Day 316: Forgiveness

I don’t know how you’ll receive this post, but here it goes. On Thurdsay (8/9), you greatly annoyed me with something you said and did. For a while, I mulled over in my mind how I would respond.

Then I started constructing a speech about how much you wronged me and how you should be more considerate of my feelings, etc., etc. I typically like to drive home the point of these speeches by making them drawn out and repetitive. At the same time, in the back of my mind I was considering what act of love to do for you (no joke).

But then, I stopped mid-thought because I realized how silly my state of mind was. In simultaneity, I was both planning my revengeful woe-is-me-see-how-much-you-pained-me speech and my act of love for you. So I decided to take a better route. I dropped the speech and decided that my act of love would be to forgive you for what you did and to never mention it (in anger or spite or in with any other negative motive) again.

Perhaps next time I should follow up that forgiveness by doing something kind for you.

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Day 270: Weekly Prayer

For Sunday’s act of love (6/24), I read through the first chapter of The Power of a Praying Husband. The focus was on becoming the right kind of husband, one who is (among other things) of one mind with his wife, compassionate, loving, tenderhearted, and courteous.

The first is not something a husband has complete control over. Like the tango, being of one mind takes two. However, I can do my part to help us become of one mind: I can pray for that end, that there would be no division or quarrels in our marriage, but that we would continue to share the same purpose of devoting our lives to glorifying God and making him known.

The latter four struck me hard because I need a lot of work in each of those areas. As an example, here are a couple of questions she asked:

Do you ever talk to your wife in a way that would be considered rude if you were speaking to a friend or business associate? Are you kind to everyone all day at work, but then you take out your frustration, exhaustion, and anger on your wife when you get home?

I answered yes to each of them. Although my behavior toward you isn’t characterized by rudeness and I don’t often take out my frustration etc. on you when I get home from work, I still recognize these tendencies in me. May the God of all peace make me a peacemaker rather than a divider in our marriage.

I pray that there would be peace in our marriage and unity, and that we’d be of the same mind and judgment. May I be tenderhearted toward you and   compassionate, loving, and courteous. May I live with you in an understanding way. Praise God that we worship the same God and desire to live under his authority.