Acting a little inconsistent lately?

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)

Let's face it, we act 'faulty' at times. We make dumb decisions because we like what we see and don't read the reviews very well. When we don't listen to wise counsel of others, we are prone to make mistakes. We might ACT faulty at times, but that doesn't make US faulty. It makes our decisions unwise, but it doesn't make US less in God's eyes. The sooner we separate the 'faulty act' from who we ARE, the better. We don't always think through our actions, but that doesn't change the fact that we are redeemed, blood-bought, clean and whole IN CHRIST JESUS. If we begin to look at the person as 'faulty', we are seeing them inaccurately.

I know too many individuals who somehow equate the entire 'worth' or 'value' of a person based on some action they may have taken. It as though that one act made the whole person 'faulty'. We ALL have those 'unthinking' moments when we speak out of turn, are a little too harsh with our words, or just plain do something less than stellar. When a person is struggling to make right decisions, they don't need judgment, they need forgiveness. 

The Lord's Prayer contains the words, "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Forgive US our trespasses, but let me hold onto the trespasses of another, judging them as 'faulty' or 'flawed' or 'unworthy', is not the way God instructs us to act toward each other. God asks us to forgive as we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is always directed toward the person who committed the 'faulty act'. Restoration is about bringing both parties back into symbiotic relationship - not allowing the ACT to become how we see the person.

I don't know about you, but I have been 'faulty' in my actions a great many times and each of those times I have sought grace (unmerited favor, mercy). If those around me had judged ME as faulty and not my ACTION as faulty, I might never have received their forgiveness. I am grateful that our ACTIONS don't define us - CHRIST defines us - as beloved, whole individuals that sometimes need grace because we act inconsistent with who we really are. Just sayin!