Hello everyone!
Following on from my post on forgiveness earlier this month, I thought I'd flip the issue around and take a look at what it actually means in our daily lives to be so forgiving all of the time.
It's often said that forgiveness can be a bitter pill to swallow because it, in a sense, is the equivalent of us swallowing up the wrong that someone caused us. The trouble with that analogy is that it is far too often accurate a way for how some of us deal with offences.
Let's zone in closer to this and see what we can figure out together...
Shake Off Your Offences
First off, let's take a look at what offence actually means: -
An offence is an act of stumbling, a cause or occasion of sin, a stumbling block, something that outrages the moral or physical senses
This time, I've gone to Merriam Webster for this definition so let me take this to my next source; the Bible and see what that says on such a matter taken from Luke 17: -
Offences will certainly come, but woe to the one they come through!
In my post on forgiveness I made it pretty clear that it's a pretty one-sided argument as far as Heaven's view on forgiveness; there's no choice as we are commanded to do just as God did through Jesus and forgave us.
Now we often tell ourselves and each other that it's the other person's choice to get offended and I've heard a very well known Christian preacher echo that sentiment so let me get right to the heart of the lesson that God taught me over the Christmas period through 2 Corinthians 6: -
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
Then, in the following verse we are told that the time to be saved is now for our present is all we really have. So this brings us onto the third verse and the lesson that God struck me with as a lightning bolt: -
Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed.
The Occasion for Offence
Wait...
I thought we'd literally just said we like to tell ourselves that it is a person's choice to get offended at someone or something and it is, but that's not the full picture, the full side of the story. We can play our part by not putting ourselves in a position where we are bringing the potential for offence to be caused in the first place!
Take two people for instance, person A has an opinion on a subject whereas person B thinks the opposite. Now, unless the two are geared up for a full on debate as to why they think differently about an issue the potential for an offence is there, right? Simply because they each believe different things is the occasion for offence.
So herein lies a choice; do person A or B decide not bring this up in case the other gets offended at their differing stance? Or do they find another, more constructive solution to their situation?
Of course, when one person is in the wrong be it actions or words, it should always be pointed out in a gracious manner that the way that was expressed wasn't the best way to go about it. But the moment it does get brought up, there is an occasion, a moment, an opportunity for offence to creep in and drive a wedge in the friendship, partnership or whatever relationship it is.
Luke 17 without a doubt carries with it an invaluable lesson from Jesus on forgiveness. By carrying around our offences all of the time, we are in fact refusing to show a love so high that a Man, one Man, Jesus, perished on a cross for all the sins we have ever committed or will ever commit!
In my opinion, when we carry about occasions for offences we are in fact doing Satan's work for him by bringing discord and division into our lives because God's Kingdom is all about unity, forgiveness, mercy and compassion.
Final Thought
This means that if we are deliberately being offensive then we are bringing forth a message that this God that we, as believers, profess to believe in likes to make us feel bad about our flaws.
What kind of an impression does that give an outsider of Christianity? The world already likes to point out our differences and argue over them or else there wouldn't be so many debate shows popular with the masses. Surely the right way to deal with an offence is to draw alongside the person, find out why they did or said that and work out a constructive solution for all involved.
Naturally, there will be some occasions where the damage done is irreparable and at which point it's advisable to cut neither person off who was in the wrong and cover them with prayer and grace, just as God extended grace to each one of us when He sent Jesus to die for our sins.
I think there's much more to this than I initially expected so I'll post the rest tomorrow (even if it's going to be written right after I upload this).
Peace!
===TLP===
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