2-1-2015
Text: 1 Corinthians 13:5
“Getting Rid of Your Record of Wrongs”
Our series from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 continues today. The phrase we will focus on today is the last
phrase in v.5, “Love…keeps no record of wrongs.”
Back in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s a ship called the Pelicano was the world’s most unwanted
ship. This ship sailed all over the world but no country would allow it to dock. It was turned away in Sri
Lanka, Bermuda, The Dominican Republic, The Netherlands, The Antilles, Honduras and many other
ports of entry.
The problem was not the boat. Though rusty and barnacled, the 466-foot freighter was seaworthy. The
problem was not the ownership. The owners kept the license current and taxes paid. The problem was
not the crew. They may have felt unwanted, but they were efficient. The reason the Pelicano was the
most unwanted ship in the world is simple. She was full of trash. Fifteen thousand tons of trash. Orange
peelings. Beer bottles. Newspapers. Half-eaten hot dogs. Trash. The trash of Philadelphia’s long summer
of 1986. That’s when the municipal workers went on strike. That’s when the trash piled higher and
higher. That’s when Georgia refused it and New Jersey declined it. No one wanted Philadelphia’s trash.
That’s when the Pelicano entered the picture. The owners thought they would turn a quick buck or two
by transporting the rubbish. The trash was burned, and the ashes were dumped into the belly of the
boat. But no one would take it. Initially it was too much. Eventually it was too old. Who wants
potentially toxic trash? The plight of the Pelicano is proof. Trash-filled ships find few friends.
The plight of the Pelicano is also a parable. Trash-filled hearts don’t fare any better.
Do you have a trash filled heart? Have you been keeping a record of wrongs? Do you have a mental list
of all your hurts, betrayals, rejections and abandonments?
Life is full of painful events that produce memories that are hard to let go of. Some of us can recall these
painful memories like they happened yesterday.
The record of wrongs that we keep contaminate our inner lives just like that trash contaminated the
Pelicano. Our record of wrongs influences the relationships of our lives, even our relationship with God.
Our record of wrongs influences every day of our lives and they will affect our future if we don’t let
them go.
We can count on:
Today’s thoughts being tomorrow’s actions.
Today’s jealousy will be tomorrow’s temper tantrum.
Today’s bigotry will be tomorrow’s hate crime.
Today’s anger will be tomorrow’s abuse.
Today’s lust will be tomorrow’s adultery.
Today’s greed will be tomorrow’s embezzlement.
Today’s guilt will become tomorrow’s fear.
Today’s thoughts will become tomorrow’s actions.
Paul’s words here in 1 Corinthians 13:5 are so true: “Love will not keep a record of wrongs because love
knows the damage that a record of wrongs will cause.”
If the crew of the Pelicano would have refused to take on that first shovel full of trash, life for everyone
on that ship would have been so much easier. Too bad they didn’t think it through before they took on
that trash.
The same is true for you. Life will be so much better if you will choose love instead of holding onto your
record of wrongs. It is so critical for all of us to think things through, to consider the potential damage,
of holding onto past hurt.
Some people act like they can’t think things through. They say “I can’t help it. I can’t stop thinking about
what they did to me.”
So do we have a choice about what we let into our minds and into our inner lives? Yes we do!
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul tells us that we can take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
Because I know that I struggle with keeping a record of wrongs, because I know that I can too easily give
into the temptation to think negatively and critically, I have memorized 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 and I quote
these verses every morning before I get out of bed. I pray: “Lord, because I live in the world, I do not
wage war as the world does. The weapons I fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds. I demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and today I will take every thought captive and make it
obedient to you.”
Paul used battle language in these verses because there is a war going on. Our mind is the battlefield. As
soldiers, our assignment is to do whatever it takes to guard our minds and to take prisoner any thought
that might have the potential to make it onto a list of wrongs.
We need to say: “Selfishness, step back! Envy, get lost! Anger, don’t get out of control! Bitterness, flee!
Hurt, I won’t let you damage my heart!”
Capturing our thoughts is serious business. I’m convinced that the best way to capture our thoughts is to
write them down. I encourage you to keep a prayer journal and write down your hurts, your feelings of
rejection, anger or hostility. Once you’ve written them down you can then surrender them to God and
He will help you keep those thoughts on the paper so they won’t get into your heart.
Capturing thoughts was something Jesus did. In Mathew 16:21-23 we read how Jesus captured
thoughts: (read)
Jesus knew His purpose and was bold about dealing with any thoughts that would try to creep into His
mind and detour Him from the Cross. In effect He said to Peter’s Satan inspired words: “The Cross is
what I came for. I will not entertain any thoughts of escaping the Cross. Get away from me Satan
inspired thoughts. I will not entertain any other plan but The Cross.”
What would happen if you followed Jesus’ example here? What if you refused to let garbage thoughts
enter your mind?
It is so important that we do follow Jesus’ example.
You see, Jesus knew what His purpose was. Jesus knew His purpose was to love us all the way to the
Cross. So He withstood anything contrary to that purpose.
We need to know what God’s purpose for our lives is also. God tells us in the Great Commandment that
our purpose is to love. He has called us to love others to Jesus. If we know that is our purpose, then we
can be as bold as Jesus was when any thoughts other than loving thoughts come into our minds. We too
can stand up to anything that might enter our minds to try to keep us from our purpose of loving others.
God has given us all we need to take every thought captive and to keep on loving others even when they
hurt us, even when we are tempted to add the hurt to a record of wrongs in our inner life.
Those who are living out the purpose of loving others will not keep a record of wrongs. They will be
determined to love no matter what hurtful thing comes their way. They will live out Romans 12:14
which says: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”
Please remember this: You don’t have to stay a victim. Yes, you will get hurt. Getting hurt in this life is
inevitable. But you don‘t have to live a life wallowing in that hurt. You are in Christ. Your identity is not
“victim”.
When your thoughts tempt you to stay a victim and to record your hurt in your heart, you can take
those thoughts captive and you can say: “I refuse to be a victim of my thoughts. I have a vote. I have a
choice. So I am kicking out my victim mentality thoughts. I refuse to give these thoughts permission to
enter my mind and make it onto a list of wrongs.”
Someone once said: “Change the thoughts, change the person.” This is the premise behind what is
called “Cognitive Therapy” in psychology circles. But this premise was around long before cognitive
therapists came up with it.
Solomon said this in Proverbs 4:23: “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.”
The Message says: “Keep vigilant watch over your heart, that’s where life starts.”
If today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions, and if by changing our thoughts we can change who we are
and what we do, then what would happen if we filled our minds with God’s love about us? What would
happen if we filled our minds with how God has lovingly, and unconditionally blessed us?
In 1 Corinthians 13:5 I believe Paul is saying: “It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. You’ve got to let
the good stuff in. You must develop a list of blessings based on God’s love for you, so you won’t keep a
list of wrongs.”
If we replaced our record of wrongs with a record of God’s loving acts toward us it would revolutionize
our thought life. And our thought life would influence our actions. We would love others, even those
who have wronged us.
If you need to keep a record, a list, then keep a record of God’s love for you. Be sure to list the
countless times God has forgiven you. Then when you are tempted to hold onto a wrong done to you,
you can pray: “Lord, this wrong hurts me. But if you can forgive me for hurting you, then I can forgive
them for hurting me.”
Somebody might try to say: “But I’ve never really done anything to hurt Christ.” Are you sure? Think
about it!
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Have you even been dishonest with His money? That’s cheating.
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Has your love for flesh or fame ever turned you away from Him? That’s adultery.
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Ever spoken an angry word with the intent to hurt? In the court room of heaven, you are guilty
of assault.
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Have you ever been silent while He was mocked? Don’t we call that treason?
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Ever gone to church to be seen rather than to see Him? Hypocrite.
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Ever broken a promise you’ve made to God? Whoa. Deceit. That’s serious.
Oh people, we are guilty of hurting Christ. We deserve to be punished. We deserve to be on God’s list of
people who have wronged Him. But God says this through David in Psalm 103:10-12: (read) And in Psalm
130:3-4 it says: (read)
Yes, we have hurt Christ deeply. But He doesn’t even remember the hurt we’ve caused Him. He never
will keep a record of your wrongs after you receive Him as Savior. Your record of wrongs has been
erased permanently.
People, we have not just been sprinkled with forgiveness or spattered
with grace, we have been
immersed in it. This is one of the reasons I believe in immersion baptism. We have been dunked
completely in the blood of Christ. Our sin, the hurt we’ve caused God, is gone forever.
People, God has changed His thoughts toward us. Instead of putting us on the list of the condemned, He
has put us on the list of the redeemed. If God can change His thoughts and actions toward us, we must
change our thoughts and actions toward others.
Because we have been loved, we must love. There can be no more room in our lives for a record of
wrongs. The list of wrongs has to go away. It must be replaced by a list of ways we can love, even those
who have hurt us.
If there ever was a woman who had a right to hold onto a record of wrongs it was the woman that Jesus
met at a well in Samaria. We find her story in John Chapter Four.
This woman had been abandoned by five husbands. The man she was with when Jesus met her wouldn’t
marry her. We can only imagine the ridicule, the ostracism, she felt from the people in her village. She
had to go to the well when no other women were there probably because she had been told she wasn’t
welcome. But Jesus didn’t shy away from her. In spite of her sin, Jesus saw something in her. So Jesus
told her He was the Living Water, The Messiah she had been waiting for. Jesus showed her love! He
accepted her! He commissioned her to be a missionary. And in spite of her list of hurts she went to the
people in her village who had hurt her and she told them about Jesus until they all listened to her and
they all became followers of Jesus.
In v.39 we read that many of the people in that town believed in Jesus because of the woman’s
testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” And I believe we can add the phrase, “and He loved me
anyway.”
This woman was like the ship Pelicano. Jesus found her full of trash, but He left her full of grace. She let
Jesus come on board and clean up her trash. She embraced His love for her. And then she went and
loved others, even those who had hurt her.
Please let Jesus clean up your trash filled mind and heart. Please surrender your record of wrongs to
Him. Embrace His love for you. Let Him heal your hurts. And then love like He has loved you. Forgive like
He has forgiven you.