If by Amy Charmichael

I have a pocket companion sized copy of Amy Carmichael's book If. It has been a source of tremendous blessing and challenge to me. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this book, it is just a series of short if/then statements that will really stir your heart in following the command of Jesus to love one another.There is one of these statements that has me a little confused though, perhaps someone here could help me out. Maybe I'm just a bit thick but I can't seem to apply this one...If I cast up a confessed, repented, and forsaken sin against another, and allow my remembrance of that sin to color my thinking and feed my suspicions,Then I know nothing of Calvary love.Does this have any significance to any of you?In Christ,Ron

My first reaction to your question brought to mind the verse in Luke 9:62: But Jeaus said unto him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."Unless you are familar with farming, the point of this verse may be lost on you. When you plow and you want a straight furrow, you set your sight on a point in the distance and head straight for it, ensuring a straight furrow. However, if you look back while plowing you will make a crook. So it is with our walk with Jesus: we cannot look back, remove our sight from the goal because we will make a crooked furrow. This verse has taught me a lot in helping me to not look back on the sins I have done and repented of because those memories can cause me to stumble. Experiencing the mercy, grace of God and knowing the reality of how the devil will use our memories to trip us will help us to understand the point Amy was making.....at least this is the way I see it...Did you not have any thoughts on this?ginnyrose

Yes, I have this book as well and... it's convicting, to say the least.Hmmm... yes, that's a hard one to apply. I had the blessing of meeting with a long time friend of mine on Monday, and she shared with me 2 scriptures that spoke exactly to the dilema I was faced with, which goes along with this line from Amy Carmichael's book.She summarized the story told in Genesis 9:20-23, when Shem and Japheth covered up their father's nakedness, instead of exposing him like Ham did. Then she quoted the second part of Proverbs 10:12, "... love covers a multitude of sins." That verse spoke so directly to me. From that moment I knew I needed to choose to not expose this person's sins, no matter how hurtful they were. That is Calvary love!

Thank you both for your replies but I have to confess I still don't see the light. I guess the stumbling block for me is, what does it mean to "cast up a sin...against another"?In Christ,Ron

Ron, how about comparing one sin with another? One sin may be worse then another or not as bad, or.....Categorizing sin and not looking at ALL sin being equally sinful...Would this make any sense?ginnyrose

what does it mean to "cast up a sin...against another"?I interpret it as meaning to give it a high place. Like someone else mentioned the uncovering of Noah's nakedness by his sons, Jesus blood has covered the sins of those who trust in him. If we uncover in our mind (cast up, give high place to forgiven sins) what Jesus has covered, we don't understand the love Jesus expressed in dying for those sins.Does this help???Hope

Maybe I don't follow quite in the same way, but I see this as being a fairly direct statement. I think she's talking about calling a brother out for their sin. Now, we're called to do this- to keep each other accountable, to confess our sins to one-another, and to fogive one-another when they repent from their wrongdoing. But to call someone out for a sin that has been repented of? To the person who's giving their testimony of how they were delivered from alcohol problems, or sexual immorality, or any other great sin, would you later call them out as being a drunkard or a adulterer if they had repented, confessed, and forsaken their sin? No! To judge what is not yours to judge shows that you have no knowledge of the Grace of Christ, of the freedom that was given to us on Calvary. You have no love, because you know no love.Grace and Peace...

Hi RonIf I cast up a confessed, repented, and forsaken sin against another, and allow my remembrance of that sin to color my thinking and feed my suspicions,Then I know nothing of Calvary love. I suspect that she may be thinking along the lines of, Love... “Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;” (1Cor. 13:5, KJV)“doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil;” (1Cor. 13:5, ASV) the idea might be paraphrased... 'love... does not keep an account of evil'. It is because of 'Calvary Love' in the sacrifice of the cross that justification includes the aspect of 'sins not reckoned'. “Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” (Rom. 4:7-8, KJVS) The word 'impute' here is 'logizomai' which is the word translated 'thinketh' in the KJV of 1 Cor 13:5.There is a wonderful example of God's refusal 'to keep an account of sin' in the story of the prodigal..Luke 15:21 (KJVS) And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. is the prodigal 'confessing his sin' which when the older brother tries to exhume receives an interesting answer...“But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15:30-32, KJVS) . The father will not allow himself to be reminded of the confessed sin. Love, keeps no account of sin, and if I do keep such an account, I know "nothing of Calvary Love..."sometime ago I posted quite a few of Amy Carmichael's 'provocations to love and good works' here.I think 'casting up sin against another' is using the memory of a previous sin to colour my judgement of the present event or, even worse, recounting an earlier sin in order to prejudice another person's view against someone. "You need to be careful about 'so and so', I remember once when he...." You will never hear Christ use that kind of language.edit: 2 minutes later! The Isaiah verse just came to mind...“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” (Is. 38:17, KJVS) and even more especially this one...“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” (Is. 57:20, KJVS) Alas there are those who 'cannot let things rest' but will persist in 'casting up mire and dirt'.

Yes! Thank you all, light has finally dawned on this dark mind. Funny, but reading the statement again now the application seems so obvious. :-oI guess I just needed your help and a night to meditate upon it. Thanks again,Ron

but reading the statement again now the application seems so obviousahhh, that's my definition of 'revelation'. :-D and it is amazing how often God 'insists' that another brother is part of the process. ;-)

Maybe I don't follow quite in the same way, but I see this as being a fairly direct statement. I think she's talking about calling a brother out for their sin. Now, we're called to do this- to keep each other accountable, to confess our sins to one-another, and to fogive one-another when they repent from their wrongdoing. You know what's hard, is when someone wrongs you but doesn't ask for forgiveness or confess any wrongdoing to that specific sin. I will confess that it's very hard to forgive when someone hasn't even apologized to you. To exercise "Calvary love" anyway, to choose to be gracious and pray fervently that they do repent because you fear someone else being wronged like you were, and you're grieved by the pattern of that same wrong that was done to those before you. In that case, it is such a dying of one's self to choose to cover that sin with love and grace. What's more, it's humbling to remember how much forgiveness and grace you need yourself. It's easier to see the faults in others, but you can't help them with their faults if you haven't dealt with your own before God.