如何得到饶恕的能力
拉麦那放纵不羁的报复心理，有谁不感同身受呢？在怒气填胸的那一刻，报仇雪恨似乎是正确的。不过，经验告诉我们，“冷静下来！”通常是较为明智之举，这样你会有足够时间想想你应该要如何回应了。
自律，或节制，能约束我们并疏导我们的私欲，对我们自己和我们的邻舍都有益处。自律的心是神所赐的，它带给我们健康的身心和安息的灵，自律帮助我们不致被自己冲动的情绪所牢宠。
保罗告诉提摩太，自律不是为懦夫而设的，因为人需要超自然的力量才能做到否定自我。我们若降服在圣灵的能力之下，又降服在神藉耶稣基督赐给祂的门徒的爱中，便可以得到这种力量了。凭着神的能力和慈爱，我们开始了一生的禁食，来禁制自我中心和冲动的欲望，并且以圣灵的火磨炼我们的心灵。
虚张声势的拉麦，其实是一个弱者，因为他自己被他爱好暴力的心控制了。他说，若有人得罪他，他会以七十七倍报复。然而，耶稣却吩咐我们，要一次又一次饶恕人，饶恕次数要多到我们也数不清（参看马太福音18:21-22）。若降服在耶稣所赐的自律之下，我们便可以得到祂的能力去饶恕了。
主啊，感谢祢赐我能力，使我愿意降服在祢的旨意之下。然而我知道自己不是时常都懂得自律，求你帮助我奉你的名坚强起来。阿们。
创世记 4: 23-24; 提摩太后书 1:5-7
23 拉麦对他两个妻子说：“亚大、洗拉，听我的声音，拉麦的妻子，细听我的话语：壮年人伤我，我把他杀了；少年人损我，我把他害了。
24 若杀该隐遭报七倍，杀拉麦必遭报七十七倍。”
5 想到你心里无伪之信，这信是先在你外祖母罗以和你母亲友尼基心里的，我深信也在你的心里。
6 为此我提醒你，使你将神藉我按手所给你的恩赐再如火挑旺起来。
7 因为神赐给我们不是胆怯的心，乃是刚强、仁爱、谨守的心。
Haste Makes Waste
The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. — 2 Timothy 1:7
Who doesn’t feel something for Lamech’s unrestrained desire for justice? In the heat of the moment, the desire to avenge a wrong seems right. But experience argues that it will usually be wiser to “Cool it!” and give yourself time to reflect on how you should react.
Self-control, or temperance, bridles our desires and channels them for our own good and the good of our neighbor. The spirit of self-control is a gift of God that brings health to mind and body and rest to the soul. Self-control saves us from being enslaved to our impulsive emotions.
Self-control is not for cowards, Paul tells Timothy, for it takes superhuman strength to deny ourselves. Such strength is available by surrendering to the Spirit of power and to the love God bestows on his disciples through Jesus Christ. God’s power and love begin a life-long fast to our self-centered, out-of-control desires, to temper our souls with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
For all his bravado, Lamech was a weakling because he yielded to his passion for violence: he would avenge himself 77 times, he said, for a neighbor’s wrong. Jesus calls us, however, to forgive a person again and again, so often that we couldn’t really keep track (see Matthew 18:21-22). And surrendering to his gift of self-control will give us his strength to do that.
Lord, thank you for the strength to surrender my wants to your will. But I know I don’t always show self-control. Help me to be strong, in your name. Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
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