Don't Bite Your Friends

I really like my life.  That’s not something I could always say.  In fact, exactly one year ago, I would have said the exact opposite.  But, what a difference a year has made!  Though I’m not always at ease in my mind or with the world around me, I have come to a place where I feel solid about how I believe and what I choose to put my faith in.  And  yet…there are still so many times when I feel like a child, just learning the things I should have already mastered.

There’s a show my little niece watches that has a song on it called:  Don’t Bite Your Friends.  And from what I’ve heard of it, those are most of the lyrics.  “Don’t bite your friends!  Don’t bite your friends!”  That’s good advice for a toddler.  And, as it turns out, good advice for adults too.  But maybe it should go more like, “Don’t backbite your friends!”  Yeah….

It’s in these times, I am so thankful for God’s grace.  Where would I be without it?  When it came time to confess, I felt like a scared child.  Appropriately.  After all, I had acted like a child.  But God gave me the opportunity to make it right again, with Him, and with the other person.  And all I received in return for my confession…was love.  Love, love, and more love.  Love from a friend who laughed and forgave, love from my Heavenly Father who was kind enough to bring conviction and then kind enough to grant me relief when I had done what needed done.

And all I can think is… “God, will You make me as gracious as You are?”  I pray that I’m the friend who laughs, loves, and forgives in the face of disloyalty.  “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”  What a wonderful feeling, to be forgiven!  It’s the very thing that allows me to truly love this life God has given me.  And though I will still, like a child, need to learn and relearn many things on this Christian walk, I know that I am being led by a gracious, kind, and forgiving God.  What’s not to love?