Hi, Dave here. Just a couple things about this
podcast. We were in 1 Corinthians 14, and we
did three of those talks this week on 1 Corinthians
14. And the fourth talk was actually posted by
mistake by me a little early. It was posted on
January 9th. We broadcast these in 1981. They
were done in sequence. And that is the fourth
one that was done in 1981. And there's a link
to that in the description below. There's also
a link to a forgiveness playlist of Catherine
Coleman teaching on forgiveness on YouTube below.
There's a link to that. And just a little heads
up. Give this talk some time because... About
two -thirds of the way through the talk, she
gives some good hints on being overly sensitive
and maybe a root cause of being overly sensitive.
So God bless you and have a good day. Enjoy.
Bye. I have received a letter that I wish to
acknowledge publicly. It is very well written.
I shall not read the letter in its entirety.
A gentleman has written it. Dear Miss Cooman,
just listened to your radio program and enjoyed
your service last Sunday. I answered the altar
call and wept and wept. I heard you on the radio
the other day talk on love. I do not know what
love really is. And I admit, I do not love everybody.
It's easy to like somebody like you, Catherine
Kuhlman. But everybody isn't like Catherine Kuhlman.
And then the writer of this letter goes on to
tell his real problem. And the... for his dislike
and almost hatred that he's been holding in his
heart, lo, these many years. As I said, his letter
is lengthy and I can't read it all. But this
Catholic gentleman attended a monastery and all
these years he has held a resentment. against
a priest in that monastery. And it has eaten
like an ugly cancer within me. And he seems to
find no solution whatsoever to get rid of this
resentment, this hatred in his heart. This is
not the only person who perhaps for years has
carried resentment, hatred in your heart for
some individual. I shall answer this man's letter,
but please will you just listen. You too may
be included in the answer. You know, the best
practice... in the whole world is to just ignore
your enemies. And it's just like that. Someone
said that whenever a man did him an injury, he'd
write that man's name down on a strip of paper
and put it inside a drawer of his desk. A drawer
that he never used much. And then, once every
few years, he said he would open the drawer,
look at the names that he had placed there, And
he said, you know, it was surprising how many
of those men had died, had disappeared, or had
ruined themselves in trying to hurt others. And
it's just like that. Now, the instinct for revenge
is strong in all of us. And when I say all of
us, I mean included. Because remember, I'm a
part of humanity too. Not one of us is faultless.
Not one of us is perfect. And there's something
about it. The instinct for revenge is strong
in every bastard one of us, especially when we're
still smarting from some injuries. But do you
want to know what the Bible says? this is great
and never forget it. Sometimes I have to quote
this scripture every day of my life and sometimes
more than once a day. Here it is. Vengeance is
mine, saith the Lord. In other words, just ignore
that hurt. Just... ignore that something that
you feel has been an injustice so far you are
concerned. Just ignore that enemy. Place that
one in the hands of God. Vengeance is mine, saith
the Lord. And believe me, this is not only good.
Sound living, it's also good psychology. You
know, vengeance is best left to the Lord. When
human beings invoke it, they become very much
like the thing they hate. The Hatfields may have
been at first treated unjustly by the McCoys,
but in the end, the two clans were... undistinguishable
one from the other. You couldn't tell the Hatfields
from the McCoys because the Hatfields had stooped
to the level of the McCoys and... Oh, it's a
good thing to rise above that injustice and say
to yourself, I'll be bigger than that one who
has done me an injustice. And the one who can
forget and forgive is the bigger of the two.
That's right. When you try to bring revenge on
the one who did you an injustice, then you become
just as small as that one who did you the injustice.
It's like that. You can't tell one from the other.
And it's just like that. You know, there are
very few of us who are strong enough to turn
the other cheek. But most of us can learn simply
to turn our backs and just walk away and act
like it never happened. Vicious and deceitful
people punish themselves, their families, and
their friends. There's no need for us to act
as agents of the Lord. Nor can most of us love
our enemies. Now that's a pretty hard thing to
do. When it comes right down to it. Love your
enemies. And few of us can do it. I think it's
one of the hardest things in the world to do.
I mean that. If I was given some big job to do
that I could do with my hands, some labor, long
hours in service and work, that's one thing.
I can easily do that. But when it comes right
down to loving our enemies, believe me, that's
a pretty hard thing to do. But all of us can
just turn our back on our enemies and just forget
that injustice that was done to us. There is
a way of erasing the thing from your mind. Absolutely,
there is a way. of doing that very thing. And
by doing that thing, you're going to save yourself
a lot of wear and tear on your own physical condition.
The man who attacks you wants to be attacked
in turn because this, in a way, kind of justifies
his attack and makes him feel better. He feels
justified then for having done what he did to
you when you turn around and try to get revenge
and you attack him. He feels absolutely justified
then in what he did. But psychologically, refusing
to return an injury may inflict even deeper pain
than striking back at him. Just ignore it. Just
act like it never happened. Now, when I word
it like that, it sounds sort of childish. But
I don't know how better to explain it or word
it. Just act like it never happened and go right
on living. Mm -hmm. And it's just like that.
You know. When it comes to this thing of the
basis of resentments and hatreds, while the central
and fundamental motive for forgiving injuries
against us is that God forgives us and we therefore
copy God as his children, nevertheless, there
are minor motives and techniques. which we can
use in dealing with resentments and hatreds.
Always remember that at the basis of most resentments
is a touchy, unsurrendered self. It is really
a lack of self -confidence on your part. build
the resentment shows that there's a self that
is oversensitive. A self that is unsurrendered
to the will of God. When surrendered to the will
of God, we throw off resentments as a healthy
skin throws off disease germs. Unless there's
inner disease or an abrasion of the skin. The
disease germs can get no foothold. And so it
is when resentments have gained a footing. It
shows that there's a raw, sensitive self underneath
that has become a culture soil for the rutting
and growth of resentments. There is a diseased
self -centeredness that is in that one. Perhaps
unnoticed by the individual. But is there a touchy
self -centeredness? A weakness? An oversensitive
person. One who is not sure of himself. Then
immediately, any little thing will upset that
one. And they fight back in defense. You know.
Always remember. that when you go around with
a chip on your shoulder, the chip is probably
from the block above. I have something that I
have kept it so long. It was yellow with age
before I received it. It's a faded clipping that
I've had a long time time. It was pasted on a
cue card, probably the theme of some speech.
And I see by the date that it was used more than
40 years ago. I want to give it to you. It's
a masterpiece. When you get to know a fellow,
know his joys, know his cares, when you've come
to understand him and the burden that he bears,
and when you've learned the fight that he's making
and the troubles in his way, then you'll find
that he's a different person, different than
you thought him yesterday. You find that his
faults are trivial. And there's not so much to
blame in the fellow that you jeered at when you
only knew his name. You're quick to see the blemish
in the distant neighbor's style. And you can
point to all his errors and may even sneer at
him the while. And your prejudices fatten and
your hates more violent grow as you talk about
the failures of the man you do not really know.
But when drawn a little closer and your hands
and shoulders touch, you find the traits you
hated really don't amount to so much. When you
get to know a fella, know his every mood and
whim, you begin to find the texture of the splendid
side of him. You begin to understand him, and
you cease to scoff and sneer. Always prejudices
disappear. You begin to find his virtues and
his faults. You cease to tell. And you seldom
hate a fellow when you get to know him very well.
When next you start in sneering and phrases start
to blame, know more about him. The one you censor.
In his business and his name. And it's likely
that acquaintance would your prejudice dispel.
And you'd really come to like him if you knew
him very well. For when you get to know a fella.
And you understand his ways. Then his faults
won't really matter. For you'll find a lot. And.
awful lot to praise. But more than that, Jesus
himself said, For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But
if ye forgive not, their trespasses, neither
will your father forgive your trespasses. You
and I can afford to forgive.