As Cam came to learn about God, and also about what his dad did throughout his life, he came to accept others as well.
Cam learned a lot of things about his dad. And recently, his dad was visiting him. He learnt even more.
Cam's dad was drunk that night, he was a bit insane. He was controlling. His dad wanted what was best for him, and always had, but just didn't know what to do.
One day, Cam's mother told him a piece of advice that his dad said often.
"Anger is a byproduct of fear and helplessness." That resonated with Cam heavily. Cam dealt with anger all his life. And when thinking about why he was angry, he thought through it like that, and found that he was afraid of X.
Therefore, it got him thinking, why does someone who has such good advice, do bad things, and why doesn't he follow it? Well, that goes back.
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God gave us the choice to sin. While Cam's dad has that good advice, it's because of his experience in life. However, just because you have that advice, doesn't mean you follow it. Because you can choose to follow God, and learn from mistakes, you can also choose to not follow God, and make more mistakes.
God allows that in order for willing servants. Think like this. Would you have a robot that is always loyal, but won't think of solutions for itself, or would you rather have a person, who may betray you at first, but can think for itself, and also could maybe be more loyal than a robot if you give it time.
Also, he's like a father, so he doesn't wish for us to be robots. There are thousands of reasons, but really only one answer. Because we chose to disobey, we became sinful.
God allows those mistakes to make us better people. So when Cam's dad gives that advice, but doesn't follow it, it doesn't mean that he's not wise, but he chose to not follow it at the time.
Cam got to know that his dad actually regretted that time. He wished he would've been a better person at the time. There's no pill for regret, but that doesn't mean he can't keep learning.
Life is a journey. One filled with ups and downs. You don't know what's coming, you may not be able to control it even. But your attitude in life determines where you end up. And just like my dad, I feel like I need to change.
Yet, do we follow this? No, but we try. And through trying, we get better, until we make it.
So in conclusion, when I ask, can we show mercy to those who hurt us, and show no mercy, I can say, yes.
It's not our place to tell people how to live. It's also not for us to judge. But that is the reason why it's hard.
God gave us life to live, we aren't in a position to judge others, because we are all sinners. We also cannot let sin take over, making us not take our own advice. Live out your advice, but also learn from mistakes.
Christianity is a life of action. Life, is a learning curve. And a learning curve is your advice.
Do you follow God, and His advice, or do you choose to make your own learning curve harder?