A Lifestyle of ForgivenessSample

DAY SIX – WHEN YOUR FEELINGS GET HURT

It’s so easy to feel hurt (and then hold a grudge) when someone slights us or doesn’t give us our due. Maybe you waved at someone and they didn’t wave back. Maybe someone said something with the wrong tone or facial expression, or maybe they talked down to you or made you feel stupid in a group. 

Or maybe someone didn’t answer your text or phone call, and you start imagining all the reasons why: “Maybe she’s mad, or she hates me, or she’s a snob! That’s it, I’m never speaking to her again!” when in reality there could be a perfectly good reason. 

Rather than taking things personally or being hurt or angry over being slighted or made to feel stupid, what if you forgave them instead? Proverbs 12:16 says, “Fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly; the prudent quietly shrug off insults” (MSG). Forgiveness lets you walk away and forget it (shrug it off), not letting the pain or irritation stick to you. 

We all have expectancies, every single day. We expect people to act a certain way. We expect things to go a certain way. We expect to be understood or revered. But the chances of everything happening exactly the way we expect it to is — brace yourself — ZERO. Every single day, in a hundred different scenarios, your expectancies will be violated. 

We could talk about each and every way that could happen – there are so many. But for now, I’m trusting the Holy Spirit to bring this to your remembrance when you need it and help you realize when your expectancies have been violated, and help you forgive quickly and easily when it happens.