Luke 17:3-4 (Nlt) So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
It’s good to be real about our Christianity, to admit we get it wrong sometimes, and to be honest with one another about how we deal with it when we do.
We all know it can be easy to be offended or hurt by something someone has said or done, or by what they didn’t do, and we have to choose what we’ll do with that offence. Now you may be really good at dealing with these things and don’t let them bother you, but we’re all at different stages of growing up into Jesus’ likeness and I obviously still have some growing to do!😊
We can let the offence grow until we can’t seem to stop thinking about it, or we can bring it out in the open so the enemy has no hold over us through it. He’ll try to make us think we can’t be honest about how we feel, or we can’t say what’s bothering us because it may hurt the other person, or they may think less of us for being bothered about it in the first place! But I’ve discovered and I expect you have too, getting things out in the open can be the best way. Jesus said to talk to the person about it!
I had a situation like that just this week. I was hurt about something and lost my peace because the enemy kept running it through my head, so I asked the Holy Spirit to help me let it go, but it wasn’t working. It was giving me a bad attitude and it was not good! I kept asking the Lord for help and realised He wanted me to be honest about it and let the other person know how I felt.
It was difficult but when I did that, they hadn’t realised, they said sorry, and the whole situation lost its power. I said sorry as well for letting it upset me and it was very soon resolved.😊 The whole thing was over in a few hours instead of letting it bother me for days! There was a good outcome all round and I was totally free of it. It’s why Jesus told us to forgive and keep forgiving, so the enemy has no hold on us.
I don’t know if this helps anyone but may I encourage you today if you’re wrestling with ‘something’, to bring it out into the open so the Lord can heal it, turn it round for your good and let Him set you free from it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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