Welcome to the PoG blog! In Psalm 19 the psalmist writes, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Before you read the scripture reading for today, please pray a prayer similar to the one above. Invite God to speak to you in this time of reading and meditation. Ask him to renew and change your heart. Pray that God’s Holy Spirit will prepare your heart and mind for what He has in mind for you today!
Colossians 3
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
“Bear with each other” reminds me of something else I read in Ken Sande’s The Peacemaker. Do you realize that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, there are many “offenses” against us that we can simply ignore? Ken calls it “Overlook Minor Offenses”. He writes, “In many situations, the best way to resolve a conflict is simply to overlook the personal offenses of others.” Applying this truth has had a powerful impact on my life. Because of Christ’s great love for me and His sacrifice on the cross, I do not have to react each and every time someone offends me. I can quickly make a decision to overlook the offense and move on. No need to mention to the individual or someone else that I have been offended. No need to make a point of telling the offender that I have forgiven him/her. As I mentioned Sunday morning, there is so much freedom in living life this way! The more I move in the direction of overlooking offenses, the more freedom I experience.
What about you? Have you thought about “offenses” that you’ve experienced? Are there offenses that you’ve simply chosen to overlook? Can you think of ways you can overlook more offenses in your life? Ask yourself, “Do I really want to experience more peace in my life?” If you do, I strongly encourage you to start overlooking more offenses. Remember, don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill!
May God bless you as you forgive others the way Christ has forgiven you!
Mark