Forgive vs. Enable

Forgiveness is such an interesting part of life.  I often find myself on both ends, giving and receiving.  The world can be a frustrating place at times and I struggle with the line of forgiving and enabling.  Liz and I had a great conversation, in which she shared about the fact that when people were in the presence of Jesus they just knew in their hearts that what they were doing was wrong, He didn't need to tell them.  Unfortunately, when we love on people, they often take that as acceptance of their actions.  With Jesus, this was not an issue because people felt loved by Him differently.  They knew He loved them as a person, not because of or in spite of their actions.  His love is deeper.  So then, it becomes imperative for us to love the person, not the actions, and make that apparent in how we talk to each other.  I do this with kids all of the time.  I am very particular in the words I say to children when dealing with behavior, and I tell them constantly how much I like them, right in the midst of reprimanding them.  I don't think it's that simple with adults, but I do think it is doable.  This is a huge topic and I have a lot more to say, but I like to keep these short. ;-)  Love people.