Love does not take into account a wrong suffered -1
Corinthians 13:5 NASB
it keeps no record of
wrongs– NIV
does not take into
account a wrong suffered –
NASB
It keeps no record of
being wronged – NLT
thinks no evil –
NKJV and KJV
Doesn’t keep
score of the sins of others – The message
not resentful –
ESV
Oh man, how do I even tackle this one? Sounds easy at first
right..don’t take into account a wrong suffered…or is it?
Admittedly my pride jumps up and says “Well, I am not
going to let people walk all over me! I can’t just not ‘take into account a
wrong suffered’. I have to speak up and state my case if I am wronged or I
suffer because of what someone else does to me. You don’t know what they did to
me!” Pride pride pride pride pride. Whoa Natalie, whoa, let’s break this
down.
This verse is not saying that we can never loving bring to
notice when someone harms you, no no no, it is saying do not hold a grudge, do
not be resentful, do not keep a tally sheet of the number of times someone has
hurt you.
There are so many great verses about this topic, but Matthew
really caught my eye so I will focus there.
Then Peter came and
said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I
forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to
you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven (that’s 490 in case
you were wondering)” – Matthew
18:21-22
490 times? Well, that girl totally hurt me 491 times and so
I am DONE! Um…even if that was the case, I don’t think God really had a lot
of emphasis on that actual number, but even if He did, that is not the point.
The point is that we are to continuously, openly and freely give out grace and
forgiveness.
Therefore if you are
presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave you offering there before the altar and go; first
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. –
Matthew 5:23-24 (We are now called in Romans 12 to present our bodies as
living sacrifices…meaning our walk with the Lord…us doing things for Him in
any way could be considered an offering.)
If someone has something against me I am to go and talk to
them about it? Jeeze, that can be crazy hard at times. But when we are divided, when we refuse to
forgive someone or ask for forgiveness when we have hurt them, even if we
didn’t realize it or mean to, that is far from God’s will…no matter how bad
they hurt you, no matter how many times it was.
Every
kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided
against itself will stand. – Matthew 12:25
So many other great verses to reference too if you are not
convinced that we are called to love people by always giving forgiveness and
asking forgiveness: James 5:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 1 Corinthians 6:1-20, 1
John 4:7-8, 1 John 2:1-29, John 3:16-17, Galatians 3:28, Luke 9:23
What scares me is that the KJV and NKJV versions both refer
to this part of scripture as ‘thinks no evil’…God equates holding a
grudge-being resentful-holding records of being wrong-not forgiving…as evil.
That seriously puts a holy fear in me, I don’t want to be evil, but if you
think about it, it makes sense.
Holding a grudge usually leads to bitterness, and bitterness
I believe is a poison to your heart; your happiness; your life; your soul. It
eats at you. Being resentful is not good for anyone, not for the other person
and definitely not for you.
Now there are people in my life that I held major resentment
towards and had to contact them to ask their forgiveness. Does that mean I want
to be best friends with them? no. Does that mean I just got over it in that
moment and never had a resentful thought again? no. There is a reason God calls
us to ‘pick up our cross daily’ because sometimes daily I will have to lay down
my resentment, bitterness or whatever negative feelings I am having and instead
pick up my cross and follow Jesus.
Challenge: Sit
and really pray and think about anyone in your life past or present that you
may be holding a record of wrongs. Someone you have not truly sat down or
called and just worked things out. Think of someone who may have something
against you (Matthew 5:23-24), even if you don’t feel it is founded, don’t know
what you did wrong, or truly didn’t mean to hurt them. Whoever this
person/these people are, talk to them. Go to coffee, have that phone
conversation, or if there is a long history of issues…meet up with love in
your heart and only the intentions of making things right and talk it out…but
more than anything, be willing to listen and love that person. I also recommend if you were the one hurt, forgive them in your own heart before you ever speak to them…because you cannot go in expecting an apology in return, that’s not what this is about..this is about you not holding anything on anyone else. This is a hard
challenge, truthfully I am not jumping up and down about this one…but God
calls me to it, and I want to obey more than I want to keep my pride. … Here
we go!
p.s. There is so much to be said about this topic. If there
is something I missed or you disagree with me please feel free to share.
