Steve Lufburrow, Long time St. Luke’s UMC church member

Center yourself on today’s reflection by lighting a candle and reciting this breath prayer:
Inhale – Unite us in justice, Lord
Exhale – that all might praise your name together.

Luke 6:37 (NIV)
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” 

Reflection:
We all have situations in our lives where others give you stress and your patience may wear thin. Sometimes the pressure can consume us and unfortunately when that happens, the situation is on your mind night and day. Many times both parties have blame for making the situation difficult. The first thing I do when this occurs is examine myself. I ask questions like, “Where did I help take this off track?” or more simply, “What did I do to cause this situation?” Most times I come to the realization that it took both sides to get there and I need to start by forgiving myself so I can forgive others. But what about when the problem is absolutely brought about by others? 

A few years ago I had an issue at work with a landlord. My experience is that normally Landlords are easy to work with—especially if you pay your bills on time. However, sometimes paying your bills and attempting to do everything right isn’t good enough. That’s where I found myself. No matter what I said or did, I couldn’t please our landlord. She didn’t understand customer service. I did my best to work with her, but still, everything would seem to turn into an issue. This went on for several months until one day it began to consume me.   

My wife and I attend church each Sunday, and one Sunday morning as we were sitting in the Sanctuary and this issue was on my mind, forgiveness happened. We were saying the Lord’s Prayer as a congregation and I had a moment where I felt God loudly talking to me. As we recited the prayer and when we said, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” forgiveness entered my heart. It was one of those moments I have never forgotten. On that Monday morning, I met with my landlord and told her that life was too short to always be in confrontation mode. I suggested we work together and we can accomplish so much more. Guess what? She seemed relieved and because of that moment of forgiveness, she changed too. Our working relationship became stronger and she was more willing to listen, communicate and compromise. The stress was over because of forgiveness. I thank God for that day and that impactful experience really changed me. It opened my heart in so many ways. I hope it will do the same for you. 

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for loving us. Thank you for speaking to us when we need to hear it most. Thank you for taking stress away through your love. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.