Last Sunday in our Young Marrieds' class, a really good teacher shared some great truths. I could take about 5 different blog posts to tell you about his lesson (and maybe I will.....) but one thing that he tossed out as an aside really stuck with me. He said that he and his wife pray "to be un-offendable". He went on to explain that they want to be folks that don't get their feelings hurt easily, don't assume the worst in terms of motive, intent or message but instead believe the best about people and situations.
Sounds like an application of I Corinthians 13: 5 to me where Paul explains that LOVE is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.
Can you imagine what our homes would be like if husbands and wives and brothers and sisters weren't "offendable"? Our churches? Our communities? Our country? Our world???? What would happen if, instead of letting our feelings get hurt and then reacting out of retaliation or at least self-protection, we just let go of the offense. No keeping score of the last wound received or delivered. No assumptions that someone else intended to hurt us with that remark or exclusion or slight. No desire to inflict pain in an effort to alleviate our own.
Wow. That would make a whole lot of difference in our marriages. In our friendships and our parenting. In our neighborhoods and our schools and our churches.
That's become my prayer, too. To be unoffendable. I hope you'll join me.
And we'll see the fruit - because Love Never Fails. (I Corinthians 13:8)
Sounds like an application of I Corinthians 13: 5 to me where Paul explains that LOVE is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.
Can you imagine what our homes would be like if husbands and wives and brothers and sisters weren't "offendable"? Our churches? Our communities? Our country? Our world???? What would happen if, instead of letting our feelings get hurt and then reacting out of retaliation or at least self-protection, we just let go of the offense. No keeping score of the last wound received or delivered. No assumptions that someone else intended to hurt us with that remark or exclusion or slight. No desire to inflict pain in an effort to alleviate our own.
Wow. That would make a whole lot of difference in our marriages. In our friendships and our parenting. In our neighborhoods and our schools and our churches.
That's become my prayer, too. To be unoffendable. I hope you'll join me.
And we'll see the fruit - because Love Never Fails. (I Corinthians 13:8)