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...the Bible tells me so:
Time To Move On
New Year’s Day is the traditional time for making resolutions. I am too fat. I am too skinny. I am too young to be married. I am too old to be single. I do not like my job. I do not like where I live. I do not like what I drive. What kind of changes do you have in mind for your life?
Resolutions are great. However, they can be meaningless if the resolver does not carry out his or her intents. It is the difference between wishing and doing, between trying and accomplishing.
Since September 11 many people have chosen either to stay with their spouses or join the military, though one choice may not related to the other!
That infamous date forces our society to become better and stronger. May I suggest a change that must take place from within to improve our nation? We must get rid of victimhood. Victimhood blames someone else—rightly or wrongly, it does not matter—for our problems.
I know that many victims are victims because of somebody else’s choice. Many, however, are victims because of their choices. For example, years ago we had a nine-year old foster boy in our family. He never had ridden a bicycle. He never could. He suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome.
His mother victimized herself by becoming a drunk. She also victimized the boy by constant drinking during pregnancy. Among the many things that he suffered, he had a clubbed foot on the end of an already shortened leg. That physical deformity made it extremely difficult to ride a bike.
We bought him a bicycle and taught him how to ride. Can you imagine the joy, the excitement and the confidence that boy felt when he learned how to ride a bike? Hour after hour and day after day we watched him zoom up and down our quiet street.
Have you suffered from physical, sexual or emotional abuse? It is time to put it behind you. You know what you need to do. It is time to move on!
Have you been victimized by a criminal? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you been addicted to drugs? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you been hurt or wronged by someone? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you been held back from improving your economic status? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you suffered serious health problems? Has a loved one been touched by death? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you been fired or laid off from your job? Have you been divorced by your family? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you been immobilized by threat of terrorism or war? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
Have you suffered discrimination or abuse because of race, gender, economic status, physical features, or physical or mental abilities? It is time to put it behind you. It is time to move on!
I think of the abuses suffered by Joseph, Job, Elijah and David, among others. I especially think of the injustices suffered by our Lord and Savior Jesus. In each case, they refused to act as victims. Instead, they turned to God to deliver them as they did what God wanted.
Consider the words of our beloved brother Paul, as he said,
“More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by becoming like Him in His death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8-14).
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