Are You So Offended?

Today, I remind myself and my family from Proverbs 12:16 that "fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult." Likewise, in Proverbs 19:11, we learn that "it is to one's glory to overlook an offense."

My dear neighbor reminds me of these verses at just the right time this morning. She has children, too!

I realize how much time we walk around in this house with hurt feelings. I think about the number of conversations I mediate between offended children. It seems like it feels good to always be offended. It makes us feel important, entitled, and right.

Always being offended and hurt can quickly become a way of life, like an identity you choose.

With sibling rivalry at an all time high these days, I smile when I hear my husband tell my daughters, "You don't have to always be offended."

It's true. It's a choice to overlook an insult or offense. It's the sign of a wise, patient heart who entrusts herself to God's care. It's the mark of love which is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs.

Oh, to be so free that we might live this way!

We can. We can because we operate in another economy and by a different law.

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How would you advise a child that's easily offended?