David J. Claassen
Here's my weekly writing from last week....
A BEAUTIFUL BALANCE
My wife Diann was gone for a few hours. It was after lunch, and I had lain down on the couch to take a nap when I heard thunder. Early that morning, Diann utilized the green energy of sun and breeze to dry our clothes on what is called a clothesline.
I didn’t want to get up, but also didn’t want Diann coming home to rain-drenched clothes on the clothesline and her asking me why I hadn’t brought them in. I didn’t want her to be frustrated with me. Okay, let me be honest; I didn’t want her to be angry with me. I knew the clothes were dry, so I got up and brought them in.
Healthy relationships require that we not only enjoy the obvious positives, such as love, affirmation, and affection, but also properly deal with conflicts, disagreements, and, yes, even anger. The same is true in our relationship with the Lord.
Society in general focuses almost exclusively on God’s love, and that’s important. But God is also a holy God who is just and hates evil and sin. We’re all far from perfect, sinful is what we are, and God is not happy with this. He is angry that our sin separates us from Him.
A healthy relationship with God requires, then, that we not only embrace His love for us but also His justice, which requires our sinfulness to be addressed. Healthy human relationships involve admitting when we’re wrong and asking for forgiveness. The same is required of our relationship with God.
Prayer should include more than asking God for things. Balanced prayer includes confession, admitting to God where we fall short, confessing the sin in our lives. I remember my wife’s grandfather’s prayers. His voice would deepen out of respect for God as he addressed the Almighty. His prayers frequently included words something like this: “Forgive us for our sins of commission and omission.” He was asking for forgiveness for the bad things we’d committed and the good things we omitted doing.
We shouldn’t see the admission of sin as something negative but something very positive. Just as apologizing to someone whom we’ve hurt helps reestablish the relationship, so confessing to God reconciles us with Him.
And the good news is that He’s more than willing to forgive us. He is far more anxious to forgive us than we are to ask for forgiveness.
God is loving and compassionate, but He is also just and righteous. Keeping these in balance will result in a beautiful relationship with God that we need and the kind of relationship He wants with us.
“Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:4-5).
Here's my weekly writing from last week....
A BEAUTIFUL BALANCE
My wife Diann was gone for a few hours. It was after lunch, and I had lain down on the couch to take a nap when I heard thunder. Early that morning, Diann utilized the green energy of sun and breeze to dry our clothes on what is called a clothesline.
I didn’t want to get up, but also didn’t want Diann coming home to rain-drenched clothes on the clothesline and her asking me why I hadn’t brought them in. I didn’t want her to be frustrated with me. Okay, let me be honest; I didn’t want her to be angry with me. I knew the clothes were dry, so I got up and brought them in.
Healthy relationships require that we not only enjoy the obvious positives, such as love, affirmation, and affection, but also properly deal with conflicts, disagreements, and, yes, even anger. The same is true in our relationship with the Lord.
Society in general focuses almost exclusively on God’s love, and that’s important. But God is also a holy God who is just and hates evil and sin. We’re all far from perfect, sinful is what we are, and God is not happy with this. He is angry that our sin separates us from Him.
A healthy relationship with God requires, then, that we not only embrace His love for us but also His justice, which requires our sinfulness to be addressed. Healthy human relationships involve admitting when we’re wrong and asking for forgiveness. The same is required of our relationship with God.
Prayer should include more than asking God for things. Balanced prayer includes confession, admitting to God where we fall short, confessing the sin in our lives. I remember my wife’s grandfather’s prayers. His voice would deepen out of respect for God as he addressed the Almighty. His prayers frequently included words something like this: “Forgive us for our sins of commission and omission.” He was asking for forgiveness for the bad things we’d committed and the good things we omitted doing.
We shouldn’t see the admission of sin as something negative but something very positive. Just as apologizing to someone whom we’ve hurt helps reestablish the relationship, so confessing to God reconciles us with Him.
And the good news is that He’s more than willing to forgive us. He is far more anxious to forgive us than we are to ask for forgiveness.
God is loving and compassionate, but He is also just and righteous. Keeping these in balance will result in a beautiful relationship with God that we need and the kind of relationship He wants with us.
“Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:4-5).
David J. Claassen
Here's my weekly writing from last week....
A BEAUTIFUL BALANCE
My wife Diann was gone for a few hours. It was after lunch, and I had lain down on the couch to take a nap when I heard thunder. Early that morning, Diann utilized the green energy of sun and breeze to dry our clothes on what is called a clothesline.
I didn’t want to get up, but also didn’t want Diann coming home to rain-drenched clothes on the clothesline and her asking me why I hadn’t brought them in. I didn’t want her to be frustrated with me. Okay, let me be honest; I didn’t want her to be angry with me. I knew the clothes were dry, so I got up and brought them in.
Healthy relationships require that we not only enjoy the obvious positives, such as love, affirmation, and affection, but also properly deal with conflicts, disagreements, and, yes, even anger. The same is true in our relationship with the Lord.
Society in general focuses almost exclusively on God’s love, and that’s important. But God is also a holy God who is just and hates evil and sin. We’re all far from perfect, sinful is what we are, and God is not happy with this. He is angry that our sin separates us from Him.
A healthy relationship with God requires, then, that we not only embrace His love for us but also His justice, which requires our sinfulness to be addressed. Healthy human relationships involve admitting when we’re wrong and asking for forgiveness. The same is required of our relationship with God.
Prayer should include more than asking God for things. Balanced prayer includes confession, admitting to God where we fall short, confessing the sin in our lives. I remember my wife’s grandfather’s prayers. His voice would deepen out of respect for God as he addressed the Almighty. His prayers frequently included words something like this: “Forgive us for our sins of commission and omission.” He was asking for forgiveness for the bad things we’d committed and the good things we omitted doing.
We shouldn’t see the admission of sin as something negative but something very positive. Just as apologizing to someone whom we’ve hurt helps reestablish the relationship, so confessing to God reconciles us with Him.
And the good news is that He’s more than willing to forgive us. He is far more anxious to forgive us than we are to ask for forgiveness.
God is loving and compassionate, but He is also just and righteous. Keeping these in balance will result in a beautiful relationship with God that we need and the kind of relationship He wants with us.
“Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:4-5).
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