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- Jun 12, 2015
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A man who grew up in a German-Lutheran community in Wisconsin shared this story.....
When I was in the third grade at my Lutheran school, I was naughty and not nice. My buddies and I would find every mischief and if we couldn't find any, we made it.
My teacher was Miss Kleinburg - a stout woman with an ample chest.
When I was caught being bad, she wouldn't yell at me or punish me or report me to my parents. No. She would hug me. She'd force me into her ample chest with a firm, strong, sincere hug, swaying just a bit with me in tow, and crying - literally crying - with tears rolling down her round cheeks. She'd say, "I love you, I love you, I love you. It hurts me so very, very much when you hurt people and when you do something that could hurt you. It just so breaks my heart, because I love you, I love you, I love you." This would go on for a LONG time.
Meanwhile, my face was stuck in her chest and I'd be gasping for air! Trying to wiggle myself free just a enough to somehow capture some small breath - but she'd just hug me all the more, her strong arms holding me in place. FINALLY, she'd let me loose. She always thought I was crying but really I was just trying to catch my breath. Seeing what she was sure was repentance, she'd hug me again! Rejoicing over me!
I learned not to be bad in Miss Kleinburg's class. Partly because it broke her heart and partly because I feared an accidental death.
Our relationship with Christ is not so different. Yes, we are naughty and not nice (it's called "sin") but Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He doesn't so much yell at us or punish us or report us as He hugs us. It is His love that not only empowers us but also motivates us. Christ doesn't just love us to life. He also loves us to right.
- Josiah
When I was in the third grade at my Lutheran school, I was naughty and not nice. My buddies and I would find every mischief and if we couldn't find any, we made it.
My teacher was Miss Kleinburg - a stout woman with an ample chest.
When I was caught being bad, she wouldn't yell at me or punish me or report me to my parents. No. She would hug me. She'd force me into her ample chest with a firm, strong, sincere hug, swaying just a bit with me in tow, and crying - literally crying - with tears rolling down her round cheeks. She'd say, "I love you, I love you, I love you. It hurts me so very, very much when you hurt people and when you do something that could hurt you. It just so breaks my heart, because I love you, I love you, I love you." This would go on for a LONG time.
Meanwhile, my face was stuck in her chest and I'd be gasping for air! Trying to wiggle myself free just a enough to somehow capture some small breath - but she'd just hug me all the more, her strong arms holding me in place. FINALLY, she'd let me loose. She always thought I was crying but really I was just trying to catch my breath. Seeing what she was sure was repentance, she'd hug me again! Rejoicing over me!
I learned not to be bad in Miss Kleinburg's class. Partly because it broke her heart and partly because I feared an accidental death.
Our relationship with Christ is not so different. Yes, we are naughty and not nice (it's called "sin") but Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He doesn't so much yell at us or punish us or report us as He hugs us. It is His love that not only empowers us but also motivates us. Christ doesn't just love us to life. He also loves us to right.
- Josiah