Nancy Wilson's Blog, page 7

Women Teaching Women Part III

In my last post on this subject, I listed some of the areas where women are given opportunities for teaching in a Christian context. Since then I have thought of another one. Certainly evangelism is a form of teaching, and all believers are called to this: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

But now I’d like to address the stickier subject of just what kind of teaching is biblically excluded for women. 1 Timothy 2:12 is our main text: “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.”

Before trying to apply this verse, I’d like to look at the overall context of Paul’s letter to Timothy. Paul is laying out instructions on how to be a good pastor and a faithful teacher. He gives detailed instructions on many church-related topics: church government, prayer, church leadership, qualifications of church officers, what to teach, how to treat the church members of different ages, and specific instructions regarding men, women, widows, elders, slaves, and the rich.

The recurring theme in this letter is the central duty for a minister: faithful teaching. Paul addresses Timothy repeatedly about this: “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ…” (4:6); “These things command and teach” (4:11); and in 6:2, “Teach and exhort these things.”

Backing up to the opening chapter, we see that Paul had given Timothy directions earlier (1:1-7) regarding appointing others to teach: “…that you may charge some that they teach…”

Paul identifies himself (2:7) as “appointed a preacher and an apostle….a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth,” and related to this is his grave concern regarding false teachers and false doctrine in the church (chapters 1, 4, and 6). Seeing this thematic background to the letter (Paul’s dual concerns about faithful teaching and guarding against false teaching) will help us as we look at his strong stance against women teaching and having authority in the church. But first let’s look at the references to teaching, both faithful and false.

In 3:2, the rulers of the church (a bishop or overseer) must be “able to teach.” These are the men (we know they are men because they must be “the husband of one wife”) who are given authority in the church. They must be qualified, appointed, and able to teach. This is important. Paul has instructed Timothy previously on this topic (1:3) and he is laying out more details in this letter on appointing qualified men.

In chapter 4:6 Paul shows Timothy how to be a good teacher: “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.”

This exhortation to instruct the brethren is sandwiched between a description of the bad doctrine of those who have departed from the faith (4:1-2) and of profane and old wives’ fables (4:7).

Those who have left the faith are now “giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (4:1-3). Sounds like these guys were, first, eager to get the microphone; second, they assumed authority by “commanding” others; and third, they had an agenda (doctrines of demons). They taught false things with false authority.

In 4:7 Paul says to “reject profane and old wives’ fables.” This is similar to 1:4 where Timothy is to charge those who are teachers not to “give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.”

These false teachers (1:5-7) are hungry to teach with authority from the law: “…some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.” These guys are idle and have no idea what they are talking about.

Paul gives instructions on how to handle these false teachers: “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself” (6:3-5).

So I hope you see now that this is a letter devoted to guarding both the office of teacher and the purity of the content of the teaching. This is Paul’s central concern for the church.

Given the context, when we look at his directions regarding women, we can see it is not just a random verse dangling out of nowhere. Paul wants good order and faithful teaching. He wants the women to dress in a way that is consistent with their profession of Christ, and he wants them to be learners, not authoritative teachers “over a man.” His justification for this is the creation order (Adam being formed first) and Eve’s vulnerability to deception.

Now remember that the church had been hassled with false teaching. Some of the young widows in the church (5:12) had learned to be idle busybodies, which would set them up to be misled by false teachers: “For some have already turned aside after Satan” (5:15).

If we look at Paul’s second letter to Timothy, we see that some of the women have been deceived by false teachers. (Read verses 2-5 to get a description of these bad guys.) They are the kind “who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:6-7).

Timothy had his hands full, and in 2 Tim. 3:13-15, Paul tells him it’s just going to get worse: “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from who you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (I referred to this verse in my last post in which I pointed out that Timothy’s mother and grandmother had instructed him in the faith.)

It seems to me that forbidding the women to teach or have authority over the men is a safeguard for Timothy. It’s bad enough having male false teachers running around, and the women need protection from them because they are more vulnerable to deception.

Because these are directions for a pastoral ministry, I don’t think it’s a leap to assume that it covers all the general teaching activities of the church community. The men who are targeting weak women by creeping into households are not leading a Sunday school class before worship. They are out and about, looking for takers. The message of the “profane and idle” (2 Tim. 2:16-17) “will increase to more ungodliness” and “spread like cancer.” So this does not look like Paul is only concerned for church sponsored events and Wednesday night Bible studies.

When we read these instructions, we obviously have to use wisdom to interpret our own application of them. Do false teachers set up blogs? Yes. Do false teachers write books, teach conferences, and send out mass emails? Yes. Pastors should be warning their congregations against such things. How? By using blogs, writing books, teaching conferences, and sending out mass emails. And of course they can use their pulpit for such things as well.

Can women teach? I’ve already devoted a whole article to the many opportunities open to us for teaching. Do I put up posters downtown announcing that I’m going to teach Philippians to anyone and everyone? No. Not my job. Do I lead a parish Bible study where we go over the Sunday sermon? Nope. We have elders who do that. Do I speak to mixed groups? Sometimes, depending on the topic and the setting. Is it always crystal clear? No. I often need to think about it, pray for wisdom, and talk it over with my husband first. Then we make a decision, taking into account the authority of 1 Timothy 2:12, and having no problem whatsoever with 1 Timothy 2:12.

Women Teaching Women, Part II

It turns out my post “Women teaching Women” has generated some good questions that I’d like to begin to address here. To be honest, since coming to the conclusion that teaching an inductive study on the book of Colossians to a mixed group of men and women was inappropriate (back in the 70’s), most of my focus has been on what I can teach, not on what I can’t.

After taking a short break the first few years of our marriage, I have spent the last thirty-plus years teaching Bible studies, book studies, and topical studies to women of all ages. I have felt much freedom in doing so and a great deal of contentment in the field God has given me to farm. I have spoken on biblical topics at women’s conferences, women’s workshops, break-out sessions for women, etc. I have not been yearning for other fields because this one is enormous and keeps me more than busy. Frankly, it has never occurred to me to wish I could be a plenary speaker at a Grace Agenda conference, or any other conference, for that matter!

But even so, I would like to answer some of the questions that have come up in the comments on the “Women Teaching Women” post I wrote a few days ago. I do see that even though it has seemed pretty simple to me all these years, there are genuine areas of application that call for our reflection and wisdom.

1. Women can teach Bible to their children and grandchildren. Paul says of Timothy “from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15), and in chapter 1 (vs. 5) Paul reminds Timothy of “the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice.” Timothy’s father was a Gentile (Acts 16:1), and there is no mention of his conversion, so in all likelihood, these faithful women had a hand in bringing Timothy to Christ.

The last chapter of Proverbs (31:1), written by King Lemuel, is identified as “The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him.” Proverbs 1:8 reinforces the idea of mothers teaching their children: “My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.”

2. Older women are to teach younger women. This famous passage in Titus 2:3-5 has quite a broad biblical curriculum laid out for us: “…teachers of good things — that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” It seems to me that older women have a tremendous opportunity here. This in itself is enough to keep us occupied a life time, for there will always be young, new wives who need encouragement and young unmarried women who need encouragement.

3. Though the word teach is not used in this passage, I believe it is implied: “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness” (Prov. 31:26). This is a description of an honorable woman who is overseeing household servants and children, and has contacts with merchants and other community members. It is apparent that she is imparting wisdom to all by her life, work, and testimony, and this certainly could have included teaching those in her own household.

4. Then we have Priscilla and Aquila, Paul’s “fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (Romans 16:3-4). Given that we know “they took him [Apollos] aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (Acts 18:26), it’s no stretch to imagine the couple ministering together to many others. Paul did not call Aquila his fellow worker, but both Priscilla and her husband Aquila.

Quite a few other women are mentioned in the New Testament, like Phoebe who was a helper to Paul (Romans 16:1-2). Andronicus and Junia may have been another husband-and-wife team. They are described as “of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (Rom. 16:7). I can easily imagine Paul keeping them busy “explaining the way of God” to new converts.

To summarize, these are what I can find as examples of women in Scripture teaching in a Christian context. Women may teach their children and grandchildren, and I believe by extension, they may teach other children. This could be a neighborhood Bible study or in a formal day school or homeschool co-op.

Women may teach younger women, and it turns out there are quite a lot of those. Teaching younger women is a huge blessing because it gives the older women a mission in the church even after their own children have grown, and it is useful to the younger women to learn wisdom from the older women.

Women may teach in a general way to all through their life and testimony, through their wise words and general godly and kind demeanor. This would include all those in their households, as well as business contacts in the community.

Women may co-teach with their husbands to both men and women, to build up and strengthen the church in many and various ways.

Now these are the general areas I see in Scripture, but I am not limiting women’s opportunities for teaching to these only. There may be more that I haven’t seen. But it’s a good start anyway, and I like to begin with the yes. Yes, women may teach. Yes, women are to be learners as well (1 Tim. 2:11). And there is so much to learn. So before we turn to the prohibitions, we should be encouraged by all that we are honored to do.

In my next post, I will hit the negatives.

Friends

Navigating friendships can be challenging, even for little people like my granddaughters! They are so cute, what could ever go wrong? But even the sweetest little friendships need oversight if we want them to blossom into lasting friendships.

Of course the Bible has plenty to say on the qualities of a friend, and our children need to grow up understanding these basic principles. As in everything, before we can teach them and guide them, we have to know and do this ourselves.

But let’s back up and start at the beginning. What is a friend? Here’s what the dictionary offers: A friend is a trusted companion for whom you have mutual affection, who is a source of joy, and whose company is a pleasure. That’s a pretty good place to start.

Let’s consider the kind of friends Jesus had. Among his many followers, he chose His twelve disciples, whom He called His friends: “My friends, do not be afraid of those who can kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.” (Luke 12:4). Of the twelve, He had his three special friends, Peter, James, and John. And of those three, John was “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 21:20).

But Matthew 11:19 says that Jesus was also “a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” He did not limit His friendship to only His disciples, but He had different levels of friendships: close, closer, and closest. From this we can see that it is only natural for us to have dear friends, close friends, and friends who are acquaintances. Because we are finite, it’s obvious that we cannot have an infinite number of friends, no matter what Facebook might lead us to believe.

Not only did Jesus, the Son of God, have friends, but the Bible teaches that God was a friend to Moses and to Abraham.  “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11).

“‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23).

To be a good and godly friend to others, we must first be friends with God. His friendship is obviously the most important one. Jesus is the best kind of friend we can have. He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). He has made a covenant with us. He has given us His Word, our covenant book. He has given us many precious promises. He has given us the Holy Spirit. He is particular about His friends in one way (He died for us), but He is inclusive in another way (we were all sinners).

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). So Jesus welcomes all who believe on Him. He is the best kind of friend we can have.

Friendship is one more example of God’s common grace toward man. We all have a God-given desire for friends, and even unbelievers have friends. However, apart from the grace of God, we can’t enjoy friendship or be the kind of friend we want to be.

Since God is the One who defines all our relationships and friendships, we can look for His instructions regarding the characteristics of godly friendship as well as the kind of friends to avoid. As His people, we have the power to enjoy friendships that glorify and honor God. In future posts I hope to look at some of the Scriptures, particularly from Proverbs, that address the topic of friendship.

 

Women Teaching Women

When I was just out of college, I became an associate staff member with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and one of the duties I had was leading or co-leading small group Bible studies on campus or at conferences. I was also involved in a local ministry and was doing similar work with them.

One of the things I kept bumping into during those days was 1 Timothy 2:12, “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.” If that’s what the Bible says so clearly, why, I wondered, did my boss continue to put me in positions where I was teaching Bible to men? When I asked him, the answer was that he was in authority over me, and he was asking me to do this, so it was okay. Hmmm. Certainly I was not “in authority” over the men in my Bible studies, but I was teaching them all right. In fact, once I arrived to “co-lead” a study with a young man, only to find that not only had he not prepared, but the only ones who came that night were guys. That’s when I quit. Enough of this!

Being still a young believer (having been converted in college), I deferred to those older and wiser put over me, but I still continued to question this. Finally, I asked my future husband what he thought of it, and it was the first time I got a straight answer. Needless to say, it was quite refreshing! And, it wasn’t too long after this that my boss saw my point.

Okay, why the long buildup of personal story? What am I getting to?

A couple of Femina readers have asked in the comments why our Grace Agenda conference on “Marriage Militant” is not featuring women speakers (specifically, why are the Femina Girls having a separate pre-conference for women only rather than speaking at the main conference). Here’s why.

The men who are teaching at the main conference will be opening the Word and teaching with authority. Not only do I believe that I should not do this, I don’t think any woman should open the Word and teach the men. Do I think the men could not benefit from what I have to say? No, actually, I think I could learn them a thing or two. But that is not and never has been the point. The point for me is what does God think about it? Not what do I think about it. The ends never justify the means. I rejoice that the men can open the Word with power and authority, even at a conference.

This does not mean that I would never speak at a conference with men in the audience. Since I am a high-school lit teacher, I have taught workshops at education conferences, and I have also spoken at high-school graduation ceremonies. Both these venues have had mixed audiences. But in those settings, I was not opening God’s Word and laying it out.

If the Grace Agenda conference were on a topic that I knew something about, that would not call for me to “open the Word,”and if I got an invitation to speak, and if I wanted to do it, I would say yes. Women are not excluded from public speaking or teaching all together. But when it comes to opening the Word, we are instructed to teach the women. I don’t think that is an inferior calling. It is a God-ordained calling and a privilege I enjoy. I am very thankful to teach the women any chance I get.

As it is with so many things in God’s Word, there’s a no and a yes. Though the women are not to teach the men from the Word, we are instructed to teach the younger women a whole slew of stuff. And that’s what we want to do at the Femina conference.

This year’s Femina conference is called “A Woman’s Worth,” and we are going to address a woman’s calling in Christ. Who are we? What are we for? I am interested in teaching the women about this, not the men. If a man comes in and sits in, I really don’t mind. But this is not for him, it is for the women, so I would think he was just being curious or maybe eavesdropping. I wouldn’t kick him out, but I would think it was just an oddity, and the world’s an odd place.

In our day, women have pushed and grabbed and hollered their way into nearly every setting that was traditionally held by men only. We’ve all heard of parents dressing their daughters in football pads and sending them into the locker rooms with the boys. Of course I think this is foolish and destructive and silly, and I would not dream of doing that with my daughters. I think they have a much higher God-ordained calling than to pretend to compete with the boys where the boys clearly have the advantage. It is absurd. But when we discuss whether women ought to be teaching men the Word, it is not just another “tradition” like all-male football teams. Though the Bible has not spoken about women on submarines or women on football teams, it has spoken about women’s roles in the church. I think it’s simple and clear.

A Christian conference is not church, that’s correct. But if it is a conference that is teaching from the Word, then it is the men who should be doing it. I have no desire to elbow my way in. Why? Because I love God’s Word and I do what it says.

Heavy Lifting

It struck me the other day how much lifting up we see in the Scriptures. We are to lift up our prayers, our hands, our eyes, our voices, our hearts, and our souls to the Lord.

Lifting is a great image. It is always pointed upward, above us. We are to lift up our heads, lift up our eyes and look up to our Creator God, raising our thoughts and hearts to a higher place.

Why do we need to do so much lifting? Because we don’t have to do anything to get pulled down by the gravity of life’s distractions. We get ourselves focused on the world’s troubles or our own troubles, and we need to lift up our eyes. “I  lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121: 1-2).

This may seem obvious, but lifting is something we do. It is not passive, but active. “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (James 12:12). Lifting requires strength and faith. It may require courage. You may not feel like lifting anything. But lifting won’t happen by itself. In other words, we have to exert ourselves. Picking up your mind and setting it on things above, that is what lifting is. It seems like lifting is a pretty big part of the Christian life, so we need to get practicing.

God is the one who does the actual heavy lifting. But we are still active in this process because we call out to Him and He lifts us up. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (James 4:10). This humbling is essential. When we humble ourselves, we get low. We call out to our God, and He remembers us and lifts us up, just like a mother lifts up her child and carries him.

“The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Num. 6:26). When He lifts us up, we quit fussing and rest. And when we rest in Him, we will be lifting up hearts and hands and voices all the more.

Build Yourselves Up

The Christian life is simple, but it is not easy. God’s directions to us are not complicated or unclear, but we often encounter hard things. Following Christ is not like floating on an inner tube down a lazy river. In fact, drifting can be  dangerous. The Christian life requires attentiveness and diligence, perseverance and faith. It is challenging and rewarding in the very best and truest sense.

We sometimes forget that we are the ones responsible for “how we are doing” in the Lord.  Consider these verses (20-21) in Jude:

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Notice our responsibility here. We are to build ourselves up in our faith. We are to keep ourselves in the love of God. How do we do this? God always gives us the means to obey His commands. Notice that we are to be praying in the Holy Spirit. We build ourselves up in the faith by prayer, by reading the Word and doing what it says. We certainly cannot build ourselves up if we are giving way to our fleshly impulses or settling for a comfortable Christianity that requires nothing of us but church attendance.

Building mean construction. It requires effort and concentration. It doesn’t happen all by itself. You are your own building project! So get going. Get to work. Read, pray, obey. Spiritual idleness is the enemy. Tackle it.

Keeping ourselves in the love of God means sticking with it. It means holding on to our faith in the love of God. We must not get distracted or quit in the midst of difficulty. That’s the worst time to let go. When things are hard, that’s the time to hold on tight, to keep yourself, to exercise dominion over your own soul in Christ. Letting go happens when we accept compromises, cut corners, make excuses, look for the easy way, or indulge sin. Keep yourself in the love of God. Don’t expect everyone else to keep you in the love of God. You are responsible for your own soul.

Notice that Jude says while we keep ourselves in the love of God, our eyes are fastened on our Lord Jesus, the giver of mercy and eternal life. Funny that while we are keeping ourselves and building ourselves up, we are not focused on ourselves at all, but on Him. That is really central. That is the whole point. The only way we can build ourselves and keep ourselves is by looking away from ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This means we are not looking at our obedience. We are looking at Him.

And wonderfully, He is able to keep us from falling. He is able to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (vs. 24). So as we are keeping ourselves, He is keeping us. No wonder Jude ends by bursting into praise: “To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

 

Grace Agenda in March

This year’s Grace Agenda is coming soon in March, and to make it easier for you to attend, all admission costs have been waived! The topic for this year’s conference, as you can see below, is Marriage Militant. On Friday we Femina girls will be hosting a pre-conference event on the topic “A Woman’s Worth.” We’ll be speaking on four different aspects of our calling to be worthy women: Courage (by Rachel), Loyalty (Heather), Contentment (Nancy), and Faithfulness (Bekah). If you attend the femina pre-conference, you’ll be invited to join us in a complimentary luncheon. We’d love to see you all come, of course, and we would appreciate your prayers as we prepare to host this event. You can get all the details here.

Fabric Design Class!

 

Happy New Year everyone! I should have posted this ages ago, but somehow things have been a bit on the hectic end of late! I am going to be offering a 9 week online class teaching basic fabric design, starting January 15. The class will be one hour per week, and unlike the class I taught for Canon last year, this is going to be nothing but basic, introductory fabric design. You can read more about what we’ll be doing and get all the details here and I would just add that even though the class can earn you high school credit (how cool is that?!) it would be entirely appropriate for ladies older than high school! Anyway – I’d love to see you in the class, so get on over there and sign up!

Christmas Hands

Last week we had our annual Christmas party for the ladies’ fellowship in our church. Many volunteered to be table hostesses, which meant they brought a Christmas centerpiece and table settings for a table of nine. I have no idea how many tables we jammed into the room we rented, but my guess was at least twelve or fifteen, and each one was decorated so entirely differently, reflecting the culture and joy of each hostess.

Then everyone brought an appetizer to share, so we had five or six long tables spread with all kinds of delicious and beautiful appetizers. It was fabulous! We ate, we sang Christmas carols, we visited, and we listened to three lovely speakers.

But here’s what struck me. With the room full of over one hundred women, I thought we should have all lifted up our hands. These are the hands that are going to make Christmas “happen” for hundreds of people. These are the hands that will shop, cook, make lists, buy, wrap, bake, decorate, stuff, give, and stay up way too late doing it all. These are the hands that will sew and stamp and write and sweep up sprinkles and pine needles and broken ornaments, all to a background of joyous Christmas music.

What a tremendous amount of work these hands will do in these next few days to make Christmas a time of rejoicing for hundreds of people, our people. How many are you blessing this Christmas? How many will enjoy all that your hands have labored over, glorifying and beautifying things like sugar cookies and packages? Spread love all over the celebrations that will bless your families and friends as you gather around Christmas tables and Christmas trees.

I hope you see this! Look at your hands. Christmas hands! Ask God to make them fruitful. What a privilege He has given us all, bestowing on us the blessed, joyful task of creating Christmas traditions and making memories for the next generation, all while commemorating our Savior’s birth. What could possibly be a better use of our hands than this?

Christmas Kindness

When we think of kindness, we think of generosity and sympathy, friendliness and tenderheartedness. Of course, kindness is all those things and more. But I have noticed another angle on kindness. Kindness is often connected to mercy, and mercy is connected to forgiveness. Look at these three examples.

Psalm 117: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

Nehemiah 9:17b: But you are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them.

Ephesians 4:31-32: Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

At Christmas much of the world is thinking of ways to be kind, giving gifts and making generous contributions to needy causes. My suggestion is to do all this, yes, but to include mercy in the gift giving. In other words, use this opportunity for some Christmas kindness that extends forgiveness.

Forgive your family members that you are not on speaking terms with. Forgive your parents. Forgive your children. Forgive your friends, your coworkers, your husband, your neighbors, your adversaries. This is merciful kindness, the kind that God has extended to us. Imitate Him. If He gives sunshine and rain to those who are evil, how much more should we (who have been forgiven so much!) be kind and forgiving to those who have wronged us?

Listen to Jesus: Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful (Luke 6:35).

Kindness that is forgiving is the love that covers sins (Prov. 10:2) and covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). It puts away bitterness, resentment, and all its ugly cousins, and it puts on merciful kindness. This is supernatural kindness, Spirit-filled kindness, the kind we cannot produce on our own. But we have access to this kindness in Christ.

So as you are buying and wrapping gifts, give a different sort of gift. Give the gift of forgiveness and mercy wrapped in kindness. That is the gift that God has given us in His Son.