“A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”
~ Proverbs 19:11
As I grow in my relationship with Christ, I gain wisdom. As I gain wisdom, God enables me to have patience; it’s part of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). And whenever I am able to overlook an offense, it brings me glory. I would venture to say it blesses the one whose offense I am overlooking as well.
One of the many ways we exasperate our children (Ephesians 6:4) is by nitpicking every little thing they do. Our children aren’t perfect and neither are we. If we spend more time criticizing them than praising and encouraging them, it does NOT benefit them and does not teach them anything; in fact, it often creates a root of bitterness in the heart of the child. I don’t want that for my relationship with my kids. Usually the relationship kids have with their parents determines the way they think of God. I don’t want my kids thinking that God is an impatient, perfection-expecting, impossible-to-please kind of Father. I want them to know how loving, how patient, how compassionate He is! So I am going to think on this verse often, and remind myself that there are many things that just aren’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things; I need to learn to “overlook” those little offenses! Children need to know they are precious in God’s sight, and in the sight of their parents.
This applies just as well to our relationship with our spouse. We must overlook the minor things, and focus on the good. Stop focusing on the “bad” things, and seek to find and praise the good in our spouse. It blesses our spouse, AND it blesses our marriage as well.
One of the many ways we exasperate our children (Ephesians 6:4) is by nitpicking every little thing they do. Our children aren’t perfect and neither are we. If we spend more time criticizing them than praising and encouraging them, it does NOT benefit them and does not teach them anything; in fact, it often creates a root of bitterness in the heart of the child. I don’t want that for my relationship with my kids. Usually the relationship kids have with their parents determines the way they think of God. I don’t want my kids thinking that God is an impatient, perfection-expecting, impossible-to-please kind of Father. I want them to know how loving, how patient, how compassionate He is! So I am going to think on this verse often, and remind myself that there are many things that just aren’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things; I need to learn to “overlook” those little offenses! Children need to know they are precious in God’s sight, and in the sight of their parents.
This applies just as well to our relationship with our spouse. We must overlook the minor things, and focus on the good. Stop focusing on the “bad” things, and seek to find and praise the good in our spouse. It blesses our spouse, AND it blesses our marriage as well.
