Good Sense

“Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

- Proverbs 19:11 (ESV)

Just reading over Proverbs 19 tonight and I’ve settled on several verses. I’m thinking a bit about the verse above and how meaningful it is in our day. Consider the so-called daily ’stresses’ in your life – someone cuts you off while driving, for example. That can set a tone for your whole day – “Man, these people are crazy on the roads !” Your adrenaline gets going and you get so wound up based on something insignificant like this. Where is our “good sense” then ? Or someone else gets the credit for something you did…or you’re told about a rumor someone has falsely spread about you. More signficantly, maybe a family member or spouse has said something that’s really hurt you. I’m wondering how much different our lives would look on a daily basis if we overlooked these “offenses” ? It can be easy to let the seeds of anger take root and forgiving someone seems out of the question. And then it becomes easier still to forget how much we ourselves have been forgiven…

How much different would things look if we instead remembered the words of Paul in his letter to the Colossians – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:12-13, ESV)

Just wondering, that’s all….