Here is a fable of the porcupine that I would like to share. It was one of the coldest winters ever and many of the animals were dying. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together. This way they could cover and protect themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closet companion even though they gave off heat to each other. After a while they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companion or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it, was the heat that came from others. This way they were able to survive.

            We may not have quills like the porcupine, yet often our closest companion or someone near us gets hurt by something we do. Many times we aren’t even aware that we have hurt someone until years later. Seemingly insignificant things have hurt feelings splitting families, friendships, partnerships, marriages, and churches. Two sisters were in an automobile accident, the sister, a passenger blamed the sister who was driving for not paying attention and of course the driver blamed the passenger for talking and distracting her. They didn’t speak to each other for nearly twenty years.

            Your family including your church family should be a support system. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:2-3, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each others fault’s because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together in peace.”(NLT) No one is ever going to be perfect here on earth so we must accept each other in spite of their faults. Paul is saying that when we see faults, especially in other Christians that we should be patient and gentle. Rather than dwell on their weakness we should pray for them. Building unity is a very important role of the Holy Spirit. We bind ourselves in peace by focusing on God.

            All too often wounded relationships are the result of anger. Ecclesiastes 7:9 tells us that “Anger rests in the bosom of fools.” (NKJV) Emotional outbursts aren’t necessarily aimed at someone in particular; those close to you still feel the effects. It works this way: someone steps on your toes, you can’t retaliate, and everyone around you then has to stay out of your way. David prayed, “Watch over…my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to…evil.”(Ps 141:3-4NIV) Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 7:9 “Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.” Anger can be passed from generation to generation; resist the devil, take a stand with God and break the habit.

            God has never said that we can not have emotions; He does expect us to control our emotions. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26 NLT “Don’t sin by letting anger control you…anger gives a foothold to the devil.” It is important that we handle anger properly; when we vent our anger thoughtlessly someone is going to get hurt. Bottling up anger on the inside can cause one to become bitter and to be destroyed from the inside. Paul says that we are to deal with our anger in a way that it builds a relationship. The Bible says that we should not let the day end in anger, that we should mend relationships.

            Despite all the prayers that go up to the Father there will still be wounded relationships. There have probably been more wars fought and more families split over religion than any other cause. God doesn’t expect us to live in perfect harmony although I’m sure He would like it. Each of us has made choices that have affected someone, good or bad. Let your faith in God be the power that heals wounded relationships.

            A well established root system is much like a good foundation of a house. A well-build house can not stand if it has a faulty foundation and likewise a plant will not survive with poor roots. Our rainfall has fallen well below normal in the area where I live. My wife and I were noticing patches of trees that had turned brown due to their lack of water, a sign that their roots were shallow and not reaching moisture deep in the soil. Roots become flawed when there is no room to grow; the roots of the plant are so confined that the plant can no longer grow. People can be both similar to a house with a poor foundation and shallow rooted allowing them to struggle with rejection. We can employee an entire collection of tricks to make ourselves feel better; bottom line, without a healthy root system nothing really works. Flawed roots are going to produce flawed fruit.

            What is the answer to having a good root system? Ephesians 3;17 says that we should be deep rooted in Gods love. We all begin with flawed roots. God will take us; replant us in His love and acceptance. I John 3:2 says,” Now we are sons of God.” Becoming a son of God eliminates drawing from our own self worth; God is propping us up on our leaning side. Think of yourself as a plant going through three stages. The first stage is time to develop. When you become a Christian the seed is planted and you begin to grow. You have to establish your identity as a child of God. The second stage would be protection from predators and harsh elements. Surround yourself with others who have already established themselves well rooted in God’s love. Christian fellowship is great protection against these elements. Third we must be fed and regularly watered. Once in a while, a church won’t root you very well. Read your Bible on a regular basis.

            Many times Christians as well as churches become root bound by not allowing themselves to grow. A plant in a confided space can grow no larger than the space it has. Jabez cried in I Chronicles 4:10, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory,” Jabez was root bound and wanted to expand what he was doing and God blessed him. Be willing to listen and do what God tells you to do.

            If our root system fails it is because we do not see ourselves as God sees us. Don’t give up God can restore and give you healthy roots.

            An innocent woman was caught in crossfire between two men, hit by a wild bullet and paralyzed. When asked a year later it she hated the two men she answered: “I must forgive them because if I don’t God will not forgive me.” Many times during our life we are “done wrong” by our standards and never forgive. In order to forgive one must be willing to grant pardon without harboring resentment. Yes everyone makes mistakes and yes everyone has faults (this no doubt surprises some), a condition requiring forgiveness without demanding punishment. Jesus used four life changing words in Luke 7:48 “thy sins are forgiven”.

            Here is a story from the New Testament about fault and punishment. (John 8:1-11) Jesus has spent the night on the Mount of Olives a small hill near Jerusalem which was covered by olive trees. Early in the morning Jesus came down off the mount and began teaching in the temple. While Jesus was teaching the Scribes and Pharisees dragged in a woman who had been caught in adultery and set her in the middle of everyone and before Jesus. Subjecting her to public ridicule, her charges were placed before Jesus that she was caught in the very act of adultery (I have always wondered what happened to the man). Mosaic Law commanded that punishment for this offense was stoning. Leviticus 20:10 actually requires that both the man and the woman be put to death. These men were actually tempting and trying to set a trap for Jesus. Jesus acting as though He didn’t hear the accusers stooped and began to write with His finger in the dust on the stone pavers of the temple. The Scribes and Pharisees continued pressing Jesus for an answer for punishment. Jesus stood up and said “let the one who is with you that has no sin throw the first stone.” These men being convicted by their own sin left one by one beginning with the oldest. Jesus seeing that the accusers had departed asks the woman where they were. She replied, “No man, Lord”. Jesus answered, “Neither do I, go and sin no more.” This woman had made Jesus her salvation. You have to forgive in order to be forgiven.

            Remember the story about Joseph whose father had given him a coat of many colors? Of the sixteen Josephs in the Bible this fellow is probably the best known. Joseph was a pampered son, pick of the litter so to speak. His brothers were all quite jealous and wanted to kill him. Lacking guts they tossed him into a well, then was hoisted out and sold to a group of merchants as a slave. Joseph became a slave, a prisoner, and eventually a person of authority in Pharaoh’s court. Time passed and a great famine came over the land leaving Joseph’s father and brothers short on food. Joseph’s brothers eventually came to Egypt in search of food. The Bible says that Joseph cried upon seeing them, doesn’t say why, he had the power to have them killed; I believe he wept in love and forgiveness. How many families are split because of a hurt? Family feuds have lasted so long that in many cases quite often no one even remembers how they got started.

            It isn’t always easy to forgive, yet it is part of the healing process. We must forgive those who hurt us. God commands it. Failure to forgive grows in a person like a cancer until it destroys. Jesus told the Scribes and Pharisees “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” Jesus wasn’t arguing with the judgment or the woman’s guilt, He was arguing our right to execute. Jesus did not excuse the sin, He forgave her. As Christians we need to be more tolerance, when someone sins against us we need to be more forgiving. The Bible says in Matthew 6:14-15, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men of their sins, your Father will not forgive you.” Can you throw the first stone?

            Jesus used many parables to explain things of everyday life in a manner that could be understood. In Luke 13:18&19 Jesus used a simple mustard seed to communicate his message; “Then said He, Unto what is the Kingdom of God like? And whereunto shall I resemble it? (19) It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.” Often the simplest of things are misunderstood or overlooked. Jesus used one of the smallest seeds known to the people of his time the express the expanse of the growth of the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus could have chosen an acorn from which a mighty oak could have grown but instead chose the mustard seed.

            Jesus said that the mustard seed grew into a great tree. The Unger’s Bible Dictionary describes mustard as a well known plant of two species, both flourishing in the Holy Land, either plant producing minute seeds. Other sources of information regarding the mustard plant describe it as a weed, a shrub, or even a tree reaching a height of up to 10-15 feet. I find that the term “great tree” may seem somewhat exaggerated when we think of trees, yet when compared to other herbs it does become quite towering, quite capable of birds landing in it. No, Jesus really wasn’t trying to compare His church to a mighty oak; He used the humble, scrubby mustard as the example. Jesus used a very insignificant mustard seed because of its small size and its ability to grow into a magnificent plant.

            Why did Jesus really choose the mustard seed as illustration? Paul in his letter to the Corinthians summed it up in I Corinthians 1:27-29, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world the shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” Yes simple things can become so obvious that they confuse the wise. God’s word changes lives, something man can not do. The cross that Jesus was crucified on shows weak things to the world and brings great strength and power to those who accept Christ. God uses things that within themselves are nothing to create all things that are possible.

            God did not build His church to be a mighty oak. There is no Cathedral that we have to attend, no collecting place of politicians, movie stars or other people of high standards, nor do we have to be wise, only a humble little mustard seed. Jesus said that His church will grow from the smallest to the greatest. A mustard tree is not a spectacular sight unless you were to use it as Jesus did to describe the greatness of Heaven.

            Bill Gates, one of the world’s richer men could spend all the money that he has trying to create a seed the size of a mustard seed. Yes, he could create the seed, but would it grow? Paul wrote in I Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” God has ordained things to happen in His way, in His time. A mustard seed is a small part of God’s creation yet it can grow into a majestic tree. Jesus laid His life down so that we as small as that mustard seed can be a part of His Kingdom.