The other day John was acting…you know…clueless and insensitive as men do sometimes. (Women never do that, right?)
Anyway, it was late and I was going up to bed. But my feelings were hurt.
Now at this point I had a decision to make. Was this a minor thing that could be blanketed in grace and forgotten, or was it something that would affect our relationship going forward if I didn’t address it?
Whether it’s in a marriage or friendship or work relationship, I think we face this tension often.
- You have a friend who arranges to meet at you 6:00 and calls to cancel at 5:58.
- You come downstairs feeling pretty good and your husband (thinking he’s paying you a compliment) says “Honey you look autumnal!” (I happen to have some first-had experience with this one. Men, let me just warn you, don’t do it. Your wife will hear, “You look like a pumpkin!”)
- You’re struggling with infertility and have a friend who is constantly complaining about her kids.
- An acquaintance moans to you about her weight when she clearly weighs a number you haven’t seen on the scale since you were 13.
Proverbs 19:11 says:
‘Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense’.
When we’re dinged, our go-to is supposed to be grace, right? We’re forgiven, so we need to be forgiving. Let it go. Let it goooooo.
But there are times when we need to be brave and talk out the offense with the offender.
I can think of 3 times that we shouldn’t let an offense slide: Continue reading
