From Pastor Marvin Happy Thursday to you! We are over half way through Proverbs, and I hope God is speaking to in some pretty clear ways. Hang in there! Keep pushing through those quitting points! In a world like ours, we will slight and hurt our friends and our friends will slight and hurt us. At some point we will offend our friends and our friends will offend us. What we do with these offenses and slights can ultimately nurture or destroy the friendship. Proverbs 17:9 highlights wisdom for us to help us navigate through this issue: Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. When it says to cover an offense, what does that mean? Does it mean that we are to make light of the offense or let it go unchecked? That doesn’t seem right because the Bible, in other places, tells us to confront and forgive the offense. Also, God deals harshly with sin, offenses, attitudes and actions that disrupt the fellowship of the Body of Jesus. So, to cover an offense, probably does not mean to make light of sin and allow offenses to go unrebuked in another or in a church. It is, on the contrary, to go to offending person quietly and personally, and in love. Now, if when we go to the offending person quietly, personally, and in love, and the person is remorseful and repents, then the sin should never again be mentioned. It is covered, squashed, concealed, hidden from view, buried, kept at an undisclosed location, and nobody else needs to know of it. On the other hand, when we go about repeating things that are not necessary or offenses that were supposed to be forgiven and covered, then we are now in the business of rupturing and separating close friends. Broken trust breaks friendships. I am convinced that God alone can SAFELY hear the story of our or a brother or sister’s sin and shame, without it ever being repeated. We can pour into God’s ear a passionate prayer for the conviction and restoration. Now, this doesnt mean we should stop trusting and risking our hearts. James 5:16 says we are to confess our sins to each other and pray for one another, so we can experience relational and spiritual healing. But, for us to persist in retelling and repeating the offense (s) to others proves our lack of love for the person and our lack of forgiveness for the offense. Some one has said, that, if we are tempted to relay and repeat something about a person, it is wise to ask three questions: 1. Is what I’m about to say about the person true? 2. Is what I’m about to say about the person kind? 3. Is what I’m about to say about the person necessary? I would add a fourth question to this short but powerful list of questions: 4. Have I gone to the person personally? I would imagine living this proverb and asking these questions would kill a lot of gossip and save many friendships. What are some other ways we can keep trust from being broken in our friendships? What are some other things we can do to restore friendships when trust is broken? What is difficult about living this proverb? How did God speak to you through Proverbs 17? Have a great day!
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 11:41:31 +0000
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