| “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” |
| —Leviticus 19:18 |
It is almost impossible to make our way through life without having someone do something that significantly offends or harms us. I’m not referring to the kind of thin-skinned offenses that so many of the people in our culture seem to ascribe to the public words of politicians, or other individuals, who speak out in behalf of some cause in which they sincerely believe.
No, I’m talking about the kind of offense that occurs when someone we know, or even love and trust, does something, or says something, that truly harms us in some way. The question when such an offense happens is: “How will we respond?”
For years, when someone took very hurtful action against me, in word or deed, I wrote them off. I sealed them up in an impenetrable mental shell and, from that day forward, acted as if they didn’t exist. They were “dead” to me. I did not speak to them, nor about them. I did not tell anyone what they had done. I just treated them as if they were “dead.” And, in fact, they were “dead” to me. But, that is clearly not the way that God intends us to act toward our brothers- and sisters-in-Christ.
Of course, if we scrupulously followed Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 18:15-17, the number of genuine offenses would be significantly reduced, if not totally eliminated. Nevertheless, if a brother- or sister-in-Christ does something to harm us, we must respond in a loving, forgiving way. The root of this most proper behavior on our part comes from the Old Testament Jewish Law. Notice what Moses records in Leviticus 19:18:
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
As “Christ’s-ones,” the term “our people” would refer to our brothers- and sisters-in-Christ. We should never seek revenge, nor bear a grudge, against a fellow believer. Realistically, it is wise for us to develop such a forgiving spirit that we also stand ready to forgive anyone who harms us, whether that person is a believer or an unbeliever.
In previous blog posts, I have written about the nature of forgiveness. So, let me simply state here that forgiveness must always arise first within the heart and mind of the person who has received the offense, in response to the teachings of Jesus. We must remain ready and willing to forgive, whether the offender asks for forgiveness or not.
So, at the beginning of another new day, let’s be ones who maintain a spirit of forgiveness. Let’s not hold a grudge, nor seek revenge, against those who harm us. Certainly, if we do maintain this spirit of forgiveness—as hard as that may be—we will truly be walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
Based on a blog originally posted on Monday, October 8, 2018
