Dear Joyce,

How do you balance the importance of forgiveness and letting God be our vindicator with justice?

Kathy


Kathy,

When we forgive as God has instructed us to do, it opens the door for Him to bring justice. God makes it clear in His Word that He is our Vindicator and He will repay our enemies. It is not our job, and we only cause trouble and torment for ourselves if we don’t recognize that. Actually, we are doing ourselves a favor when we forgive, and I personally believe that is the main reason why God tells us to do it.

He does want us to be merciful with other people and longsuffering toward them when they make mistakes, but many people we are asked to forgive are not even willing to admit they need forgiveness. When we forgive we are free to worship, our prayers have power, peace is ours to enjoy, and we have the comfort of knowing that we have obeyed God.

Justice means to make wrong things right. God is just—that is one of the most beautiful things about His character. When we trust Him, He always makes wrong things right in our lives. His desire is that people repent for their sins, but if they don’t, then sin brings its own penalty. This is the main reason we should pray for our enemies and leave the rest to God.

Dear Joyce,

I used to want to write fiction stories, but a lady told me that stories of fiction are just lies and by writing them I would be sinning and denying my faith as a Christian.
Is this true?

Maria


Maria,

I don’t agree with your friend at all. God gives us a creative imagination, and there is nothing wrong with using it to bring entertainment and joy to other people as long as it is not something God would be ashamed of.

As you may know, I released a fiction project recently, titled The Penny, and intend to do more in the future. Jesus used parables in His own teaching ministry, which are fictional stories used to teach a principle.

Fiction cannot be classified as a lie because the very fact that it is advertised as fiction is letting people know that it is a made-up story and not a true fact. There is no deception in fiction. I suggest that you follow your heart and if you want to write fiction, do it.