, they would stop being so…toxic…to me…if they were REALLY sorry.
Don’t they know that I am a delicate flower, easily wilted by the negativity of a world, which refuses to treat me with the respect and consideration of which every person is entitled.
Surely, someone who sins against me every 3-1/2 hours, lies to me, cheats me, yells at me, insults me, is bad for me. What about me? They are toxic and I should banish them from my presence. Everyone will surely agree…
But God…there is always the “but God” clause for a world focused on “me”.
I don’t know how often I sin against God. It probably is more than once every 3-1/2 hours when you consider that I am asleep for 8 hours. However, I can make a case that my subconscious assumes my sinning ways if my dreams are a revelation of my hidden toxicity. So, it is probably worse than I care to believe.
How can I not be toxic to God?
I don’t do what He says to do. I do what He says not to do.
I don’t acknowledge Him. I claim the glory belonging to Him.
How can I not be toxic to God?
I don’t understand the grace He has shown me. The countless times He has forgiven me. The toxic presence that He continues to wash clean.
So, what about me?
How can I not forgive in a manner that I am continually being forgiven?
I was never called to be a delicate flower. I was called to the strong tower. I was called to take up my cross and share in the suffering caused by the lost.
TOXIC people cause suffering of the redeemed…this should not be a surprise.
Let’s just count it all joy for suffering like our Lord and stop whining about serving the toxic like we will never receive a reward.
https://babylonbee.com/news/god-decides-cut-toxic-people-life-7-5-billion-dead/
https://ref.ly/Lk17.3-4 via the Logos Bible Android app.
A DEVOTED LIFE 