By: Shawn Weaver

“Shawn, I don’t think I can ever forgive myself.” A man recently recounted his story of pain, addiction, and the ensuing mistakes.

Brokenness and failure are feelings that are familiar to us as people. We all wrestle with the guilt and regret of the pain that we caused, many times not really knowing how to resolve the feelings.

In Matthew 18, we see a story of a wicked servant who owes a king lots of money. When called in to settle accounts, the man pleads for mercy. After hearing the plea, the king forgives him the massive debt, only to have the same servant shake down a friend who owes him only a small amount.

It says in the Bible that Jesus always spoke to the people in parables. That means, contrary to our modern age of dumbing down messages, His highest value was not being understood. His goal was to see who was ready to search for His message.

The first thing we look for in this parable is the main characters. God is the King. That means, yes, we are the wicked servant.

We can all relate. Here we find someone who has wronged, and they themselves were wronged. The story defines wrongs as a debt that is unpaid. This is a good way to describe breaks in relationships. It might have started with our parents. People who were commissioned by God to protect, provide, empower, and teach us life. Their main job is to teach us the truth and the ways of being a man or woman of God.

Yet, all have failed at some point or another. Whether they knew what they were doing or not, we needed and are now owed those things. We are owed a debt. Other people may owe us debts as well. Loyalty, respect, and kindness might be some things we feel were not reciprocally given.

Yet, we too are indebted to others. Forgiveness is the canceling of debt. If I cancel someone’s debt of $1000, it doesn’t mean that the feelings of wanting the money go away. Nor do the other person’s feelings of owing a debt go away. However, over time our feelings will align with the truth.

It is the same way with forgiveness of wrongs. The feelings can trick us into thinking that the forgiveness wasn’t real. Yet, forgiveness isn’t about feelings, it is about the canceling of debt. Wouldn’t it be great to cancel our own debts? Yet, God is the King who led the way by canceling our unpayable debt. He is now the only one we owe our lives to.

Shawn Weaver serves as the senior pastor at ACTS Covenant Fellowship and as a driver for NHT Logistics. If you would like to connect with Shawn, email him at shawn.weaver2@gmail.com.

By: Shawn Weaver

One day while driving down the highway, I saw a bumper sticker that made me chuckle. It said “Using your turn signal is not giving information to the enemy. “ It is kind of comical to think of the drivers around us as our enemies. Yet when we are driving in the midst of urban areas with deadlines, places to go, and people to see, it is easy to lose sight of the truth.

We are very blessed to have the system of roads that we have. We can get safely to almost anywhere we want to go, with nearly any size vehicle, for any reason, and in almost any weather. Whether we are delivering freight, going to work, or going to see grandma in another state…we all use roads to get there. 

Yet in moments of frustration or urgency, it is easy to look at the people around us as our enemies. They threaten our margins of safety, ignore our signaling, or park in the most ridiculous places possible. Then comes the beginning of every lost battle, the moment we objectify other people, and lose sight of them as a person. When we see other people as an enemy, we have lost sight of the truth.

We as truck drivers also know what it feels like to be objectified. People look at us as obstructions, and bullies, and use the space in front of us to cut into traffic. They have lost sight that we are men and women with families, parents, friends, hobbies, and, of course, a job to do.

The Bible speaks to this in the book of Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places.]

People are never the true enemy. Most people are aware (some more so than others), that we live in a spiritual world. I frequently ask the question of groups I am in front of, “Who has had a spiritual experience that has no logical explanation?”

Most of the time, one-third of people will raise their hands. I have heard so many stories. Stories of visions and dreams, angelic creatures, demonic beings, supernatural healings, and miracles. People know things they shouldn’t know or understand things they shouldn’t understand.

I don’t know what you believe about these things, but good luck trying to tell those people it didn’t really happen. Just a few days ago, I was speaking with a man whose wife, in just a few months, went from a lifelong companion to a monster. She became unreasonable, argumentative, and even violent. He said sometimes he could see her face change right in front of him! Try telling him there is no spiritual world. At times, it is so easy to look at people as our enemies. Whether they are another driver who is in a hurry or a receiver with a grudge, try keeping the truth in focus that they are not the enemy. Who knows? You might be a part of setting someone else free.