From Max Lucado and his book “Just Like Jesus”:
Recently I shared a meal with some friends. A husband and wife wanted to tell me about a storm they were weathering. Through a series of events she learned about an act of infidelity that had occurred over a decade ago. He had made the mistake of thinking that it’d be better not to tell her, so he didn’t. But she found out. And as you can imagine, she was deeply hurt.
Through the advice of a counselor, the couple dropped everything and went away for several days. A decision had to be made. Would they flee, fight, or forgive? So they prayed. They talked. They walked. They reflected. In this case the wife was clearly in the right. She could have left. Women have done so for lesser reasons. Or she could have stayed and made his life a living hell. Other women have done that. But she chose a different response.
On the tenth night of their trip, my friend found a card on his pillow. On the card was a printed verse: “I’d rather do nothing with you than nothing without you.” Beneath the verse she had written these words:
I forgive you. I love you. Let’s move on.
The card might as well have been a basin. And the pen might as well have been a pitcher of water, for out of it poured pure mercy, and with it she washed her husband’s feet.
Certain conflicts can only be resolved with a basin of water. Are any relationships in your world thirsty for mercy? Are there any sitting around your table who need to be assured of your grace? Jesus made sure his disciples had no reason to doubt his love. Why don’t you do the same? ~~~Max Lucado and his book “Just Like Jesus” Loving the People You’re Stuck With (World Publishing, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee, 1998), 22-23
