Don’t you hate it when you’re stuck in traffic, and somone goes flying by you in the turning lane, and then sneaks his car into the front of the line? Is his time somehow more important than yours? Doesn’t it just infuriate your internal sense of justice?
Or what about when someone takes credit for your idea? That drives me crazy. Where do they get off thinking they can steal your idea? Who do they think they are?
But the worst is when someone accuses you of something you didn’t do; maligns you behind your back. Tells the world you’re something you’re not. How dare they? They deserve a hot place in hell.
The Story of a Little Lamb
King David, in 2 Sam 12:1-15, had the same response when the prophet Nathan told him a story about a poor man who had nothing to his name but a little lamb. He loved this little lamb dearly like it was one of his children. One day, a rich man, who had many flocks of sheep, was visited by a traveller. The rich man was unwilling to take one of his own sheep to prepare dinner for his guest, so instead he took the poor man’s lamb, even though it was all the poor man had.
King David was enraged. This was unjust! This man deserves to die!
Then Nathan flipped the tables on him, “You are this man!”
If you know the story of David and Bathsheba, you know where this is going. King David was the God-apointed King of Israel. He had everything in this world. Riches, family, power, but it wasn’t enough. He saw a beautiful married woman and wanted her, so he placed the woman’s husband at the front of Israel’s army in their next battle – a place where he would surely be killed. The man was killed and David took Bathsheba to be his wife. He stole the man’s wife and his life.
This story should give pause to all of us. You may not have stolen someone else’s wife, but what if you were just as guilty? What if the sin in your heart had killed an innocent man (Rom 4:25)? What if that innocent man’s blood had not only been spilled on your behalf, but had purchased for you life forever in paradise? Doesn’t this offend your internal sense of justice? When we come to grips with this reality, it changes the way we look at the injustices in our lives. Those who have been forgiven much, love much (Luke 7:47).
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” – Eph 4:31-32
The next time you are wronged, instead of immediately taking offense, pray about how you are going to respond. Did Christ respond with bitterness and anger when He was maligned, mistreated, and beaten? No, he responded with love. And He responds with love to us today, even though He was “pierced for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5a). We have been the recipient of totally unmerited forgiveness. We just like King David deserve to die, but God forgave us much, because He loves us much.
So in light of all of this, how are we supposed to love people that we barely know? We often know the people who have wronged us, but other times – like that driver who cut us off in traffic, we’ve never even met. I think the answer lies in the fact that the love you show does not need to be directed toward the one who offended you, but to the One who forgave your offenses. Jesus loves that man who cut you off in traffic. And you love Jesus, so by graciously forgiving that man you are in fact loving Jesus.
You Were that Man
Plus, you are no different than that man. In fact, you were that man – selfish, and unjust, but God showed you mercy.
The challenge is this –
- The next time someone speeds down the turning lane and cuts you off in traffic, see yourself, and remember that you have been forgiven much more than this.
- The next time you’re wrongly accused of something you didn’t do, remember that you are guilty of far worse, but you have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
- The next time your internal sense of justice is infuriated, remember that if true justice was dealt out, you would deserve to die, but you have received mercy upon mercy.
In the end, just trying harder to forgive will only exhaust and frustrate us. But when we are intimately reminded of the grace of God shown to us, the pure beauty of this grace draws us into closer unity with Christ. And when we begin to experience the gracious mind of Christ, God’s forgiveness overflows out of our full and thankful hearts.
Instruct your heart about how much it has been forgiven. Remember who you are now in Christ, and who you were before He redeemed you. You don’t need to live in bitterness anymore – for it is the enemy of grace through which you have been made new. Taking offense leads to nothing but a hard, proud, friendless heart.
Lord, teach us to love much, as we have been loved; free us to forgive much, as we have been forgiven. Amen.
