April 17, 2024: I Must Be Mindful Of How I Treat People

He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends. -Proverbs 17:9 NKJV

We all have made mistakes. If we think that we have never made one and everything that we have done has been perfect, we need wisdom more than we know. How do we handle it when we mess up? What do we do after the mistake? The act is one thing, but our response to it is something totally different. There are times that we condemn people for their mistakes. We make them believe that there is no recovery after the mistake. There are those who seek to restore them and help them get back on their feet. Then there is the responsibilityof the one who was in the wrong. Do we feel the guilt of the mistake that we don’t want to do it anymore? Or do we even care that we made a mistake? What we do not only affects us, but it affects others as well.

Solomon gives us two reactions after we mess up. The first thing that he says is that he says is that if you cover a transgression, you are seeking love. Simply put, if you forgive others when they stumble, you are showing love.  Forgiveness is something that we are all not worthy of but Christ gave it to us any way. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us. If we want to be forgiven, we must also forgive. The other reaction is one that is would demonstrate that we don’t have a very good relationship with God. This reaction says rather than trying to restore them, we spread around what they have done to others. We share the fact that they messed up instead of showing them that restoration is available and possible. In spreading the gossip instead of the Gospel, we lose the relationships that have been form. We lose trust. We lose our fellowship and we begin to lose each other because the bond I thought we had was not as tight as I thought it was. It is our responsibility every where we go to demonstrate the the same forgiveness that we received from the cross. The way that we treat others is a reflection of the God that we serve.