Go, and Sin No More

430am and the alarm clock in the crib goes off, and another day has begun.  The sun hasn't even visited our valley yet, but Mommy is up and the bottle is ready.  It is hard for me to describe what I do as a job, because while it is work, the hours are long, and parts of it stink (literally. I don't care what people say, poop is poop and poop stinks), but every day I have with Punky jr. is a joy.  

Monday morning in our home started just like any other day, but it was not to end like any other day.  Our marriage was at a crossroads and we both had decisions to make. We had prayers to pray and forgiveness to be sought and given.

Yes, forgiveness was given but that doesn't mean that everything is ok and we just move on like nothing happened. We deal with the problem, we take the steps necessary to fix it, we pray A LOT and we are on guard knowing that the Devil has found a weak spot. 

One thing I have learned as a counselor, a Christian, and just as I grow up and experience life-- there is no problem too big, no sin too large that God will not forgive and be able to help us past. We all make mistakes. Some are larger than others. We all act monumentally stupid, and some acts do have bigger consequences than others, but there is NOTHING that God can't forgive, and we are each called to mimic God, therefore we are called to forgive.

Forgiveness though is sometimes the easy part, moving on can be the hard part. Coping can be hard, marriage is not always easy. It isn't always going to be a honeymoon. Yet, there is always love and a remembrance of why you said your vows.  Counseling is a good way to cope and move on. Having an unbiased 3rd party can help. It isn't a sign of a weak marriage, but of a strong couple, a couple that admits they are vulnerable and need help.  

Forgiveness isn't just for the offended spouse, it is also for the offender. We have to be able to forgive ourselves, to learn from our stupidity and to move on, and as Christ said "Go and sin no more." We can't let ourselves be tied down by our past mistakes.

As parents it is important that we put our marriage at the forefront, that we guard ourselves and our family. It is important that through our actions we teach our children the value we place on forgiveness, on learning to move on and sin no more. We need to teach them that Christ calls us to strive for perfection, but to not beat ourselves up when we do sin. Our children need to learn that there are consequences for screwing up, but once we face the penalty we need to learn the lesson and move on. If Jesus can forgive us and keep on loving us, and not bring up our past, we need to be able to do the same.

This whole issue is easy to talk about, but putting it into practice is HARD. It is easy to bring up past sins when you are arguing with your spouse, to remember all the times  your child broke curfew, to think about all the times you have been slighted.  As easy as that is to do, it is wrong. If a person has paid for their sin, has learned and is genuinely trying to be better to learn and grow, that sin needs to not be brought back up.  It helps nothing.

I am praying that we can all learn to put this into practice and that each of our marriages and lives reflect Christ more and more as we eagerly await His return! 

-JLP-

PS... today's post didn't seem to warrant a picture, since it was a serious subject but more pix will be posted.

PPS... Our marriage is growing and our love is still deep, but that doesn't mean there will not be days like Monday that test it. Satan is always knocking, He likes nothing more than to corrode marriage.