Join Me On the Journey

How often has this happened to you? A friend offends you by saying something insensitive. You don’t say anything at the time because first of all, you can’t believe she said it, and second of all, confrontation isn’t your style. But, you go home and stew about it.

You think about it often over the next few days and it grows and grows. “How could she say something like that? Doesn’t she know how much that hurt my feelings?” So, you begin to rehearse what you’re going to say to her. It has just become so important that you HAVE to confront her about it. You rehearse and rehearse; refining exactly what you’ll say; thinking about how she’ll react, how she’ll apologize and you will hug and the two of you will have a good laugh about it later.

You screw up your courage.

The big day comes.

You deliver your speech eloquently (after all, you have practiced it a hundred times), and your friend looks at you and says, “Gee, I didn’t realize that would offend you.” Or, “Gosh, that’s not really what I said.” Or perhaps, “Oh, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.”

You spent all that time stewing over something that was incidental to your friend; something that she has forgotten all about; something she may not even remember saying or even denies saying.

In Colossians, Paul wrote:

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. Col 3:12-13 (NKJV)

This makes it pretty clear that we’re supposed to forgive when someone offends us…but how?

Let’s read on:

But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Col. 3:14-17 (NKJV)

In this passage, we can find some keys to forgiveness.

• Put on love
• Let God’s peace rule your heart
• Be thankful
• Let the Word dwell in you
• Spend time with other Christians who can teach you, encourage you, praise and worship with you
• Do everything in Jesus’ name, giving thanks

Now, these are simple words. Like me, you may be familiar with this passage. And you may very well have gone to this passage for comfort when you were trying to forgive someone. It’s simple, but it isn’t easy.

Perhaps a key is found in the very first phrase of verse 14, “put on love.”

I don’t know about you, but whenever I think about love, I think of I Corinthians, chapter 13. This chapter, in fact, is often called, “the love chapter,” and is often read at weddings.

Verse 5 in the Amplified Bible says, “…Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong.]

We are all in a different place in our walk with God. If you find that you are offended often, this may be an indicator that you are not walking in love.

Think about your life. Think about how often you are offended. Ask God to reveal what that says about you. Ask God to reveal what He would have you to do about it.

God Bless You!

Don’t forget to share your thoughts with us and if you have a specific question feel free to email me or share with us in the comments.

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