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by Staci Stallings.

Narrated by Artificial Intelligence, Jenny.

Click Above to Read/Listen to the Devotional.

I’m going to ask you a very simple question that is going to get you into a lot of turmoil.

If you never have to do something, how do you learn to do it?

Let’s say that I am going to operate on you. Let’s say further that you need a heart transplant. Now, the good news is that I’ve read a lot about doing heart transplants. I know the Anatomy books backward and forward. I’ve looked at all the diagrams and all of the graphs and charts. So I’m pretty sure I can do this.

How confident are you in my ability to perform this task correctly on you?

(I see those nerves springing to the surface.)

But I don’t see why you would be nervous. After all, I have read all about the history of the heart transplant, and I’ve even read up on the most recent advancements.

Why are you nervous?

I’ll tell you why… because I’ve never actually done a heart transplant, right?

In fact, truth be told, I’m really squeamish at the sight of blood and would probably pass out the second the first incision was being made! And in all honesty, I would not in good conscience even think I could do such a thing. It takes years of practice to be able to even consider doing such a task.

But the truth is we do this type of thing all the time in the spiritual realm. In fact, we get indignant when a practice-session comes our way.

After all, we’ve read in the Bible that we’re supposed to forgive. 7 X 70 times. But what happens when our neighbor borrows our wrench and forgets to return it? Or when such-and-such said something about us, and we heard it—or heard about it?

See, much like that heart surgeon who doesn’t just read about heart transplants and thinks he or she just knows how to do them, we have to be presented with opportunities to test if we can forgive—in real life, in real time. We need that knowledge to move from our heads to our hearts and through our hearts into our experience and our world. Until we do that, we are about as helpful as that surgeon who has read all the books.

And how do surgeon’s practice? Most of the time, they assist under a more skilled doctor for many years. That’s why they do internships and residencies before becoming doctors because they need to have the book knowledge move through them into their actual experiences!

So when Jack shows up, and he broke your mower blade… again. Or Suzy made that comment, or Jill is mad, or Stan said…

Remember, this is how you learn to forgive and to love.

God’s not mean for letting these people be in your life. He’s helping you to learn to be the person who doesn’t just read the words but actually lives them.

About the Author:

A stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.